Baby sitter: how to choose it?

What should a good baby sitter be like? Here are our tips for choosing a good babysitter for very young children and the questions to ask at the interview.

Entrusting a newborn to someone else's hands is a difficult time for any mom. Withdrawal can lead to feelings of guilt, anxiety, and the fear that the child will miss you. Whether it's to go to work or because you need to disconnect a little from the constant attention that a newborn requires, remember that being a little away is good for both you and him. Breaking the routine and finding some space for you and the couple makes you go back to your baby more serene. And a happy mother is better than a mother who can't take it anymore. To experience the first distances from the child with peace of mind, choose a person you trust completely and start gradually.

Be prepared to leave it in other hands

If you have lived in symbiosis with your baby for two months, leaving him with the babysitter all morning might be too long a step. You need to get your baby used to the babysitter and you need to get used to it too! So start getting the babysitter to come for a few hours while you're at home too. This is the best way to understand if you have chosen the right person, and to show her the baby's routine.

While the babysitter takes care of the baby, take the opportunity to rest or do all those little things that you don't have time to do with a baby at home. Resist the urge to run over there whenever you hear him cry and let the babysitter calm him down. The next step is to leave the house for even just a short walk or breakfast out. Sometimes it doesn't take much to recharge. This way you will get used to being away from the baby and be ready to leave it for an entire evening or to go back to work after motherhood. If you are breastfeeding, start using the pump a few days earlier to see if you can pull enough for a full breastfeed.

When is it too early to leave the baby with the babysitter?

If you are breastfeeding, wait until breastfeeding is well underway (it takes at least 6 weeks) before leaving at feeding time. Getting your milk out of the bottle could be confusing because sucking is different.

What should a good baby sitter be like?

The main thing to feel comfortable when you leave your child is to know that you are leaving him with the right person, someone he will be comfortable with and be safe with. But how to understand who is the right person? In addition to having all the characteristics of a good babysitter, the baby sitter for babies must know how to take care of the child with that mixture of balance, attention, intuition, patience and sweetness that are indispensable with the very little ones. Not only. She must have experience and maturity, be attentive, organized, good at observing and communicating.

With experience

First of all, the experience. Choose a babysitter who has already taken care of a baby, because with the little ones, experience is more important than training. You can learn how to change a diaper and bathe your baby, but only experience can help you recognize the reason for desperate crying or prevent potential dangers. A babysitter who is also a mother, for example, has all the preparation she needs even if she has not taken a childcare course. (If, however, her experience as a mother dates back to twenty years ago, it is better to provide a little "review").

Not too young

The age of the babysitter for babies is also important: a more mature person is better. A young babysitter is preferred for children aged two and up, when enthusiasm and energy to play all day count. To take care of a newborn, on the other hand, you need above all maturity, intuition, patience, initiative, security and balance to better manage small difficulties, the bad day, the crying that does not stop.

Safety prepared

Whatever the age or experience, it is important that the babysitter has taken a pediatric first aid course. Even if the babysitter is a mom, she may not know about unblocking maneuvers for babies.

Good observer and attentive to details

Careful observation and the ability to notice details are important when caring for a newborn. The needs of newborns must be interpreted through the little things: a look can mean sleep, the tone of crying indicates fear, a hand that often returns to touch the ear means pain. The experience helps to interpret the signals of the newborn, but it is good that the babysitter you choose is an attentive person with a good spirit of observation.

Able to play

Life from 0 to 12 months is not just food, diaper and nap. In the first months of life, play is essential for the development of the child and any new skill must be encouraged and stimulated through play. The baby sitter for babies must offer the right stimuli to the child, through the right toys for babies. From puppets that appear and disappear, to objects to put in the mouth safely and drop, pouring liquids, boxes to empty and fill, books to leaf through, listen to, every age has its own game and the babysitter for babies must know it and propose it.

Good at planning and well organized

A good baby sitter needs to be well organized and able to plan her work time. The day of a small child must be repeated the same every day and be a harmonious combination of food, walk, play, bath, nap that are repeated at the same times. The baby food must be ready when the baby is hungry, the bed available if he is sleepy. And all of this requires organization and the ability to plan the day.

Non smoker

Better if the babysitter doesn't smoke, especially when it comes to babies. Because the little ones are particularly sensitive to smells and stay a long time in the babysitter's arms, therefore in contact with his clothes and his skin, where they can inhale the so-called "third-hand smoke". These are toxic residues that extinguished cigarettes release into the environment and that are deposited on clothes and skin, furniture, upholstery and objects in the house. Third-hand smoking is dangerous for the health, especially of children. So even if the babysitter only smokes on the balcony, the baby can inhale third-hand smoke from his hair or clothes. On the risks of smoking for children.