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What do you mean qualified? Are we talking about quality-fied or do me mean having a Babysitting qualification? When I ran babysitting training programs it was generally young people aged 11 16 who were the most interested in attending. A certificate of attendance and completion was awarded to those teenagers who completed the program successfully. Most of the students already had babysitting work with friends or relatives, so the training served to better equip them for the job and raise their awareness of potential difficulties and emergencies. However, no amount of training could qualify' them for the real thing.

Who would you trust with the life of your baby or young child? Of course, you do not expect the worst to happen - but happen it might. Your house may be burgled while you are out. You might forget to turn off the iron. You may even have left a cigarette burning in the ash tray. Your house will not wait until you get home before it decides to catch fire. Your child may fall down the stairs; the sitter may fall down the stairs. Who do you know who will be able to cope with any or all of these emergencies in your absence?
Image this scenario. The MP3 player is turned up to the max and plugged well in to your babysitters' ears. There is no chance of hearing your precious baby cry. How long will he be left to scream or choke on the bottle that he has been propped up with to feed himself? This may all sound like scare mongering, but it is a reality. Make it your mission to ascertain whether the primary interest of your baby sitter is financial gain or the welfare of your child?
This is not a negative review of young baby sitters. On the contrary, because sitters of any age can be less than mature about their responsibilities to the children in their care you must be absolutely sure that you are leaving your child in the hands of a person that you can trust; otherwise you will be fretting all evening and there will be no point in you going out at all!
Find out all you can about your potential babysitter. Ask friends and neighbors if they have used this person. If so, would they recommend him or her? Ensure that your child has the opportunity to interviews' the potential candidate. If they do not get on while you are in the room they certainly will not when you are out of the house; never leave your child with a sitter that they do not know. What could be more frightening than waking up to find a stranger in your bedroom?
When do you find a babysitter you can trust with your child's life, don not recommend her to anyone you may lose her!

Learn more about this author, Margaret Simms.
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