Are you and your friends always complaining about not having childcare when you need it?
Do you live in an area with a lot of moms?
Wouldn’t it be great if you had a group of moms who you could trade off babysitting with, for FREE?
I live in a fairly large neighborhood in Richardson and if you know me personally, you’ve probably already heard me rave about it. After all, if you’ve been reading Dallas Moms Blog for long you might have read that I’m convinced we have one of the best ice cream shops around! What more do you need, really?? 🙂
I’m also fortunate to be part of the babysitting co-op in our neighborhood that consists of 28 women and an ongoing wait list. I was on the wait list for at least six months and other moms have been known to be on the list for even longer. It’s highly sought after because it’s pretty fantastic!
- Instead of paying for a babysitter, we start out as a new member with 20 coupons. Each coupon represents one hour of childcare for your children.
- It doesn’t matter if you have one child or four, each hour of childcare is still only one coupon.
- You earn coupons for babysitting for anyone in the co-op’s children.
- When I have a babysitting need, I send out an email to the rest of the co-op members explaining my need and with 27 other women in the group, someone is bound to be available at that time.
- We have monthly meetings at the end of the month, which are great ways to get to know the other women.
- In addition to the monthly meetings, there is an optional weekend retreat, which serves as an additional way to get to know the other women who care for my kids. And, it’s FUN!
- Most importantly, we have by laws for our co-op, so everyone knows what to expect. After all, this co-op has been going on in our neighborhood for 40 years, so you know people take it very seriously, and it works!
I have used our babysitting co-op to have a grocery shopping trip alone and to just get a pedicure. It’s been a lifesaver for me!
Maybe you are lucky enough to have family around who are willing to help you out, but I have heard from so many moms about the need for easily accessible childcare.
There could be a babysitting co-op in your area that you just don’t know about. Check with your homeowner’s association to see if one already exists. If not, why not start one of your own?
There are bound to be other moms in your area with the same needs as you!
Have you had any experience using a babysitting co-op? Let us know your thoughts.
great idea! How often to you find you are babysitting other children?
You actually get to pick when you want to watch other people’s children. If I’m low on coupons, then I should probably offer to take someone’s kids when they email out a need. Ultimately, it has to work with my schedule but I try to babysit every couple of weeks or so. Sometimes it’s just for an hour or two.
That’s great! I live in the neighborhood just below you and have heard about the co-op! We have a crazy active play group so maybe we should start this up. Thanks for the idea!
This is awesome! I have been wanting to start something like this within my playgroup. Had no idea there was a group that large in the area, and for so many years!! Thanks for sharing!
Would you mind sharing your by-laws so other neighborhoods could learn from the 40 yrs of experience? Thanks!
Hi Anneka!
This post if from our archives and Jamie is no longer with Dallas Moms Blog, but I know she’d love to answer any questions you have about her Canyon Creek Co-Op if you’ll visit her personal blog here: http://www.roubinek.net/how-to-start-babysitting-co-op/
What criteria do you use to accept/screen members? Is there a co-op like this in the east Dallas area (Lakewood/White Rock Lake/Lake Highlands area)?