How did you recruit your babysitter?

nannynick here is his answer:

have they tried re-naming the file? it may be that there are spaces in the name or something, tell them to make it a simple one word filename! that might be it!
try it and let me know

LOL OTM I can see it now..

Requirements for babaysitter:

Young:
Sexy:
Blonde:

LOL

Theres a quirky one of a lady with a chicken on her shoulder. I like it because I could show dd and say something like "look that lady has a chicken on her shoulder, lets get chicken lady to visit us" lol weird example but it's a kind of ice breaker

i prefer a pic of the person themselves. i know that teenagers use daft pics of them selves based on what they think they look like. i always use my gut with child carer sand have never had a duff one yet (except with those via sitters, sadly)

btw, it is unbelievable the email addresses people use to register with!! honest sexieblondbabysitter at hotmail type stuff - do they really think a parent will use them once they see that??!! and these are often qualified people with loads of experience! maybe i am old fashioned....

nannynick, will ask my tech guy

Harsh as it is.. people do make snap decisions based on what people look like.

I much prefer the lady sitting in the deck chair to the girl who;s face I can hardly see with lots of make up and strapless top

I didn't read the words.. made judgements based on picture/age/crb checked.. THEN read the words

I think pictures of with or without children are find.. just not pics that look like you are on a dating site lol

So from a parents point of view, you feel what the picture looks like is important. So out of interest, do you feel the picture should be of the person, or of the person actually caring for a child?

Overthemill - yes, I have quite a good internet coverage. Though most work actually comes via: Google, and people seeing my car and then using Google!

LMAO - sorry - I just searched on my full postcode and the first picture that came up was of a 16year old girl who looked like she was advertising an entirly different sort of service

Found quite a few options now though (with more conservative pictures lol)

overthemill - I'm having trouble with photo upload. It does not produce any error message, so don't know why. Image is 150x154 pixels, JPG, 68Kb. Any ideas?

Will try whole postcode then.. (stupidly) hadn't thought of that

well sometimes there just aren't sitters in the area - good idea for a part time job then! i've done it myself via the site btw. and use it for sitters too.

nannynick, you've been registered for two years now! amazingly. sorry to hear no owrk from it but you do have fantastic array of other advertising your services. some sitters have had masses of work - it obviously depends.

On FindASitter you need to search using the full postcode, not part of it. Picking an MK43 postcode at random... MK43 8GZ, there are 6 sitters within 10 miles.
As a babysitter myself, I travel up to 10 miles, thus why I searched at that radius. I have been registed with FindASitter for about a year now, but haven't had any enquiries. Many in my area show prices lower than I charge, so perhaps that's why.

I tried that but I was too far out for any of the nursery nurses and now dd is at school I've lost the ability to ask

I use one of the younger nursery nurses from dd1's nursery. It's brilliant, she's CRB checked, dd1 has known her for 3 years and sees it as a treat if she comes. Best option for me, total peace of mind.

ooh now i want to know exactly where you are!! I think it must be up near the famous abbey? or the college that sounds like a gaskell/trollope novel??

REally? you are local to me(?) I am M K 4 3

not sure exactly where you are (I am MK45) but I have done some leafleting recently and also asked at schools - getting 6th formers and also at the colleges to sign up. i also target childminders/teaching assistants/nannies.

I searched on a number of MK postcodes, obviously just none registered yet

I will keep an eye on the site as I'm always looking for reliable peopele. I have one girl at the moment who is great but always good ot have a back up plan

yes i know. i try to be discreet and honestly am not advertising, just telling you about options. there are other sites i know!! eg sitters, www.nannyjob.co.uk

the postcode search does work (just checked!) but I guess there may not be any babysitters in your area yet - where are you, i can try to get some sign up. I started the site from my own experience, i planned to do my home county but it just mushroomed into nationwide but relies on my paid for ads for sitters plus wod of mouth.
if anyone knows any one who babysits tell them

OverTheMill, does your website's postcode search work? I've just tried 3 postcodes and no babysitters showing up with 25miles of any of them.

Will register as a parent anyhow.

Ps. You might end up with your post being removed as technically you have to pay to advertise

Wow overthemill, you have 4 sitters in my area AND one does overnight AND it's cheaper than sitters!

Brilliant.

I got mine through my DDs nursery

i could never find one so i started this website and now I have thousands to choose from!
I did n't get on with Sitters, sadly, as they wouldnt let the babysitter bath or medicate my severely eczema -y child (who needed reg medication and bathing)

I've used sitters for years and have always been really pleased with the ladies who come to me.

Some childminder offer this as an extra - try ringing round? (you can get a list from childrend informtion service) The benefits of using a childcare professional are:- They will have CRB check, refrences, will have attended first aid courses etc.

Some childminder offer this as an extra - try ringing round? (you can get a list from childrend informtion service) The benefits of using a childcare professional are:- They will have CRB check, refrences, will have attended first aid courses etc.

i used sitters, tried 5 or 6 different ladies and settled on the present one. i now bypass sitters and book her myself.