Although important, a date night can sometimes add to the daily stresses of life; especially when you can’t find an available, responsible babysitter you know your kids will love. After going through the trouble of finding a sitter, checking their references, negotiating a pay and then actually hiring someone, sometimes all you can do is collapse on the couch with a remote in one hand and a glass of wine in another.
It would be so wonderful for these times if you could get a babysitter on demand, who has already been vetted, with recommendtions to boot. I’d love a list of available babysitters and their rates whenever the mood strikes. A service easily booked through your phone, because let’s face it, we’re on our phones 24/7. An Uber for babysitters if you will.
The Chime app, by Sittercity
Say hello to Chime, Sittercity’s new on-demand babysitting service with elite sitters, available now at hellochime.com and exclusively in Hudson County, NJ.
Chime allows parents to simply enter a date and time, review video profiles of top-rated sitters and choose their favorite. Parents and sitters can get in touch directly after booking to get any extra details and requirements, before showing up. They make it easy to process the payment automatically via credit card through the app.
I recently had the opportunity to try out Chime in Hoboken. I downloaded the app, signed up and entered a few details. Parents who haven’t used Sittercity before may need to get a confirmation code on their phone for security purposes. Once I was signed in, I entered my preferred time and location and the app gave me a couple of options for sitters available for that night in Hoboken.
Search parameters for a sitter. You can even book in advance!
Babysitters on Chime go through an extensive selection process and their profile includes their photo, resume and references. Chime sitters are Sittercity’s elite, chosen for child care experience and rave parent reviews – they meet every single one in person. That’s pretty amazing if you ask me! Each sitter undergoes a vetting process, including an enhanced background check, ID verification and extensive social media screening.
I looked over a few profiles and narrowed it down to two. The profiles had a detailed resume, customer reviews, previous babysitting experience and rates. It was fairly comprehensive and answered all the questions I had for a potential sitter. I chose the babysitter who seemed to have a fair amount of experience with newborns under her belt and was open to taking care of multiple children. I enlisted my five year old son to help me, and he chimed in with his opinion on the friendly appearance of one of the sitters – we decided to go with his selection (which luckily was our top choice as well!).
Basic info about a sitter, including reviews by Chime users.
I got a confirmation email from Chime encouraging me to get in touch with my babysitter along with her details. I had no time to follow up with her, but it was good to have the information handy. The babysitter I hired was on time, super polite and didn’t call me once to ask me what bus or train she should take, which is always a plus in my book. She had great recommendations and when she arrived, I noticed my 5-year old was instantly comfortable with her. She stayed a total of 3 hours with my kids, fed them dinner and did the nighttime routine with my older one. My 4 month old choose that time to sleep and then torture me later when I came home, but I doubt there is an app for solving that particular issue.
The whole experience with Chime worked really well for us and I’ll be using it often. Overall, the service offers an excellent solution to the predicament parents often find themselves in when they don’t have a full-time nanny or can’t find a part-time sitter. As the cliche goes, it takes a village to raise a child and this is one sanity-saving idea.
Chime is offering $50 off for first time users in Hudson County, so be sure to take advantage of this free babysitting offer here.
This post is sponsored, but I’ve pretty much had every babysitting fail possible…so I’m speaking from experience.
