We tried to switch to a sitter last year. We advertised the position and asked around. We could not find anyone decent for under $20-25 an hour. And even for that, we didn't find anyone we really liked. We figured out that we could have an au pair for much less given the summer hours, snow days, etc.

We ended up having to match with an au pair quickly because the finding a sitter process took so long and the au pair pool was very small. We ended up in rematch. So I don't recommend waiting until the last minute to find an au pair.

The only way to get reliable care is to a) have a massive pool of sitters that you can call on (and you must constantly be searching for more people to add to this group because schedules will change) or b) hire someone for at least 30 hrs per week or c) get very lucky. If you outsource other housecleaning, etc. consider posting a joint position with combination duties so that it is wnough hours to be an important part of someone’s income.

Anonymous wrote:Most people I know of find one but they are not usually reliable. I.e. they will quit after a couple of months. Those who had better experience where cases where their cleaning lady became nanny on the side to make extra cash or their previous nanny who needed extra cash take the gig. Good luck, I will be looking for similar arrangement in 2 years.

This is why we went with an au pair. Trying to find part time care in the DC area, especially in Maryland, is very difficult. A few people seem to find great babysitters, but they are few and far between. Most cannot hold a full time job (hence are unreliable), do not last long, do not have legal status or refuse to pay taxes (we needed a legal situation) or have legal or social issues that eventually come out (suspended drivers license etc). Cost is still $20-$25/hr minimum. After extensive searching through all the usual channels and going through four part time nannies in one year, we went to the au pair program. Overall a big improvement despite all the ups and downs we discuss on this forum.

Most people I know of find one but they are not usually reliable. I.e. they will quit after a couple of months. Those who had better experience where cases where their cleaning lady became nanny on the side to make extra cash or their previous nanny who needed extra cash take the gig. Good luck, I will be looking for similar arrangement in 2 years.

Childcare changes are always stressful, but the AP match process this year is killing me, and I'm looking at switching away. If you've previously had an AP and switched to babysitting, how did you go about it, and how did it go? How long in advance of when you needed them did you start looking for a sitter? Did you have good applicants to choose from? How smooth was the transition?

It makes me nervous to cut off the search without having a replacement lined up, but I think the timeline for finding an afternoon sitter might start long after it's too late to line up an AP.

Thanks for any insight!