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Hey everyone!
I am toying with the idea of starting a baby-sitting co-op in my circle of friends. I just don't see how else I'm supposed to get enough time to myself, without breaking the bank, or putting my kid in day care.
Off the top of my head I can think of a few issues that would need to be addressed by the involved parties prior to making a go at it, but I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with any sort of organized group where moms/dads trade off parenting.
What do you do for families with more than one kid? How do you judge when to cancel your participation based on illness? How do you keep track of who has done how many hours? What other things come up that I'm not thinking of? Is it hard to keep participation regular enough to make it work?
Thanks in advance, for sharing.
Sitris
I am toying with the idea of starting a baby-sitting co-op in my circle of friends. I just don't see how else I'm supposed to get enough time to myself, without breaking the bank, or putting my kid in day care.
Off the top of my head I can think of a few issues that would need to be addressed by the involved parties prior to making a go at it, but I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with any sort of organized group where moms/dads trade off parenting.
What do you do for families with more than one kid? How do you judge when to cancel your participation based on illness? How do you keep track of who has done how many hours? What other things come up that I'm not thinking of? Is it hard to keep participation regular enough to make it work?
Thanks in advance, for sharing.
Sitris
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Re: baby sitting co-ops?
Thu, November 15, 2007 - 10:17 PMwhere are you? how old is your kid? i'm in portland & my son is one year. -
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Re: baby sitting co-ops?
Thu, December 13, 2007 - 9:12 AMI am in Portland. My son is 6 years old, I am all for an all ages co-op!
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Re: baby sitting co-ops?
Fri, November 16, 2007 - 12:56 PMAnd my daughter is 18 months, almost to the day!
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Re: baby sitting co-ops?
Sat, November 17, 2007 - 3:11 PMI recently moved from San Diego to Hillsboro and am looking for a babysitting co-op to join. I was in one in San Diego so I can tell you all about the one I was in there. We swapped coupons that had points. 1 child was 2 points per hour. 2 children were 3 points per hour. We paid a $10 deposit to join (which you get back when you leave the group) and $1 dollar a month in dues to cover printing coupons or any advertising. We had monthly meeting and a certain number we had to attend per year. We had different rules too. None that were strict. I can give you more info if you want more. Just let me know.
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Re: baby sitting co-ops?
Sun, November 18, 2007 - 5:05 PMWhen my kids were younger we belonged to a babysitting co-op.
It was required that to join you paid a small membership fee and had a safety inspection that was given by 2 people that were already members. You had to pass the inspection (there was a list of things) in at least 2 visits. No sick kids were allowed to use the co-op services. We used a coupon/point system of tickets that had been stamped with the co-op name. You got 10 coupons per child when you paid to join to get you started.
We had monthly meeting and occasional family activities so that everyone could get to know each other. It's easier to say to kids that they are going to Susie or John's house than going to someone's house that they don't know. We also would just visit new co-op members to make things comfortable before setting up a sit.
I have all the rules packed away somewhere and would be happy to dig the up if you need them. -
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Re: baby sitting co-ops?
Sat, December 8, 2007 - 12:28 AMI'm back! Sorry to drop out for a bit. Sometimes it takes awhile to get to the computer : )
Wow! Some co-ops sound really involved. Good to know. Here I was just imagining something much less formal. But I can see how the rules and coupons and safety inspections would make it really work. Like really work for real.
It sounds like in both of your cases that it was a positive experience.
And, yes, I would absolutely love to take a look at the rules if you still have them around.
Thank you soo soo much! I am excited to see how this takes shape.
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Re: baby sitting co-ops?
Thu, January 10, 2008 - 11:39 PMWhen I lived in Montreal, two of my friends and I created a co-op together. We each watched all the kids once a week, four hours at a time. When it was someone's turn, we watched the kids in our own home. We would bring our own lunch for our kid. With the three of us: we minded for four hours one day a week and then had two days off. It worked quite well.
