12 questions to ask a babysitter before her first sit

A babysitter’s profile tells you her name and year. A ten-minute conversation — by text, phone, or over coffee at the Well — tells you whether you can hand her your kids and your house key. Here are the twelve questions worth asking, and what to listen for.

Experience and instincts

• 1. What ages have you cared for the most? Comfort with a 10-year-old and comfort with a 10-month-old are different skills.
• 2. Tell me about a time something went wrong on a sit. You are not looking for a perfect record — you are looking for calm, honesty, and what she did next.
• 3. What would you do if my child refused to go to bed? Any answer that involves patience and consistency beats a clever trick.
• 4. Do you know CPR or first aid? A yes is a genuine plus; an honest no with willingness to learn is fine for most sits.

Logistics and reliability

• 5. What does your typical week look like? A sitter who knows her own schedule cancels less.
• 6. How do you get here? Own car, campus shuttle, a roommate dropping her off — know before the night of.
• 7. What is your policy on phone use during a sit? The right answer acknowledges the phone exists and puts the kids first.
• 8. Are you comfortable with our pets / our neighborhood / our rules? Surface anything unusual now, not at 6 PM Friday.

Judgment

• 9. When would you call us versus handling it yourself? The best sitters have a low threshold for a text and a high threshold for panic.
• 10. When would you call 911 first? She should not hesitate: emergencies first, parents second.
• 11. What do you actually enjoy doing with kids? Enthusiasm for crafts, books, or backyard games predicts a good evening better than any credential.
• 12. What questions do you have for us? Good sitters interview you back. It is the single best sign you have found one.

The Village Sitters head start

Every sitter on our network is already verified through her Spring Arbor University email and personally approved before her first claim — so this conversation is a second layer, not a first line of defense. Ten minutes, twelve questions, and you will know.