babysitting exchange

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