What if childcare were free? The secret to building a successful babysitting co-op.

Being a parent is really hard! If you’re a typical Modern American parent, you live far from extended family. You might not have many (or any) friends with kids. Hiring a good sitter is hard and even your less than ideal caregiver charges a jaw-dropping $18-$25/hr plus taxi fare home if you and your partner merely want dinner and a movie. Is that so much to ask?!!

Lucky for you, I have good news.

This January, I founded a company called kidsclub.io that helps parents meet and share trusted childcare for free. And it’s not just childcare, you can use Kidsclub to share educational activities too!

84% of US parents spend $2000 a year on babysitters, but you, my dear friend, are about to spend a big fat ZERO!

I’m excited for you. You’re about to save $2000 or more a year on childcare, give your child the most wonderful network of “aunties, uncles and cousins” they could hope for, build best friends for life and finally find the “me-time” you so desperately deserve.

Sounds nice, right?

Unfortunately, a lot of families try to start babysitting co-ops, but fail. The co-op quickly falls apart in a mess of unanswered requests or unreciprocated help. Here’s how you can make yours a success.

Step 1. Sign up for free at kidsclub.io so you can start meeting families in your neighborhood for playdates. Kidsclub will help you build a profile, see who lives near you and communicate with other parents about playdates and requests. We handle the logistics so you can meet new friends and request childcare.

Step 2. Fill out our survey to express interest in starting a customized co-op. This will help us give you hands on help to start a co-op in your neighborhood. We will call you promptly after you fill out our survey and are here to hold your hand every step of the way.

Step 3. Determine the structure of your co-op. What type of co-op do you want? This depends on what kind of care you need. Here are some that tend to work well. It’s also valuable to create a mission statement, core values, determine what parenting styles you’d like to see in your co-op and lay any ground rules you feel to be important.

• Dinner and a movie. Each parent chooses 1 Friday a month where they are the sitter and other parents get to go on a date. This type of co-op usually needs 4 families to make it a success!
• Running club. Each parent chooses a 1 days a week where they watch the kids for 1–2 hours while the other parents go for a run (or do another workout). This co-op needs 4–5 members depending on how often you like to work out:) You can also make a yoga version of this club.
• Prek co-op. Each family chooses one morning or day a week where they are responsible for watching and caring for the kids. We recommend 8 families for this type of co-op so every day there can be one main teacher and one assistant. We can recommend
• Afterschool swap. Each parent trades pick-up at their local school or daycare one day a week. This type of swap requires 5 families to cover all 5 days of the week.
• Points for “Ad-hoc” care. Everyone receives points for trading childcare as they need it when they need. This is a more complicated system as all the parents really need to be proactive about responding and reply to requests as they arise, so the group has to be extra passionate about making this a priority.

Step 3. Recruit members. This is the easy part. You can quickly find people excited about free childcare by posting to your local Mom Club, Facebook, Yahoo or Meetup online parent groups. We can guide you in this process after you fill out our survey.

Step 4. Vet members. In our premium plan, kidsclub will vet the members of your babysitting co-op. We run a full criminal background check on each member, check references, conduct interviews and take verified family photos. We also handle emergency contact info, messaging and support you in planning regular group events. The cost of running a full-scope background check on each parent on kidsclub. including the household fee and reference check ranges between $100–150 per family including administrative fees. The nice thing about this fee is that, in addition tun building trust, it also adds accountability for

Step 5. Host regular meetups! On KidsClub, you can create a monthly playgroup or other types of activities for families to join. It’s really important that your famlies meet regularly to make the co-op a success. We suggest one Saturday a month at 11am (always the same time day) as a great time to go to the zoo, hang out at the playground or do a baby clothes swap!

Good luck on your childcare sharing journey We are here to support you every step of the way! Please post your comments and questions, sign up for kidsclub or fill out our survey to get started!