For parents of children with Type 1 diabetes, finding the right babysitter can be a challenge. Managing the disease for someone else is no small task and it takes a special skill set. And, for many parents of T1 kids, leaving the child with a babysitter can be a stressful event.
However, there is a free service that can match parents with a babysitter in their area that has experience with diabetes, according to a recent article from Diabetes Health. It’s called Safe Sittings.
The service was launched more than six years ago in Manhattan. Founder teenager Kimberly Ross decided to start the service after she overheard a couple complaining they hadn’t gone on a date in a year and half since their child was diagnosed with diabetes. Ross has Type 1 diabetes and thought she would be the perfect fit for such a family. Demand for her services grew and she decided to create a network of teenagers with similar skills and circumstances.
In 2007, the network of sitters created a website for the group and modeled it after Craigslist. Sitters offering their services can post a profile and parents looking for a sitter can search the site by locale. Rates are negotiated directly between the sitter and the families.
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Awesome idea. I picked up a babysitting gig as a teenager when a customer at the shoe store where I worked told me her son was a diabetic. It indeed was a babysitting match made in heaven!