Comments on: Thank you for existing, Urban Sitter!

By: Erica

Erica — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 16:15:38 +0000

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.

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:36:19 +0000

@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.

By: Kendra.UrbanSitter

Kendra.UrbanSitter — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:58:47 +0000

Great idea! We hope to have them available in 2013 some time!

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 20:34:57 +0000

Does UrbanSitter make it possible to buy babysitting gift credit in advance? That’s a clutter-free gift I would want!

By: Kendra.UrbanSitter

Kendra.UrbanSitter — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 04:49:40 +0000

@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.

By: KMN

KMN — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 03:28:41 +0000

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

By: Cara

Cara — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:57:39 +0000

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:)

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:11:12 +0000

@AKD, I’ll ask about the answers to your questions; they’re good ones and I don’t know.

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:10:33 +0000

@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.

By: AKD

AKD — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:00:22 +0000

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?

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:48:31 +0000

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.