Cedar Valley SAHMs Club

SAHMs Babysitting Co-op Rules and Procedures

Objective: To provide quality child care for one another through the trade of babysitting services.

Membership

1. Only members of the Cedar Valley Stay at Home Moms club are eligible to join the SAHMs Babysitting Co-op.

1. Meetings will be held every 3 months at each other’s homes (or at a park weather permitting).  Attendance is mandatory for all members (must attend at least once a year).  At these meetings we will have a chance to meet and greet all members and children, supply an update on everyone’s points, elect a new secretary when needed, review rules, update forms, find out who’s “on leave”, and any other new business. Responsibility for hosting the co-op meeting will rotate among co-op members.  Meetings will be a potluck style, and all attending co-op members are expected to help provide food or supplies.
2. All decisions of the Co-op will be made at meetings and by majority rule.
3. At this time there is no membership fee, there is no minimum babysitting participation rule, and there is no cap on the number of members permitted in the co-op.

Points

1. A point system will be used to keep track of the amount of time each member is available to trade.
2. Upon joining the Co-op all members will receive 40 points.
3. Points will be “spent” and “earned” on the basis of how many children are left with another member and the length of time they stay.  When you babysit for someone, you earn points. When you have someone babysit for you, you spend points and they earn points.
4. Points are calculated as follows:

Monday-Friday before 5pm: Kid#1 = 15min = 1 pt.  Kid#2 (from the same family) = 30min = 1 point.  Kid#3 (from the same family) = 1hr = 1 pt.  (Families with multiple children are given a discount to help encourage everyone to use the co-op as often as they need!)

Monday-Friday after 5pm and Weekends/Holidays = time and a half: Kid#1 = 15min = 1.5points = 2 points.  Kid#2 = 30min = 1.5 points = 2 points.  Kid#3 = 1hr = 1.5 points = 2 points.

1. A quick reference chart detailing how to calculate points will be provided to each member.
2. For partial (15min/30min/1hr) periods, a five minute grace period is given before points accumulate.  After 5min, points are earned for the entire (15min/30min/1hr) period.  Half points will be rounded up to the next whole point.
3. At this time we do not offer extra points to meeting hosts, or the Coordinator of the group.
4. The Coordinator will maintain a log of hours used and earned by each member.
5. When a member either uses or provides babysitting, she should call or e-mail the Coordinator to report the number of points used and by whom.
6. When a member’s account drops to 0 points, she must baby-sit for others before she can use any more services.  The ideal would be for each mother to keep between 25 and 75 points.

Coordinator

The Coordinator shall:

1. Oversee efficient operation of the Co-op and serve as the liaison between the Co-op and the SAHMs club.
2. Preside over membership meetings.
3. Arrange sites for meetings and notify members of the time and place of upcoming meetings.
4. Maintain a log of the points used and earned by each member.
5. Maintain and distribute a roster of current members, to include relevant information about members’ homes.
6. Supply new members with all relevant forms (rules, points, consent to treat), and update membership roster and emergency forms with the addition of each new member and at least once each year.

General guidelines

1. The children’s safety is the number one priority of the babysitting co-op.
2. An emergency medical authorization “consent to treat form”, and a “child information form” for each child must be filled out by the mother and left with the sitter each time.  All forms will be given via email, or in physical paper copy to each member of the co-op.
3. Our membership list will be updated with the addition of every new member, and once a year.  If your information changes, (new baby, new phone number, new address, etc), you must notify the secretary within one month and before you can further participate in the babysitting co-op.
4. Every house used for babysitting must be baby-proofed, even if every house is not expected to be used for babysitting babies.
5. There may be “group sits” (i.e. Mom’s night off) in which one SAHMs MOM babysits for more than one other co-op member at a time.  Every time a co-op member babysits children from multiple families at the same time, it shall be agreed upon by all parties in advance.
6. Neither the SAHMs club nor the Co-op members make any endorsement about the safety of any home, nor of any member’s babysitting ability.  The Co-op may decline a member’s request to join the Co-op based on home conditions or their assessment of the member’s babysitting techniques. The fact that the Co-op has allowed a member to join the Co-op does not in any way indicate that the SAHMs club or the Co-op endorses the use of the home or the member for babysitting.
7. All arrangements through the Co-op are voluntary—no mother has to use any particular babysitter and no mother has to baby-sit for any particular mother/child. No reasons for declining to use a particular sitter or for refusing to sit for a particular member are required. All decisions concerning the safety or appropriateness of any situation rests with the mothers involved.
8. The Co-op is an arrangement made among friends and based on consideration, trust and fairness. It is suggested that members call/email their sitter the day before a scheduled sit to confirm arrangements.  Cancellations should be made with as much notice as possible.  If a sitter must cancel, she should make every effort to find a substitute.

Specific house rules

At the risk of seeming overly obvious:

1. No guns.  If you have guns at your property you must notify the mom of the child you are watching.  If you have guns at your property, the guns must be in a locked storage area that is absolutely inaccessible to children.
2. No smoking or possession of illegal drugs by anyone at home with children.
3. No dangerous animals.  If you have pets at your property you must notify the mom of the child you are watching.  If you have pets at your property the pets and children MAY NOT interact, UNLESS permission is granted by mom of child you are watching, AND babysitting Mom maintains uninterrupted supervision with pets and child(ren).
4. Sick Rules:  If you or your child becomes sick and you are planning to use a babysitter or be a babysitter, you must notify the other co-op member immediately.
5. Discipline:  No corporal punishment, you may not spank or hit any child while babysitting.  It is OK to use: time outs, distraction.  Any discipline problems should be discussed with the parents. Otherwise children are expected to follow the rules of the house they are in.
6. Travel Rules: Sitter may not leave home, transport children in car, or leave children in the care of another without permission of parent, except in extreme emergency.
7. If you have a pool/hot tub at your property you must notify the mom of the child(ren) you are watching.  All pools and hot tubs must be absolutely inaccessible to children at all times UNLESS permission is granted by mom of child(ren) you are watching, AND babysitting Mom maintains uninterrupted supervision of all children in pool area.
8. Spouses can assist w/ babysitting, but SAHM’s MOM must be primary babysitter.
9. SAHM’s MOM may sleep only after all children are asleep.
10. Any food allergies or restrictions, medication needs, and television watching limits should be given in writing to a sitter to avoid misunderstanding.
11. No bad TV/Movies: i.e. no violence, no military channel, no bad language. G rating only please.
12. You must leave a contact phone number with the sitter to call you in an emergency (your cell, and/or phone number of place you will be).
13. Children will be sitter’s main responsibility and will be under the constant care of SAHMs MOM. Babysitting will normally occur in sitter’s home, although other arrangements may be made.
14. It is advisable that co-op members carry liability insurance, as covered by most homeowners’ or renters’ insurance policies, to cover the expense of injury or accident to other children in your home.
15. Emergency training information is available.