Questions to Ask Babysitter
The long version of the conversation you have before hiring a sitter for the first time, from how they got into it through bedtime, refusals, injuries, the door, screens, money and cancellations. It is the fullest of these lists on purpose: work through it once with someone you are serious about. If you are still comparing several candidates, or the sitter is a teenager with no track record, the narrower lists fit those situations better.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How did you get into babysitting?
Why ask it
An easy opener that quietly sorts people. Someone who started with younger siblings or cousins has years of unpaid practice behind them; someone who started last month because they need the money may still be good, but you will want more from the rest of the answers.
Who have you looked after recently, and how old were they?
Why ask it
Ages matter more than years of experience. A sitter fluent with school-age children may never have changed a nappy or handled a two-year-old who bolts, and it is much easier to ask now than to discover it at 8pm.
What would the first ten minutes look like after I walk out the door?
Why ask it
Listen for whether the children appear in the answer. Good sitters describe getting the kids into something straight away, because the wobble comes right after the parent leaves. Vaguer answers usually mean the television goes on.
Bedtime here takes about forty minutes. How do you handle a child who keeps getting back out of bed?
Why ask it
Give them the real duration first so the answer is about your evening rather than a hypothetical one. You want a method, walking them back quietly, sticking with the routine, not an assurance that children generally like them.
If they refuse what I have left for dinner, what happens?
Why ask it
This is the most predictable conflict of the night, so an unprepared answer here tells you a lot. Sitters who immediately offer toast or cereal will do that every time; sitters who say they would check with you first are showing you how they handle grey areas generally.
What do you do when a child is mid-meltdown and nothing you try is working?
Why ask it
The phrase "nothing is working" is deliberate. It rules out the confident answers and asks what they do at the end of their tactics, which is where you learn whether they get calmer or louder.
If one of them hurts the other, what do you do?
Why ask it
Watch for whether they separate first and ask questions afterwards, and whether they plan to tell you. A sitter who describes conducting an investigation between two small children has not done this often.
Where is the line between something you would sort out yourself and something you would call me about?
Why ask it
You are agreeing a threshold, not testing them. Say your own line out loud afterwards, because most bad evenings come from a sitter who guessed wrong about whether a bumped head was worth a phone call.
Has anything ever gone properly wrong on a job, and what did you do?
Why ask it
Experienced sitters have a story: a locked door, a nosebleed that would not stop, a parent who was two hours late. "Nothing has ever happened" from someone with years of work usually means they have not been paying attention or would rather not say.
Do you have first aid or CPR training, and when did you last do it?
Why ask it
The date is the useful half. Certificates from four years ago mostly mean the person once cared enough to take the course, which is worth something, but not the same as recent practice.
What would your phone be doing while the children are awake, and how much would you be texting me?
Why ask it
Asking both halves at once makes the question about a plan rather than an accusation. The answer you want is specific: on silent, in a pocket, one message when they are down. Both extremes are a problem, since constant updates mean the kids are not settled.
What would you do if someone came to the door while we were out?
Why ask it
Judgement at the door is worth a minute of conversation. The right answer is that nobody comes in without checking with you, including relatives and anyone who says they are expected, and this is your chance to say so plainly.
Would you ever want a friend or a partner to come by during a shift?
Why ask it
Ask directly rather than hoping. Some sitters will say yes because they have done it before with other families and think nothing of it, which is exactly the misunderstanding you want to clear up in advance rather than discover afterwards.
Do you drive, and would you be up for a pickup or a drop-off?
Why ask it
Driving changes the job: insurance, car seats, who fits where. A sitter who says they would rather not is being sensible, and a sitter who is casual about whose car and whose seats needs a firmer conversation before you agree to it.
Have you looked after a child with a food allergy or a daily medication before, and how do you feel about pets?
Why ask it
Say your own household's version out loud and watch the reaction. Hesitation about an inhaler or an EpiPen is not disqualifying if they say so honestly; casual confidence about something they have never handled is the answer to worry about.
How do you feel about screens: would you put something on, and for how long?
Why ask it
Everyone says they follow the parents' rules, so ask for the number instead. A sitter who admits they would use half an hour to get dinner made is being realistic, and you can decide whether that matches what you want.
Is there any part of this job you would rather not do?
Why ask it
Giving explicit permission to say no gets you a real answer, usually about bath time, homework, or a long bedtime. Far better to hear it now than to have it quietly skipped every week.
What do you charge, how do you count the hours, and how would you like to be paid?
Why ask it
Rate is the easy part. Rounding, minimum bookings, extra per child and what happens when you get home late are what actually cause friction, and settling them now spares an awkward conversation in the hallway at midnight.
What does your availability look like over the next couple of months, and how much notice do you need from me?
Why ask it
This tests whether the arrangement is workable at all. A sitter with exams, a shift job or a term ending soon may be great and still not be available on the nights you actually need.
What would you do if you had to cancel on the day?
Why ask it
Late cancellations are the main reason these arrangements end, so ask what their process is. Someone who says they would tell you as soon as they knew, and has a name they could suggest instead, has thought about your side of it.
What would a few hours here look like, from you arriving to lights out?
Why ask it
You are listening for whether there is any plan beyond the television. Sitters who mention asking the children what they want to do, or bringing something with them, tend to be the ones your kids ask for again.
Would you be able to make a simple meal, and what would you make?
Why ask it
The specific answer tells you whether they cook or reheat, and either can be fine as long as you both expect the same thing. It also opens the conversation about what in the kitchen is theirs to use.
How would you get here, and how would you get home afterwards?
Why ask it
The part most parents forget until midnight. A sitter relying on a last bus will start watching the clock at ten, and one you have to drive home changes what a late night costs you.
What would you want me to have ready before you arrive?
Why ask it
Experienced sitters ask for written numbers, the bedtime routine, allergy details, and where the first aid kit is. No requests at all usually means they have not been left alone in someone else's house before.
If this became a regular booking, what would make you want to keep coming back?
Why ask it
Sitters stay with families who pay on time, come home when they said, and leave clear instructions. Hearing what matters to this person tells you what you would need to do to keep them, which is the part most families only work out after losing someone good.
Can you give me two families I could call, including one you sit for now?
Why ask it
Asking for a current family is what turns this from a formality into a check. When you call, ask what they had to remind the sitter about rather than whether they were good, because the first question gets a real answer.
Running the conversation
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Where and when to have it
Talk once without the children, once with them
A phone or video call first gets the logistics and the awkward questions out of the way. Then meet at your house with the kids there, because how a sitter greets a shy four-year-old tells you more than any answer on this list.
Pay for a trial hour while you are still home
Ask them to take over for an hour while you do something in another room. You will learn whether they get down on the floor, whether they can hold attention, and whether your children go looking for you.
Describe your evening before you ask about theirs
Say what the hours are, how many children, what state they will be in at handover and what a bad night looks like in your house. Answers get much more useful once the sitter can picture the actual job.
What the answers are telling you
Prefer specifics to reassurance
"I am great with kids" and "I would follow your rules" are not answers. "I would set a timer and let him pick the last book" is, and the difference is whether they are describing something they have actually done.
Take honest limits seriously in a good way
A sitter who says they find bedtime hard, or that they have never given medication, is being more useful than one who says yes to everything. Over-agreement early is often the first sign of an arrangement that quietly stops working.
Notice who asks you questions
Sitters who ask about allergies, where the first aid kit is, what to do about the front door and what time you will really be back are showing you how they will run the evening. End by asking what they would like to know about your family and listen to what comes.
Easy things to get wrong
Interviewing without agreeing the boundaries
Asking about visitors, phones and driving is only half the job. Say your answer out loud too, and put the important ones in a text afterwards so there is a record you both saw.
Skipping the money detail
Vague pay arrangements end more sitter relationships than any childcare disagreement. Fix the rate, the rounding and the late-return rule before the first booking.
Treating the reference call as optional
A confident interview is not evidence. Ask for two recent families with children close to your kids' ages, and call rather than email.
Leaving them without the basics written down
Whatever they said in the interview, nobody remembers an address and a doctor's number under pressure. Leave your mobile, a second contact, the address, allergies and doses on one sheet on the counter.