Need to find a babysitter for a special needs child? Learn how here!
By Babysits
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4 min read
When you have a child with special needs, you know that you may not be able to just ask the neighbor to come babysit. Special needs children often need special care and extra attention. This makes finding a qualified babysitter difficult for many parents of special needs children… Are you looking for special needs childcare? Here are some tips to find the qualified babysitter that fits your family’s special needs!
Get Filtering!
Using Babysits’ Filters, you can easily find a babysitter who is suitable for babysitting your child. You can filter on first aid certificates, experience with special needs, references, age, and in some countries on background check documents, such as the Working With Vulnerable People Check.
This way, you can find a whole range of specialized babysitters who are suitable to babysit your child and care for their special needs.
Do take into account: A specialized babysitter may need a first aid certificate and a background check in order to guarantee the safety of your child.
Next to this, experience is a key point to pay attention to. In the babysitter’s profile, you can read more specific information about the experience that the babysitter has. Do you want to know more about a babysitter? Send them a message and ask or plan an introductory call!
The Introductory Call or Meet and Greet - What to ask the babysitter when you have a special needs child
We suggest always having an introductory call or meet and greet prior to hiring a babysitter. In this way, you can get to know each other better and you have a better idea of whether the babysitter is the best fit to care for your child.
Some of the questions you could ask during a meet and greet are:
- Do you have experience working with children with special needs?
- What special needs do the children you have worked with have?
- What does a normal day look like when you are babysitting?
- How have you gained this experience?
- Do you have a first aid certificate, background check, or do you have a degree or experience in pedagogy or childcare?
- Why would you like to babysit our child?
- Do you think you are responsible enough to babysit our child?
- What do you expect from us, as a family?
- Are there specific things that you find difficult or that you would like to know more about?
- What would you do in an emergency situation?
Of course, there are other general questions you can ask during a meet and greet. Take a look at our interview questions article for more tips.
Communication is key!
It’s important to figure out if the babysitter is qualified enough for the work, but it is also extremely important for the babysitter to have as much information as possible about your child. So, make sure you make your expectations clear about what you want your special needs caregiver to do, what tasks there are and where they need to pay extra attention. When the tasks, expectations, and information about your child are clear, the chances of misunderstanding or miscommunication become much smaller.
Topics you can discuss during the meet and greet are:
- Tell more about your child
- Your child’s routine
- What medicine your child may need to take and when
- Potential allergies your child may have
- Tasks that you expect the babysitter to do
- How often you are looking for them to babysit
- Payment that you offer
- Things that they need to do
- Activities that your kid can do and likes to do
- Your expectations for the babysitter
We hope that these tips help you find the trustworthy, caring, specialized babysitter for your child! Did these tips help you? Check out our other tips for parents!
