Night shift ... And a babysitter?

jannrn · Oct 5, 2006

What a difficult situation!

I am not single but not long ago my dh had to go to China for a business trip and left me hanging wondering what to do. We had a babysitter recommended to us so we used her (she was in her early 20's) for some evenings out and she seemed fine.

It turned out we used her one time overnight, the other nights I was able to have off because of low census on the unit.

I had her sleep at my house, I left at 10:30pm after the kids were asleep and expected to get home before they awoke. and that is pretty much what happened.

I am interested in other people's responses as well. The problem with college students can be they graduate and move away! fortunately maybe by that time you have word of mouth of other dependable college students she is friends with and still has years to go.

as far as pay, I paid $50 for the one time. I don't know if that was too much for just sleeping at my house, but there is not much to compare it to. I went on-line searching for info and did find some discussion on how much would be paid when you hire someone for the weekend or overnight. definitely you pay differently if you don't expect the children to be awake, like a flat fee from 9 pm to 7 am then hourly for the hours during the day.

Janette

Larry77, RN · Oct 5, 2006

Yes, is very scary especially when you don't know anybody. I live in a "development" so we were able to ask around to see who the good babysitters are. There is a couple of high-school girls that babysit most of the kids in the neighborhood. Other than that usually there is some 24hr daycare's but in my experience they have been little home daycare's not the bigger commercial type ones.

Good luck!

Jules A, MSN · Oct 5, 2006

Hi,

Have you thought of advertising at a local nursing school? There have been posts here about people that feel they can't work because of school and yet they are having trouble making ends meet. Might be a good situation for you both. I'd probably have them stay at your place so your babies will be home if possible. The other thing that you might do is hook up with another single Mom in the same position and swap baby sitting. Good luck to you. Jules

TinyNurse, RN · Oct 5, 2006

Thankfully i'm on dayshift now!(but still use a babysitter)

I worked nights for 3 years, and always managed to find a babysitter, as my family all lives in other states.

I place an ad, and take responses. Then I phone interview, and then I visit the homes of the top 5 choices from there. Then I do a background check on my top pick. I've found that the sitter I choose is usually about my age with kids of her own, and a SAHM. Once I had a "grandmother" type babysit for me. She watched alot of kids during the day, but just my son at night, and she was wonderful! I can usually get a good feel about a sitter from visiting their home, observing their children, and talking to the moms of the kids they currently babysit.

I think i've had great luck with all of my sitters, and i've remained friends with them all. Get a copy of their ID, and do a background check for like $30. Another resource is the local "welfare" office. They keep lists of state certified sitters. Also if your sitter is state certified, you can use what you pay as a tax deduction.

Finding a good babysitter is definitely a difficult task. Sometimes I feel like I put more work into finding a good sitter than I do in a 12 hour day in the ER.

TinyNurse, RN · Oct 5, 2006

I wanted to add, that I've never been able to get someone to babysit at my home.......but I had to deal with it, because I needed a sitter.

Alot of times students aren't reliable sitters, because of one reason or another, and as nurses we know that we are expected to be at work "no matter what".

jjjoy, LPN · Oct 5, 2006

you could also try inquiring at local churches for sitters as well;

if there's any kind of childhood development/teachers' educational program nearby, you might be able to ask there about potential sitters

dawn1971 · Oct 5, 2006

I will be in the same situation in May when I graduate. I think nights would work best due to kids schedules.... Their dad lives four miles away, so he will watch them two nights... my plan is to find nursing student or elem ed college students to sit for the one night.

RunnerRN, BSN, RN · Oct 5, 2006

One option is to offer a live in position for a student. This would take an extreme amount of trust and background checking on your part, but if you had an extra bedroom, it could work out great for everyone.

mamason · Oct 5, 2006

Read about your dilemma. I don't know where you are moving to, but, here in Illinois they have a thing called CHASI. It is run through the state and parents can contact them and find out about daycares, and home daycares. They have a list of State approved daycares. Maybe the state that you are relocating to has something similar. Don't know if this will help you or not. Hope it does though. I'm not that familiar with it, just heard about it.

angel337, MSN, RN · Oct 6, 2006

i have made major sacrifices since having my daughter. i can only work days. no exceptions. occasionally i will work a p.m. shift. i prefer to be at home at night. there are alot of 24 hour child care centers in my area and i visited a few but i did not like the feel of them. i recently just hired a babysitter who works flexible hours and i hope she works out. if you can only work nights try looking for a 24 hour child care provider. your local YMCA should be able to direct you or the state child and welfare services.