Dealing With a Babysitter Your Children Dislike

Somewhere along the way, you might encounter a seemingly perfect babysitter. She is always punctual, well-trained with a lot of experience, and she seems to agree with you in terms of values, rules and discipline. She goes the extra mile and does things you wouldn’t expect her to do, but are glad she thought of. She helps your kids with their schoolwork and manages to keep the house spic and span during her visit. She gives you a full report of her visit afterward. There is one hitch, however- your kids just don’t seem to like her.

It may be a normal response to separation. Sometimes, when children are not used to being separated from you, they close their minds to the idea of any other person’s company. You can sit down with your child and talk to them about why it is important for you to leave them for the night. Sometimes, it is only a child’s cry for attention and if you give them what they crave, or make up for it when you are available, they will eventually warm up to the babysitter.

It may be that the babysitter is too strict with them. Sometimes, in an effort to please you, the employer, the babysitter enforces rules too rigidly, even when it is unnecessary. For example, she might force your children to do homework or read their school books for the entire duration of the visit, even if you did not require it. They might be doing it to impress you. Talk to the babysitter about loosening up a bit.

She may not know how to play with them. No matter how diligent the babysitter is, she may have this fault- the lack of playfulness. It is essential that if you are in the babysitting profession, you must learn how to talk to and play with children. Let her in on your children’s favorite games and how to communicate with them.

Although it is unlikely, there is one more possibility, and it is a dire one. If the children don’t just dislike, but seem to be terrified at being left alone with that particular babysitter, it may be that she is abusing them. Question your children about this and fire her immediately when discovered.

The key is communication. Try to reach a compromise between your, the babysitter’s, and the children’s expectations, and hopefully, everyone will learn to get along.