Once again your child is pouting and having a tantrum because you’re leaving them with a babysitter. You’re exhausted before you ever leave the house because of the constant struggle to get your child to accept the babysitter. What are you going to do?

Having a child that resists babysitters can be rather trying at times. You have no choice but to go to work and you need time to yourselves but your child seems to go into tantrum mode each and everytime the possibility of a babysitter is brought up. You are at your wits end as to what to do. Punishing them doesn’t seem right so you search for alternatives. You chose the babysitter that you trust the most so you aren’t sure why your child is resistant to babysitters. Figuring out why they are resisting having a sitter can go a long way in handling the situation.

Talking to your child about their fears and concerns over babysitters can be a rather incredible starting point. Listening and not just informing them what they are going to do will help them to feel freedom in expressing themselves to you. Answering the questions they have with honesty and making sure they are aware of what those answers mean will make the talk easier. While you’re discussing all of their fears with them you can take this time to go over what they should do when you’re not home and they are in the care of a babysitter.

Some children resist babysitters because they dont’ like to be away from home in a strange environment. When this is the cause of the resistance to babysitters leaving the child at home and having the babysitter come to your home can help to reduce the resistance of the child to have a babysitter. The home is familiar to the child and they won’t be experiencing as many changes at once when you do this. Making sure the babysitter knows what the child’s favorite things are will help them to ensure the child has them when they usually do such as a stuffed animal at bedtime, making the child feel more secure. Then there are the rules for babysitters.

When you leave your resistant child with a babysitter adjusting the rules of the house can help them to accept having a babysitter better. Things like allowing them to have pizza for dinner, stay up later or play hours of video games they wouldn’t otherwise be allowed to can actually cause the most resistant children to become excited about having a babysitter. They can associate a babysitter with increased freedom while mom and dad are away.

While there is no need for children to run wild just because they have a babysitter there is a need for them to be able to have some carefully chosen changes to prevent them from resisting as much the next time you have to hire a babysitter for your child.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Day 116: Where The Wild Things Are (wildthingweb.com)
• 6 Qualities To Look For In Babysitters (jaysdad.com)
• Study: Many tots watch 32 hours of TV a week (msnbc.msn.com)