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If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of young parents, you potentially have the setting for an effective babysitting network. The idea is that parents trade babysitting on an hour-per-hour basis, thus saving money and also having people care for their kids who they know and trust. Often the kids already know each other from playdates, so the babysitting itself becomes another playtime, which is pretty easy on the parent supervisor.

In our neighborhood, our babysitting co-op has operated for about four years. We've had ebbs and flows of enthusiasm, but basically it works pretty well. Here are a few random suggestions I can make, based on our experience.

1. Someone has to be in charge. One parent has to be the leader, or the network will fall apart. The leader keeps track of the hours that each parent has contributed and sends out monthly updates on the "balance" of hours accrued and owed. The leader is also the one who disseminates any rules changes or announces when a new member has arrived.

2. All the stuff the leader does should be handled by email. It's the simplest way that consumes the least time.

3. Set rules at the start about how you handle babysitting multiple kids and different times of day. In our co-op, the first kid is worth 1.0 point for each hour, but the second kid is worth 0.5 point, and so is the third, and so on. Many groups make each kid worth 1.0 point each, no matter how many are in the family. You have to decide on what is fair. Some co-op networks charge more for sitting on the weekends; some charge more for sitting during the day, when you have to pay more attention to the kids. And so on.

4. Do not let any family get too far behind in owing points (hours) to the group. This family is on the path to being a deadbeat that doesn't pull its weight. This is why you need a group leader who will fix the problem before it makes everyone so angry that they quit.

5. To get your group off to a good start, have a party. This will introduce parents to each other, as well as kids to each other. This will raise everyone's comfort level and enthusiasm immensely. You will also get to know your neighbors better. Finally, you should have a meeting at the party to set up some ground rules - such as how points are accrued, and are certain things not allowed. For example, we don't let in any family that has guns in the house.

Learn more about this author, B. B. James.
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