How do you find babysitters?

[EMS83]

I've been so (over?) protective of my kids and they've only stayed with grandparents,  but they're old enough now that I really just need a responsible adult I can call to supervise them for the random occasion so we don't overtax the grandparents (who already have a kid for a day each month and do overnights each month, plus hosting us for dinner each month).  We live far from church, and don't know anyone in our area very well.  So in that sort of situation, is there a site and/or screening process y'all use when you need actual paid sitters?  

[Chris in VA]

Well, there's Care.com and Sittercity, but IDK--I have listed myself as a sitter on there and found jobs, but never the other way around. 

When our kiddos were small, we had babysitters from the neighborhood, from church, and from recommendations of other people who had a sitter (though they were reluctant to share, because once you find a good one, you don't want them booking other clients! lol). Does it have to be an adult? 

[2_girls_mommy]

I have teens that are very very busy babysitters. They are both girl scouts and through scouts have been Red Cross CPR and First Aid certified every two years since they were about 9. One has been through Red Cross Babysitter certifications and a Babysitter course through the extension center of a local college. The younger missed the Red Cross one, but got the one from the college.  One has been a Counselor in Training at resident camps for two years in a row, the other will start her first time this summer. Both are strong swimmers and did a summer of swim team and one did lifeguard training camp (wasn't old enough to get certified that year, but got enough training that some families allow her to take their kids to the pool.) Until recently my odd has chosen babysitting as her part time job vs. looking for an hourly job. She makes more money doing this per hour and can control her schedule. She has been working with her certifications towards working in camps with kids, and did just get a job doing that for the first time, so the next teen will begin to take over more of the babysitting jobs.  She has gotten on the job training volunteering in children's church and in a preschool dance class as well as occasionally having paid jobs as a team with her older sister and one family that does specifically call her even though she's younger just because the kids really love her.  I made sure they were qualified with babysitting in mind as a way for them to earn money as teens.

They have gotten known from me telling parents at the younger's activities that they are available and are qualified and then from those families recomending them to others. Most of the kids in my preschooler's classes come from families with siblings close togther in age, meaning they are all quite young. With our large age gap, I have teens available when many families don't. So maybe ask around of families with older siblings to see if any of them have kids trained for this.  Possibly you have a family that you know that has olders that are qualified? 

[mmasc]

I’ve only done word of mouth...asking people I know well with children who they use, asking someone with an older teen if they babysit, etc.