How do you find a babysitter in Irvine California, when you’ve recently moved to a new neighborhood? Even if you previously lived right next door in Tustin California, you may find yourself without your usual stable of reliable babysitters.

The teenager half a block away is now a five mile drive. That doesn’t sound like much of an obstacle, but when she doesn’t have a car, it can make all the difference between having a reliable babysitter on a Saturday night and being stuck at home staring at leftover macaroni and cheese with your DH. The neighbor who was happy to run over for a few minutes while the baby napped and you ran out to pick up your toddler from preschool when the nurse called to let you know he’d thrown up twice is no longer available and your new neighbors all work a  nine-to-five schedule.

Find a Neighborhood Babysitter

So how do you find a babysitter in your new Irvine neighborhood? You can start by taking a walk around the area with your kids in a stroller or wagon and be open to talking to the neighbors you see out and about, especially the teenage girls. Cute kids, tend to attract teenage girls. Just let your kids be their own charming selves and they’ll draw in potential teenage babysitters.

You can hang out at the park and talk to the mothers and nannies that are there hanging out with their children and charges.

Find a Babysitter By Networking

Talk to moms and teachers at your kids school and ask who they use for babysitting.You might have to be careful here because some parents are reluctant to give out their coveted babysitters contact info for fear that she won’t be available when they need her. You might start by asking how they found a good babysitter in your Irvine neighborhood and hope that they volunteer their favorite babysitters phone number, but even if they don’t, they may give you some good tips for finding a wonderful new babysitter for your family.

If you go to church, get to know the nursery workers and find out if they are available for babysitting. Even if you don’t have babies or toddlers yourself, you can still drop into the nursery to help out during the rush when kids are being checked in. This gives you a chance to meet and get to know the nursery workers and determine if they would be good candidates as potential babysitters for your family.

Use A Licensed Babysitting Agency

If this all seems like too much work, you can always look for a licensed babysitting agency who will work with you to find prescreened, CPR and First Aide Certified babysitters.

Sitters Unlimited, will only send tried and true babysitters to our new clients. We do not send new babysitters to new clients. That’s a huge advantage to you, as you know you’ll be getting a babysitter who other parents have already given their “seal of approval”. If you like the babysitter that we send, then she’ll be placed on your Favorite Babysitters list and next time you call we will try first to secure her. If we can’t then we look for a babysitter who sits for the same clients as your preferred babysitter in the hopes that you will also like this babysitter. If so, then you will now have two babysitters on your Favorite Babysitters list. And so on.

The further ahead you can plan your outings the more likely you are to be able to secure the babysitter of your choice. The closer to your date that you call to book your babysitter the more chance you take that she will be booked elsewhere. This is why its good to have a couple of babysitters that your family knows and is comfortable with.

The beauty of using a licensed babysitting agency to find your prescreened babysitters is that if you have to cancel a date it is likely that they will be able to rebook her so that you won’t feel bad about her missing a work date and/or you having to pay a cancellation fee.

You should be ready now to start finding a babysitter in your new Irvine California neighborhood.