Do Babysitting Exchanges Work? Here are some comments from users of similar schemes.......

toypup...
I just found this site and I think it sounds great. I think Erika wrote about an exchange before, but I didn't think I could start one myself and manage it, but his sounds doable. I am looking for people to join my group now (so excited). Has anyone used this before?

toto...
I haven't seen that. I joined a babysitting cooperative when my kids were young in the 1970s and I loved it, but it was an existing group and I had to get comfortable with the people in it first. This looks really great because it eliminates the need for a group secretary who takes care of the hours and such. I was in two groups. One of them used tickets or coupons to keep track of the hours - that was easiest for me, but it did require someone to print out coupons for new members and to explain the system to everyone. The other had a secretary we called and she kept track of the hours though we arranged the sitting stuff by calling the person ourselves. That was trickier because someone had to remember to call and let the secretary know what was going on. Both groups worked ok, but eventually became defunct as kids got older and new members did not come in.

Knit Chic...
I have the book "Smart Mom's Baby-Sitting co-op by Gary Myers. For the most part the book is well done. It's a good place to start. Ericka Kammerer... Honestly, the tricky bit is getting the group of trusted people together. The bookkeeping is really not very difficult if you've got the group of people. I think what made our group successful is that the families really know each other and trust each other. Now, there are larger co-ops out there, some of which have several dozen members and obviously they don't have as tightly knit a community. Different people have different ideas

JennP...
I belong to a co-op and what we do is require prospective members to be sponsored by a current member so that there is accountability and familiarity. More often than not, the prospective member is known by more than one member. Another requirement is that they must attend a meeting before joining so that we get to meet that person and also, so that they can meet us! It's a system that works very well.

Ericka Kammerer... Our group requires sponsorship by a member and then some way of introducing the prospective member (and family) to the current members prior to a membership vote. Usually, that just happens naturally as the prospective member comes to playgroup, goes to Mom's Night Out, or whatever. In cases where that doesn't happen naturally (conflicting schedules, usually) the prospective member holds a little open house--nothing fancy, just an opportunity for members to drop by and chat and get to know them a bit if they wish. I agree that the sponsorship is key. As long as one current member is willing to really stand behind them, odds are it will end well. Best wishes, Ericka about how well they want to know their babysitters before letting them in their homes and entrusting their kids to them. The key is knowing what level of trust is necessary and finding a system that supports it. I don't think there's anything wrong with using the online system. It would likely remove the need for a bookkeeper and might make some things easier *IF* all your members are online frequently and would check for open sits frequently. If you have to go around calling folks to get a sit anyway, then it may not be as much of a benefit. Best wishes, Ericka