Your Questions About Baby Care

The Expert answers:

Are you CPR certified for infant and child
what would you do in ___________emergency
can you help a child who is choking on a item

The Expert answers:

Give the older kinds some crafts or fun chores to do, or play a game with them. Have the older ones do something by themselves and then you can worry about managing the younger ones. As for the coloring books, make sure you only give them crayons and maybe colored pencils (sharpening can be a pain, and be on the lookout for stabbers). Maybe put them down for a movie or tv if they start to get wild, and try to nip anything dangerous or something that could easily get out of control as quickly as possible-even if they cry their heads off, they’ll get over it and in a few years they’ll forget all about it. Oh, and don’t give them sugar, even if they really really want it and it seems like the only way to shut them up. It only makes the others whine for a cookie too and then you have to deal with a sugar high. Good luck! I applaud you for your bravery!

The Expert answers:

Since you don’t know anybody with kids, just give flyers door to door, and eventually someone will ask you to. On the flyer you should put your name, phone number, e-mail, rates,and age, experiences with kids.

My Rates

1-2 kids ~ $5.00/hour
Each additional child ~ $1.25/hour

*When you are babysitting a baby under 10 months old, you should ask to be paid a bit more than your regular charge, since you must give more attention, change the baby, feed the baby, and put the baby to bed.

Finding Work

To find work when you’re getting started, ask around. Maybe your neighbours or others you know have heard of sitting jobs. When looking for work, be careful:

*Don’t ever advertise. Anyone could take your name or number. Not all people have good intentions

*Meet with family before agreeing to babysit for them. Even if you are referred by someone you know, you may not like the situation in the home or attitude of the parents, or you may just not feel right about it. If so, don’t take the job.

The Expert answers:

Ask your parents to talk to people at work to see if they need any babysitting, put some ads up on the streets, talk to neighbors, and there aren’t really any websites for babysitting as it’s not really a huge business. You could also try other ways of earning extra money by running errands for your parents, shoveling snow, mowing the grass during the summer, and maybe internships but I’m not sure if you can since your age is below 16.

Best of luck!

The Expert answers:

Babysitting is an important responsibility whether you are a teenager or a college graduate. Starting a babysitting business is fairly easy and inexpensive and can prove financially rewarding. Here’s how to succeed with your babysitting.

1. Gain experience.

2. Take classes to enhance your credentials.

3. Ask for references from those clients for whom you’ve babysat in the past.

4. Set your prices.

5. Set a schedule of when you are available to babysit for clients.

6. Advertise your babysitting services in your local newspaper, post fliers, or spread the word about your babysitting business through word of mouth.

7. Start a bank account, so you can deposit your babysitting earnings into it.

8. Get to know your clients before you begin an assignment.

9. Expand your babysitting business.