Birmingham Babysitters :: There’s an App for That

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Finding a Babysitter in Birmingham

We’ve all heard the popular advertisement that famously replies: “There’s an app for that.” For the most part, that saying proves pretty true in this day and age. Our family has been in Birmingham for around a year-and-a-half now, and one of the things that has been difficult for us is finding a babysitter. Before we moved here, we had an abundance of family nearby who were always willing to babysit when they were available. I never had to worry about finding a good babysitter until we moved to Birmingham, three hours away from our family. 

We’ve had friends babysit when they could, and we found one incredible babysitter by posting on a trading page on Facebook. However, our friends and that sitter are not always available, which can sometimes mean making plans is a lot more complicated. Then, as I was scrolling Facebook one day, I saw a post about an app called Wyndy.

Wyndy is a Birmingham-based app created by parents from right here in the ‘Ham that joins parents and babysitters together in a single platform. All of the babysitters on Wyndy are Birmingham-area college students who have undergone a background check. You can view their profiles and see where they attend school, what they’re studying, and other information such as any church they may attend and what ages they have experience with. As a parent, you will create a family profile when you download the app that gives basic information about your family, such as the neighborhood you reside in (your actual address is only given to a sitter once you have booked them), how many children you have and their ages, and whether or not you have pets or any special needs. 

When you are in need of a sitter, you simply post a job. In the posting you can list things such as which children will need care, whether the sitter will need to do any driving, and any other activities the sitter will be responsible for, such as feeding, bath time, bedtime, etc. You will also list the date, time, and hourly rate that you will pay (at least $10/hour, with the addition of a small service fee). Then, babysitters can mark that they are interested in the job. You can view the profiles of interested sitters and rank them in the order that you would like to offer the job to them. Once a sitter (a “Wyndy”) accepts a job, the job will move from “posted” to “booked”, and you will each be provided with contact information. 

When your Wyndy arrives, they start a timer in the app that they will stop when you return. At that point, you are able to pay them through the app with a debit/credit card, and the Wyndy receives the payment through the app. You will receive a receipt via e-mail and the opportunity to rate the Wyndy.

This past weekend, my husband and I celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary and decided to use the app for the first time. I posted the job about four days before and within a few hours had five Wyndys mark that they were interested. I just ranked them and hit the offer button. Soon after, our first choice accepted the offer and our first job was booked! Our Wyndy texted me the morning of the job to ask if there was anything she needed to know for the job, and I told her about the girls and their routine. She arrived ten minutes prior to the time, which was perfect so that I could show her where some things were. We arrived home, and our girls were happy and smiling when they greeted us. They had eaten, played games, and watched movies and said they had a good time with their Wyndy. I paid her through the app and received a receipt via e-mail almost instantly. 

Our first experience with Wyndy was fantastic, and we can’t wait to use it again. There was no stress or long, drawn out process of trying to find a sitter, and being able to pay through the app was so convenient. If you’re a Birmingham parent who ever needs a babysitter, you need to download this app. It is my new favorite thing, and there’s no longer any stress around planning a date night.

Note from Birmingham Moms Blog: These are the honest experiences and opinions of the writer. She was not compensated for this post.

2 COMMENTS

  1. How did I not know about this?!? Finding a sitter is SUCH a hassle but this sounds AMAZING. Thanks for sharing!!!

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