[katniss]

We belong to a babysitting club - its fabulous! Basically its a group of families (about 15) who all know someone in the group - you have to be referred by someone who has known you for a while. We have a points system - one point for each hour before midnight and two for after. (I think its earlier during the week). We all now know each other quite well as we also have regular get togethers like bbqs, or park afternoons.

What a great set up!

My MIL is pretty much the main babysitter but I can ask a cousin and SIL if desperate. I never ask my parents because my mum has health issues and I feel bad.

So if they can't babysit then we don't go out. I don't feel comfortable paying babysitting companies. I need to know the person to feel comfortable.

We recently went to a family wedding but it was a small backyard wedding so it was fine to take them.

[spersephone]

I can ask my mum on occasion, but she lives 150km away. Other than that, I really don't have anyone. So we go out in turns, or only together when mum can babysit.

[jaismum]

No one. If we can't get any of our family (and there's lots of them, so it would be pretty odd if they were ALL busy), we don't go.

I will NEVER hire a babysitter from an agency or the like. I need to trust people with my children. I don't trust strangers.

This!

[baddmammajamma]

Guess what?

We found our amazing babysitter via findababysitter...you know, the ones who have an active advertising presence on EB...

My family lives in the U.S; my husband's family is in Victoria. When we first arrived in Sydney, we knew precisely ZERO people.

As much as we love being parents, we need time alone that doesn't involve our children.

Our main babysitter is a local uni student who lives at home (parents are pillars of the community), studying early childhood education, and an honors student. The downside is that good babysitters can be expensive. As a result, we don't use ours as much as I would like -- but it's an issue of cost, not trust.

Thankfully, I also now have a large network of girlfriends (fellow mums of young kids). If I ask, I can usually find someone who is happy to host our kids -- and in return, I gladly take their children one day or evening so that THEIR parents can get a little break.

This post has been edited by baddmammajamma: 10/12/2011, 02:53 PM

[amoral lemur]

No one. If we can't get any of our family (and there's lots of them, so it would be pretty odd if they were ALL busy), we don't go.

I will NEVER hire a babysitter from an agency or the like. I need to trust people with my children. I don't trust strangers.

VERY envious of your situation. We have next to no family support mostly due to distance. Mostly we use paid babysitters and also do swaps with other local parents. I would not be ale to run my business / follow my passions / have a decent social life/marriage otherwise.

We belong to a babysitting club - its fabulous! Basically its a group of families (about 15) who all know someone in the group - you have to be referred by someone who has known you for a while. We have a points system - one point for each hour before midnight and two for after. (I think its earlier during the week). We all now know each other quite well as we also have regular get togethers like bbqs, or park afternoons.

If you need a sitter, you just email the group and usually have a response within 24 hours - we've never not been able to get someone to sit our girls.

Without them we too would never go out - it has been a marriage saver for us Plus my husband travels a lot for work so it means I can do things like sign up for a night course and not have to worry about missing a night if he is away.

That's a great idea. Might try and arrange something like that.

I don't quite get the concern about "strangers" The kids love it when our babysitter comes over. They see her like an older sister. She is way more fun and active than I am.

[Kylie Orr]

I'm with you baddmammajamma. Everyone needs a break and every marriage needs some adult time, and not everyone has family willing or available to help. Finding a sitter, or doing a swap with other mums is a great alternative.

I also looked at the babysitters site and had every intention of signing up and trialling some sitters. Of course life got in the way and I haven't yet got around to it.

I also set up a babysitting swap with a friend and we just got diaries out and did an exchange once a month - the date was changeable if something came up but it was nice to know that the offer could be reciprocated so then I didn't feel so bad when they helped me out too.

I will NEVER hire a babysitter from an agency or the like. I need to trust people with my children. I don't trust strangers.

This is a very strong statement. We all need to trust people with our children and we all need time out. Trust can be earned and I don't see that getting to know someone in short bursts first through an agency or other recommendation is that risky a venture?!

[Bart.]

We don't have any family around us so we just don't go out.

This post has been edited by Bartholomew: 12/12/2011, 11:57 AM

[Neiladvani]

I don't need babysitting for my family i'll manage by my self

[Possum_gal]

If we can't get MIL or mum to watch the kids, we have my g/f's daughter who is more than happy, or a mate of DH's g/f who loves watching them. We get out, just DH and I, at least once a month regularly. Lately it's been every couple of weekends though. I think it's definitely important to couples to have that alone time, and I'm very grateful that I can do that.

[BronR]

A good friend has 2 daughters in their early 20's at Uni who are more than willing to babysit for us and our children love them both (and I've known these girls since they were in primary school). Sometimes when I've booked one they will both turn up just for fun (they know they have to split the money in this case).

I admit when our children were younger we really only used my parents who live over an hour away (we're in Sydney and so are they but not nearby) but now the kids are a bit older (6 and 4) it's great having someone more local and we're happy to be providing them with a bit of spare cash. Win Win.