my wife needs to have me home because we have no family in the area or babysitters to act as her backup or relief.
First we had Emily (Ed's wonderful teenaged daugther) living with us so she babysat (for money) a lot (as well as helping out just cause a lot too which is partly why I was so happy to keep paying her). But then we were on the road and never in one spot long enough to find a sitter. So I know how hard it is but here's a suggestion for you to consider (since you are presumably stable enough to try this):
Consider finding a sitter (through recommendations etc) and hiring her to come help sometime when one of you WILL be there. This gives you a chance to really see what s/he's like and get a sense for how well s/he'll do with the little one. You can even do this a few times. If you think s/he's great and feel you can trust her you'll have built a relationship with a sitter by the time you really need one that way.
At first I just didn't want to leave my babies with a stranger then we didn't have the option to build a relationship with someone like that while we were on the road and believe me, many is the time I wished we had a sitter. You gotta take care of yourselves too!
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First we had Emily (Ed's wonderful teenaged daugther) living with us so she babysat (for money) a lot (as well as helping out just cause a lot too which is partly why I was so happy to keep paying her). But then we were on the road and never in one spot long enough to find a sitter. So I know how hard it is but here's a suggestion for you to consider (since you are presumably stable enough to try this):
Consider finding a sitter (through recommendations etc) and hiring her to come help sometime when one of you WILL be there. This gives you a chance to really see what s/he's like and get a sense for how well s/he'll do with the little one. You can even do this a few times. If you think s/he's great and feel you can trust her you'll have built a relationship with a sitter by the time you really need one that way.
At first I just didn't want to leave my babies with a stranger then we didn't have the option to build a relationship with someone like that while we were on the road and believe me, many is the time I wished we had a sitter. You gotta take care of yourselves too!
Hugs = good luck!