Has Anyone Used Sittercity Advertised on the Mamasource Website?

I actually am a sitter on sittercity. I have met some very nice families on sittercity. They do have back ground checks that you are able to get before someone comes to your house if you want to. Another thing some parents do is talk to me on the phone first then meet. I have even had some parents meet me in a public place like chuck E. Cheese. Another thing is when you talk to them on the phone or email them you could ask them for references that you could get before they come to your house. I think the big thing is to make sure they are a good fit for your family. That they have the skills that you desire. Such as, first aid, CPR, prior experiences etc. Also how do they interact with your children? Good luck in your search. I'm in Chelmsford if your close by let me know, like I said I'm a sitter. : )

Why would anyone ever use a online babysitting service? No way should parents have strangers come in to their home and watch their children. I think its a very dangerous thing to do. I think you would be putting yourselves and especially your innocent children in jeopardy.

Hi Sittercity can be a great resource. As with any resource you need to use good judgement and trust your instincts. You can meet any of the sitters first in any place you choose with or without children. You should talk with them first and them plan an outing with the children so you can see/feel how they interact. Using an online source for sitters does not mean you a bad parent sometimes its the only resource availble and it does have good people on it who love children.

Hi. My name is J. and I am a stay at home mom to 2 little girls, age 2 1/2 and 4 1/2. We are a very warm and loving family and I am very interested in watching another child or two in my home. We are a very warm and loving family, although I am not sure you are looking to bring your children to another person's house or not. If yes, we love to play outside, do arts and crafts, read, have lots of free playtime, etc. I certainly can adjust our activities based on the age of the child who is here with us. Also, I live in Dartmouth and I do not know if that is close enough to where you live.

If you are at all interested, please feel free to send me a message back.

Thank you so much.

J.

I've actually had better luck with craigslist.org because people can sign up for sittercity and then forget about it, so often times the profiles are outdated. You also have to pay for it before you use it, whereas craigslist is free. Obviously you'd want to interview someone and ask for (lots) of references, but sittercity doesn't screen anyway so it's no safer than anything else online.

Alternately, you could try calling your local HS and see if they have a list of babysitters. Not so good for weekdays, obviously, but weekends and nights...