Because your kids are the most important people in your life, you always provide for their physical, mental and emotional needs. If you work and have a social life, though, you cannot always be with your children. Sometimes, you must rely on a babysitter or child care service.
Picking a babysitter is not something any parent should take lightly. Indeed, according to Psychology Today, babysitters can either positively or negatively influence the emotional development of children. If your co-parent is not as diligent as you are, you may wonder if you can keep him or her from choosing a bad babysitter.
Your co-parenting relationship
Even under ideal circumstances, co-parenting relationships can be challenging. After all, if you share custody of your children with a former partner, you have little choice but to defer to his or her parenting style during his or her parenting time. He or she must do the same.
Choosing a babysitter is something that typically falls squarely within the preview of parenting. Therefore, with some exceptions, your co-parent likely has broad authority to pick the babysitter he or she chooses. If this makes your feel uneasy, you may still have an opportunity to influence your co-parent’s selection.
Your custody agreement
When you are negotiating your custody agreement and parenting plan, you may want to think about including a first right of refusal. This common clause prevents your co-parent from finding a babysitter without first asking you to babysit your kids during your non-parenting time. If you refuse to babysit, though, your co-parent can probably find someone else of his or her choosing to babysit.
Ultimately, if you worry your kids may have the wrong babysitter in the future, you should consider negotiating a first right of refusal before beginning your co-parenting arrangement.
