Big thanks to Urban Sitter for their sponsorship this month. I’m writing this post so you know what they’re all about.
The other night, Heather and I joined some other bloggers for dinner in San Francisco. We were nine ladies, crammed around two bistro-style tables, ordering burgers and sweet potato fries. Everyone had young kids at home. We talked about technology, whether we love or hate shopping, and weaning. You know, girl stuff for grown ups.
I mentioned that we were working with Urban Sitter and all the moms gasped, “Cool! I love Urban Sitter!”
“My husband and I are going out tomorrow night, thanks to Urban Sitter!” said one software developer mom, who just moved to town.
I was kinda wowed by their enthusiasm. I guess it’s a match made in heaven– or in rookie mom-dom.
So now let me explain. And for those of you who live in locations that aren’t yet covered by Urban Sitter, I’m sorry.
What is Urban Sitter?
Unlike some of the other childcare services that exist today, UrbanSitter connects parents to sitters through people they know and trust.
Parents sign up for UrbanSitter using Facebook and can post jobs, search for sitters, or browse caregivers already known by friends or affiliations — like schools, sports teams and moms groups. Kinda like OpenTable for dinner reservations, parents can search for sitter availability by date and time, or plan a night around when a favorite sitter is available.
There are more than 150 active sitters near me in the system; Heather used it to find a reliable mother’s helper that assisted her family after the birth of their third child, including cooking, picking up groceries and watching the baby while Heather picked the older kids up from school. Now she is their favorite babysitter and Heather trusts her to put all three children to bed for the night.
UrbanSitter’s unique real time booking engine allows sitters to keep their availability calendars online, so parents can search and book jobs online by an exact date and time. Babysitting gigs (or interviews) can be booked in minutes — and following a job, parents can contribute written reviews, ratings and Facebook “Likes” to sitter profiles.
See how they’ve identified 7 sitters my friends know? When I click there, I see the sitters descriptions and a little picture of my friend that knows her.
And check this out: Convenient “pay by credit card” feature allows parents to skip the awkward fumbling for cash or mad dash to the ATM after a date night and simply pay their sitter with a credit card via the UrbanSitter website.
UrbanSitter was founded by four Bay Area parents who envisioned a better way to find and book babysitters. There is no cost to sign up.
Note: UrbanSitter is currently holding a sweepstakes. The winner will get a year of free babysitting. Trust us, you want this. (Click here for details.)
I have been meaning to try this site but I’m still confused about the interview- do I have to interview the sitter or can I just trust the ratings? Every time I think- oh! we should go out, I feel guilty that I didn’t set up a sitter well in advance and have an interview (like a mom who has it all together would…). Also, I didn’t want anyone to know about them so I could win that sweepstakes. It’s the first thing I’ve ever REALLY wanted to win in my life.
I have been trying to get UrbanSitter to work for me over the last month or so. I have only one sitter that someone I know knows (linking through Facebook, even though I have 300+ FB friends). The babysitters that I have contacted through UrbanSitter have not been very good about getting back to me. I need to at least talk to them first before booking them for a babysitting job. What am I doing wrong? Maybe not looking at a high enough pay rate to get responsible, mature people? (I’ve been looking at people who are $10-12 per hour) I am also curious what the markup is, which I can’t figure out from their FAQ’s. What is the service fee?
@Amanda, you don’t have to do an interview. Especially, if the sitter you find is highly- or frequently-rated by your friends. You may want to depending on the job in question. For my Mother’s Helper gig, I knew I had a bunch of wacky requirements and peculiarities and was looking for a long-term fit so I phone-interviewed and in-person interviewed people. For a regular Saturday night, I occasionally just want to make sure they can make scrambled eggs and chase a toddler as needed.
@AKD, I’ll ask about the answers to your questions; they’re good ones and I don’t know.
This might be in the FAQ on their site, but do they do background checks?
I have never felt comfortable using this service, because I wouldn’t just hire someone I don’t know to stay with my kids.
If they had done a background check that would help, along with wanting to interview them for sure. And sometimes it is just a feel for who clicks with you too — at an Urban Sitter event, one sitter seemed pretty popular with a few kids, but I would never have hired her, because I wasn’t keen on her style and how she interacted with the kids. So I’d need to see them with my child first too.
And thus, I just stick with a friend babysitting share system:)
Luckily I have my mom to babysit my little one..but she needs a break too…I’ll have to look into this and see who they have in the southeastern Wisconsin area…it looks like a good system.
KMN
@Amanda, I’m so sorry that you’ve had trouble finding sitters – sounds like you’re just having some bad luck. I’m the local manager and would be happy to chat with you to answer any questions you might have: kendra.uffelman@urbansitter.com. I can send you a list of sitters who have attended some of our meet and greet events and tend to respond very quickly. I can also let you know when we have some local events happening in the East Bay, so you can meet some sitters in person.
Does UrbanSitter make it possible to buy babysitting gift credit in advance? That’s a clutter-free gift I would want!
Great idea! We hope to have them available in 2013 some time!
@KMN, As Whitney was reminding me yesterday, the best time to find a babysitter is when you don’t currently need one. It allows you to make better choices all around.
If you’re looking to save money on sitters altogether, I’d recommend a babysitting coop — where you trade free care with other families in your community.
You can find a coop at SittingAround (http://sittingaround.com). I’ve been in a coop for years and absolutely love it. So does my 7 yo son
. I also run the site, so I am happy to help you locate a coop near you or start your own.