Getting a reliable vs. flaky out-of-town babysitter

[Anonymous]

I am taking DC with me on a two week part-business trip and will need a sitter every afternoon, something like 2 to 6 p.m. I am planning to find someone on UrbanSitter or Care.com, but in the past, I had to go through several flaky sitters before I found someone reliable. For example, I once posted an ad on Urbansitter for 3x a week babysitting. One sitter worked one day, then demanded I increase her rate (which was HER asking rate, not mine) because she had a long commute. Another sitter worked once, then told me she was no longer available in the afternoons. Another was a no-show. With a two week stay, I won't have the time to deal with all this flakiness. How can I avoid it? Also, I would really prefer having one sitter, two tops, so that DC doesn't have to deal with too many new faces on top of the strange environment. Any advice?

[Anonymous]

I do on call babysitting for hotels and I'm places by an agency. You get what you pay for, go through the hotel.

[Anonymous]

How is the behavior of your DC? Maybe the basics aren't flaky and aren't returning/cancelling/asking for a raise because your kid doesn't behave. I worked for an out of town family this weekend and the kids were so awful I refused to go back.

[Anonymous]

* nannies, not basics haha

[Anonymous]

This is OP. We're staying at a house, not a hotel so we can't tap into an agency. Back when I tried UrbanSitter, DC was only 6/7 months old so misbehavior not an issue. Not to mention that she has always been an easy kid to watch. This isn't just clueless mom speaking about her precious Larla; everyone who has watched her has commented on it and likes to tell me how lucky I am to have an easy child! I tell them she saves her tantrums and high maintenance-ness for me and they don't believe me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. We're staying at a house, not a hotel so we can't tap into an agency. Back when I tried UrbanSitter, DC was only 6/7 months old so misbehavior not an issue. Not to mention that she has always been an easy kid to watch. This isn't just clueless mom speaking about her precious Larla; everyone who has watched her has commented on it and likes to tell me how lucky I am to have an easy child! I tell them she saves her tantrums and high maintenance-ness for me and they don't believe me.

Go through an actual agency. The PP meant that you should ask the hotel for one of their on-call sitters. If you call an actual agency, they will guarantee someone for each shift, and probably they can get you just 1 person for the whole time.

[Anonymous]

I found a great older nanny on care.com. She wasn't cheap but she arrived on time, was CPR certified, had amazing references both on care.com and private references and was simply lovely. We used her for two long wedding nights in Los Angeles and still send her Christmas cards!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am taking DC with me on a two week part-business trip and will need a sitter every afternoon, something like 2 to 6 p.m. I am planning to find someone on UrbanSitter or Care.com, but in the past, I had to go through several flaky sitters before I found someone reliable. For example, I once posted an ad on Urbansitter for 3x a week babysitting. One sitter worked one day, then demanded I increase her rate (which was HER asking rate, not mine) because she had a long commute. Another sitter worked once, then told me she was no longer available in the afternoons. Another was a no-show. With a two week stay, I won't have the time to deal with all this flakiness. How can I avoid it? Also, I would really prefer having one sitter, two tops, so that DC doesn't have to deal with too many new faces on top of the strange environment. Any advice?

Ask the realtor with whom you are dealing for your house rental if she has any recommendations?

Peruse the urbansitter / care.com / sittercity websites now, and pick out a few profiles and interview them now, long before you get there?

Look for older sitters. There is no guarantee you won't get a flake if you arrange for an older sitter, but I would think it would cut down on the flakiness potential by about 80 percent.