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What Is A Babysitting Co-Op?

A Babysitting co op, sometimes called babysitting club or babysitting cooperative, is simply a group of families in a community who decide to share babysitting among themselves without the exchange of money. Members agree to share responsibilities of providing and using services amongst each other.

In general baby-sitting co-ops are intended for occasional and not regular childcare. If regular childcare is needed, other arrangements are usually made.

How do they work?

Families form a babysitting co-op to share babysitting duties.

To ensure that it is fair to all participants, the babysitting co-op uses a point system to keep track of who has sat and how often. As families sit for other families they are awarded points that can then be redeemed for their own babysitting.

Often a co-op will elect a rotating secretary. If a member requires babysitting, the secretary is phoned requesting a sitter for a certain time and date.

The secretary calls members and locates a sitter as close to the member's house as possible, attempting to find a sitter who owes points. The secretary calls the member and sets up the sitting arrangement.

After the care has been provided, both member and sitter agree on the number of points and these are reported to the secretary who records them. Points are earned by being a sitter and providing care. Points are spent by using a sitter to care for your children.

One of the problems is that the role of the secretary takes quite a lot of time and effort. HelpingHero takes on the role of the secretary and automates all of these tasks using email and the web.

Requesting a sit is as easy as filling in a web form. The families in your HelpingHero team are notified by email and accept the invitation using the web. After the sit has been performed they confirm the details of the sit and the points are transferred automatically.

What are the benefits of a babysitting co-op?

A babysitting co-op helps friends and neighbours to get to know one another. Children become comfortable among adults and other neighbourhood children, and parents come together. By organising as a co-op, parents expand the options available to them for babysitting, and they can turn neighbours into friends.

Here are just a few more advantages of using a babysitting co-op in your neighbourhood:

  • Children can make new friends and develop social skills.
  • Children can become close with many families in the neighbourhood.
  • No money is spent on babysitting.
  • Occasional day, evening, or emergency overnight care helps families.
  • Parents get some free time.
  • Parents get the opportunity to see their children interact with others.
  • Neighbours get to know one another and create a stronger community.

Where did this Babysitting Co-op idea come from?

The original babysitting co-op was created by the University Place Babysitting Co-op near Seattle Washington. The University Place Co-op has been passed from mother to mother for nearly twenty years. Over the years dozens of moms have participated. The original University Place Babysitting Co-op was started by Mary Chapman, Judy Phillups, Teresa Christenson and a few others in the early 1980's. It continues today with new mothers replacing the mothers whose children have grown-up.

Where are the children sat?

Usually, children go to the sitter's house during daytime hours and the sitter comes to the children at night. Keeping the co-op within the neighbourhood avoids transportation problems and enables children to become more familiar with the other families and their houses. Co-ops work best when people are friends or at least know one another before joining.

How many families should there be in a co-op?

Normally membership should be no less than six and no more than 25. With too few members, you may feel guilty if you say "no"; what's more, it can be discouraging if whenever you need a sitter, no one is available. With too large a group, members don't get to know each other.

What does it mean for my children?

It is important to keep the needs of the children in mind in all babysitting situations. In a small co-op, children get to know the other families and feel comfortable with the children and adults. Parents should prepare children if they are taking them to a babysitter or if the babysitter is coming to their house. They should talk to the children about the sitter, the situation, and be reassuring about when they will return.

Deciding on membership

Membership in the co-op is by invitation or request. That means that each member is able to invite other families to become a member of their babysitting co-op.

Regular meetings

It is also suggested that regular meetings take place to discuss progress, problems and membership. The number of meetings will depend on members' needs. Possibilities include monthly, every two months, four times a year, three times a year, or yearly.

You can use the HelpingHero event system to plan these meetings.

Why use HelpingHero?

  • No secretary is needed: Normally babysitting co-ops need to have a secretary role that has the task of arranging and tracking sits and point transactions. With HelpingHero this task is done for you.
  • Mix and match sitters: There is no embarrassment of having to say that you don't want someone to be a sitter - you just don't invite them to sit your children. HelpingHero gives you perfect freedom to mix and match different sitters as you would like.
  • No membership lists: There are no membership lists to track or get out of date. Helping Hero tracks all of the contact details for the members of your co-op.
  • Mothers Groups: If you are a member of a mother's group Helping Hero makes it easy to arrange meetings and swap casual day care for your children.