Parents Help Parents: extra childcare options on Babysits
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Get startedStruggling to find childcare for your child? Did you know that other parents can also be an option? Read on to learn more about childcare or babysitting exchanges, co-ops, and swaps. Find other parents looking for childcare exchange options via Babysits.
Parents help parents: childcare/babysitting exchanges co-ops, and swaps
Babysits provides a lot of different childcare options, such as nannies, babysitters, and childminders. However, we also have an exciting extra feature we like to call parents-help-parents!
What does parents-help-parents mean?
Parents help parents is a feature we introduced to make it easier for parents to help each other by sharing or trading childcare duties. Specifically, this refers to parents babysitting or caring for each other's children.
Examples of this could be:
- One parent picking up both parents' children and the other dropping them off at school.
- Parents taking different days off work throughout the week and trading off who looks after the children during the day.
Parents-help-parents is an alternative childcare service that could entail babysitting or childcare exchanges, swaps, or co ops, which may be very useful for your family!
However, what are the advantages and disadvantages of parents-help-parents compared to the other forms of childcare?
The advantages of parents help parents and childcare exchanges
The biggest advantage of parents-help-parents is most likely the cost savings. Depending on how often each parent can watch the other’s child and how the childcare duties are split, it could be possible to drastically reduce or even remove childcare expenses (if childcare duties are shared equally).
Through this service, children also learn to get along with other children (like in a daycare). It is positive for a child’s socialisation and they could make friends and new playmates!
If you find families with children that match your criteria and needs, it’s easier to help each other. For example, if both of the kids go to the same school, one parent can bring them to school and the other can pick them up on the way back.
You can easily establish an empathetic relationship since you are both looking for the same person and each other's needs may be the same.
The disadvantages of parents help parents and childcare exchanges
Less flexibility: this solution is doable only if the criteria match each other. It is more difficult to call a parent at the last minute as they may have more alternative obligations, for example, work. In this case, a babysitter or nanny can be more useful and more available based on your needs.
Parents can be very busy (with many other tasks and chores to do for example meetings, housework, going to the grocery shop, etc.) so it could be less likely that he/she spends quality time with your kid, making some DIYs or playing outside at the park. There are more chances that your kid plays with his/hers, but it is also possible that they don’t get along with each other.
In conclusion, if you are looking for an alternative solution and to potentially save some extra money on childcare expenses, you could consider using parents-help-parents to contact other parents about sharing childcare duties.
On the other hand, you can still rely on different types of childcare. For example, babysitters may be more flexible, while childminders or nannies generally have more certified experiences. Here you can find all the different kind of childcare providers:
Based on your circumstances, you should choose the right type of childcare and the right person who fits your family and your child’s needs.
Start looking on Babysits now to find a parent-help-parent, babysitter, nanny or childminder near you!