If your child's caregiver occasionally drives your kids

[#2ontheway]

We are contemplating having our babysitter start doing some driving with our kids (who are 3 and 2). It would probably be one at a time for the most part, such as taking the younger one to an activity while the older one is at preschool, and everything would be max about 10 minutes drive. Still the thought makes me nervous. I recognize that at some point my kids will be regularly getting into other people's cars but this is a new step for us!

If your child's caregiver occasionally drives your kids places, especially if you have young kids, how did you get started? Did you actually do a background check for driving infractions or anything like that? (She's been with us quite a while and is very trustworthy but then again I've never ridden with her.) Do you have them take your car with carseats all set, or switch carseats to their car? (I see pros/cons with both approaches.) Apparently she has driven kids before in previous jobs so I suppose I could ask for references specifically on the driving part.

Would love any BTDT advice. Thanks.

[hillview]

Well I'd drive with her to start with to see how she drives. I'd give her my car. Our babysitter drives our kids (they are older). I'd watch her strap your kids in and help her know how to do it safely.

[niccig]

I've known sitters for some time and trusted them. When DS was in car seat I taught babysitter how to install and she practiced and got it in as good as I could. When he got to booster age and the driving was regular gig, I bought an extra booster to put in their car trunk and taught DS how to use it.

I also paid for gas when they drove DS. One sitter had been part-time nanny and she said gas was rarely paid for. Gas is expensive here in SoCal, and I don't get expecting nanny to pay for gas to drive your child where you want them to go

[westwoodmom04]

We are contemplating having our babysitter start doing some driving with our kids (who are 3 and 2). It would probably be one at a time for the most part, such as taking the younger one to an activity while the older one is at preschool, and everything would be max about 10 minutes drive. Still the thought makes me nervous. I recognize that at some point my kids will be regularly getting into other people's cars but this is a new step for us!

If your child's caregiver occasionally drives your kids places, especially if you have young kids, how did you get started? Did you actually do a background check for driving infractions or anything like that? (She's been with us quite a while and is very trustworthy but then again I've never ridden with her.) Do you have them take your car with carseats all set, or switch carseats to their car? (I see pros/cons with both approaches.) Apparently she has driven kids before in previous jobs so I suppose I could ask for references specifically on the driving part.

Would love any BTDT advice. Thanks.

I actually asked people to give me a copy of their driving history report from the DMV (they got it, but I reimbursed for the cost). Since my nanny drove my kids pretty much every day she worked, I bought separate car/booster seats for her car. I gave her $20 a week for gas.

[AnnieW625]

I was a nanny in college and my employers just asked to see my driver's license and I probably showed them proof of insurance as well. I don't remember. This was the 90s so only one baby I watched was in a carseat and I believe that was an infant seat I was able to put in my car or it was a seat they installed in my car for a week. I don't remember, but the baby was about 6 to 10 months old.

If your child's caregiver occasionally drives your kids places, especially if you have young kids, how did you get started?
My old DCP drove DD1 to and from preschool when she was 3 and 4 yrs. old. We bought a Safegaurd Go collapsable seat for her to use in her car. She used that a lot when DD1 was 3 and just 4, after the time she was about 4/1/2 and 40lbs. she used a Graco turbo booster. It was a 10 minute drive so I was fine with that. DD2's DCP has not needed to take her anywhere, but if she did we'd probably leave the Safegaurd Go with her. The DCP ended up buying a Cosco Scenera as well. The DCP drove really safe cars (BMW, Land Rover, Volvo, Mazda, or Mini--she often leased her cars as she would write them off as a business expense, and her DH got a car through work as well so she had quite a variety of cars over the 6 yrs. my kids went there, but DD1 mainly rode in the Volvo, or the Mini)

Did you actually do a background check for driving infractions or anything like that?
No, but my DCP was a licensed state provider and every person that works for her or owns a center in California has to have a DOJ background check so I figured that was fine.

Do you have them take your car with carseats all set, or switch carseats to their car?
DCP took their car. First with our seat, and then later on with their seats. At DD2's daycare I have seen the owners kids take DCP's van using the owners car seat to take a kid home that the DCP's adult kids were babysitting and taking home from the daycare.

[LMPC]

We have a neighborhood girl (okay, she's actually a woman...21, college junior, extremely conscientious) watch DD in the summer while my mom is oot (this is the 4th summer she has babysat for us). Last year I started letting her drive DD around (so DD was 3.5 at the time). I installed the carseat and showed her how to use it. Then I gave her the speech about her phone....I said "I don't want you to answer your phone, txt on your phone, LOOK at your phone while DD is in the car." She laughed and said her mother had given her the.exact.same.lecture the night before. She assured me she would never to that. I know DD would totally tell me if she did, so we're good on that

[BabbyO]

Well, FWIW both of our sitters have driven my kids in their car - mostly for drop-off/pick up of their own kids. I never got a driving record - but I trust our sitters. Maybe I shouldn't, but I also see how they drive with their own kids. Since my first sitter did a lot of driving - we just have seats for the sitter's car. I install in their car and periodically check them for tightness etc. Both of these women are driving with their own children at the same time...so I know they are being safe. That said, our first sitter was in a fender bender when another car slide on a snowy road and hit her while my kids were in the car. She called me immediately and everything was fine.

Maybe I'm a little too lax, but I feel that these women are as responsible (maybe more some in some measures) as I am....so I'm not terribly concerned. I do insist on providing the carseat and installing it. I've run over how to use it properly, but again, these are women with kids of their own and understand the importance.