Questions to Ask a Babysitter in an Interview
Interview questions for a babysitter, weighted towards what would actually happen on the night: a bumped head, a refused dinner, a child who will not stay in bed, someone at the door, and the things you would want told at pick-up.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How long have you been babysitting, and what ages have you looked after?
Why ask it
Experience with a five-year-old says little about coping with a baby, so listen for the age band rather than the number of years. Someone who has only sat for children older than yours is not disqualified, but the follow-up questions matter more.
What did a typical evening look like with the last family you sat for?
Why ask it
This gets a concrete account rather than a philosophy, and it shows whether they were given a routine or left to invent one. A sitter who cannot describe an ordinary evening in any detail has probably done less of this than the first answer implied.
Are you certified in CPR and first aid, and when did you last renew it?
Why ask it
The renewal date is the useful half. Certification from six years ago means the practical steps have not been rehearsed recently, and you can decide whether that matters to you before ruling anyone out.
What would you do if my child fell and hit their head?
Why ask it
You are listening for whether they check the child before they check the phone, and whether calling you comes before or after deciding it is nothing. A sitter who says they would decide themselves whether it was serious is the answer to worry about.
If something happened and I did not pick up, what would you do next?
Why ask it
The right answer involves a second contact and, if needed, calling emergency services without waiting for permission. Hesitation here usually means they would keep ringing you, which is exactly the wrong instinct.
What would you do if my child had a tantrum and refused to do what you asked?
Why ask it
Distraction, waiting it out and giving a choice are all workable answers. What matters is whether they escalate: any mention of shouting, shaming or withdrawing affection tells you how the evening ends when they are tired.
What would you do if my child asked for something I have said no to?
Why ask it
Children test a new sitter with exactly this in the first hour. You want someone who will say they would check with you or default to no, not someone who thinks a small exception keeps the peace.
How would you handle it if my child refused to eat what I left out?
Why ask it
Look for whether they would offer an alternative, insist, or let it go and tell you. Any of those can work if it matches your household, and the wrong answer is one they would not mention to you afterwards.
How do you handle bedtime when a child keeps getting back up?
Why ask it
This is the most predictable difficulty of the evening. A sitter with real experience describes a repeated, boring routine rather than a clever trick, and knows that giving in once resets the whole thing.
What would you do if my child seemed unwell while I was out?
Why ask it
Judgement matters more than knowledge here. You want someone who would tell you about a temperature or a rash rather than waiting to see, and who would say plainly that they were unsure.
How would you keep two children of different ages occupied at the same time?
Why ask it
Relevant only if you have more than one, and then it is central. Answers that involve one activity both can join beat answers that involve separating them, which usually ends with the younger one following the older around.
What do you do with your phone while you are working?
Why ask it
Ask it plainly rather than hinting. Everyone uses their phone, so the honest answer is about when: after bedtime, not during, and never with headphones in. Denial is less reassuring than a specific rule.
What is your policy on having friends or a partner come over?
Why ask it
Better raised by you than discovered later. A sitter who assumes the answer is no without being told has done this before, and if they ask about it themselves that is a good sign rather than a bad one.
What would you do if someone came to the door while I was out?
Why ask it
Simple and revealing: the answer should involve not opening it to anyone unexpected, and telling you. Sitters who have not thought about it will realise mid-answer, which is a useful moment to agree a rule.
What would you do if my child asked you to keep something from me?
Why ask it
Tests whether they can tell a surprise for your birthday from something you need to know tonight. The answer you want includes never promising secrecy in advance.
When I get back, what sort of thing would you tell me about even if it seemed small?
Why ask it
This is the question that separates a supervisor from a carer. Naming small things, a scraped knee, an odd comment, a skipped meal, means you will hear about the medium-sized things too.
Have you looked after a child with allergies, asthma or additional needs?
Why ask it
If this applies to your child, ask what they actually did rather than whether they are comfortable with it. Being shown an inhaler or an adrenaline pen and asked to explain it back is fair at interview stage.
What is the hardest thing that has happened while you were babysitting, and what did you do?
Why ask it
Everyone with real experience has a story, usually mundane: a locked door, a nosebleed, a parent home very late. Someone who says nothing has ever gone wrong has either not worked much or is managing your impression.
How do you get here, and what changes if I am home later than planned?
Why ask it
Practical and easily forgotten. A sitter relying on a last bus needs a hard finishing time, and it is far better to find that out now than by phone at eleven at night.
Which families could I call for a reference?
Why ask it
Ask for families rather than character references, and then call them. The question to those families is not whether they liked the sitter but whether they booked them again.
Running the interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to structure it
Have your child there for part of it, not all of it
Fifteen minutes with your child in the room shows you whether the sitter talks to them or over them, and whether they get down to their level. Then send your child off, because the questions about emergencies and phones are easier to answer honestly without an audience.
Use your own house as the script
Walk them through the rooms and ask what they would do at each point: stair gate, back door, medicine cupboard, the child's bedroom at 8pm. Concrete places prompt concrete answers in a way that abstract questions do not.
Pay for a trial while you are still at home
An hour or two with you in another room tells you more than any interview. Pay for it as a normal booking, and use it to see how your child is at the handover rather than how the sitter performs.
Practical terms to settle before the first booking
- The hourly rate, whether it rises after bedtime, and how you will pay.
- What happens if you cancel late, and what happens if they do.
- Whether the rate covers tidying up, and what you expect the kitchen to look like.
- A hard finishing time, and what you will pay if you are late back.
- Whether they may drive your children anywhere, and if so, whose car and whose insurance.
What to leave written down every time
- Your mobile number, a second adult's number, and the address of the house written out in full for emergency services.
- Any allergies, medication and doses, along with where the medicine is kept.
- Your doctor's number and the nearest urgent care, plus written consent to seek treatment if you cannot be reached.
- The bedtime routine in order, including whatever small detail matters to your child.
- House rules you actually mind about: screens, snacks, doors, who may be let in.
Signals worth taking seriously
- No references they will let you contact, or references who are all relatives.
- Answers that get vaguer as you ask for detail, particularly about how long ago something happened.
- Any suggestion that they would decide alone whether an injury needed reporting to you.
- Your child being visibly uneasy with them and unable to say why. You do not need a reason to keep looking.