Find the Perfect Sitter This Summer

CHICAGO, May 19, 2009 --- At the end of May, schools across the nation will be closing their doors for the summer, releasing millions of children to their parents for three whole months. And while this may be good news to kids, parents are scrambling to find reliable sitters to help care for their children during summer vacation. Sittercity.com, the nation's most trusted online source for nannies and babysitters, offers the following tips to find the perfect summer sitter:

• Tip One: Start Early - Post your babysitting job on Sittercity.com a month before school lets out. This will allow adequate time to identify and screen new candidates, check references and run background checks. Remember millions of parents are also looking for summer sitters, so starting early gives you a leg up on the competition.
• Tip Two: Ask About Vacations Upfront - Even the best babysitter needs a vacation. Make sure to ask potential babysitters about their summer vacation schedules. If your sitter is planning on taking a two-week trip to the beach as soon as you get back from your family vacation, you'll be back to square one: finding a babysitter. Ask for a written schedule up-front to determine if your schedules are compatible.
• Tip Three: Consider Vacation Pay - If your family is planning on taking a vacation this summer, consider offering your summer sitter "vacation pay." Offering her a stipend while your family is on vacation may keep her on the job so you're less likely to lose her to another family. See if there are other jobs that your sitter can do while you are out of town: pet sit, take care of the house/water the grass and plants.
• Tip Four: Write Down the Details - Write down all the events your children are signed up for this summer: camp, summer school, arts and crafts classes, play dates, etc., so your sitter has all the details. If your children would like to have friends over or want to go to a friend's house, make sure to write down the contact information, address and details, so your sitter has them at hand.
• Tip Five: Plan for Fun - Give your sitter some "fun money" that she can use to take the kids to the park, movies or plan for picnics, bike rides and water balloon fights. Make sure your sitter knows what she can and cannot do for fun and help her plan outings that will keep the kids engaged and active during the summer months.

"Sittercity.com has been helping parents find trustworthy babysitters for nearly a decade," says Genevieve Thiers, founder and CEO of Sittercity.com. "We've got more than a million caregiver profiles across the country on our site, so parents can rest assured that we've got the perfect summer sitter right in their area."

With Sittercity.com, parents have full access to hundreds -- even thousands -- of experienced caregivers in every city across the nation, all with detailed profiles that feature their experience, background checks, references, reviews and photos. Parents can either search for the perfect sitter using a wide range of caregiver criteria or post a job so the most qualified caregivers come directly to them.

In addition to providing parents with access to America's best caregivers, Sittercity.com also makes it easy for parents to pick out that perfect sitter. From its four-step screening process (which includes reading caregiver reviews, conducting interviews, checking references and reviewing background checks) to its interactive Babysitter Rate Calculator, Sittercity.com takes all the guesswork out of hiring a sitter. While agencies charge up to $2,500 to search for caregivers, Sittercity.com provides parents with all of these tools as well as unlimited access to caregivers in her area for as low as $8/month.

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