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Permalink Reply by Curlzzz2002 on February 23, 2008 at 1:34am

What a great marketing idea. I know my parents back in the day would have LOVED to use someone like you to babysit me. In my opinion, it would definitely ease a parent's mind that their babysitter would know exactly how to handle any situation with their diabetic child. I say go for it!!! And good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Tara on February 23, 2008 at 2:59pm

Maybe look into the school system. Maybe you could work in a school that has diabetic kids but don't have a nurse.
Check with JDRF maybe they would have some ideas.

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Permalink Reply by Unicornzzz on February 23, 2008 at 6:31pm

I think that would be a great idea. It is always nice to have someone trained when you have a child that needs special care.

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Permalink Reply by Dean Phillips on March 3, 2008 at 11:07pm

It is a great idea. My ex-wife had offered to babysit a gal I know who's 7 year old has D. She was so much more comfortable with someone who had lived with a person with D, and knew what to look for. I coached her daughter at soccer and how happy they were to know I had D too, that really helped put her mother and grandparents at ease. It can really help. Good Luck!

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Permalink Reply by Allison Blass on March 4, 2008 at 9:17am

I have been babysitting children with diabetes since I was in high school. In fact, I'm working right now on getting new clients where I live now because I've moved states. Try signing up for Safesittings.com which is a website for diabetic babysitters (direct link is on the main page of tudiabetes). You could also put up fliers in endocrinologist offices or at local JDRF or ADA offices. It's hard to make a lot of money from babysitting unless you could find someone who needs like a nanny. I've definitely had a couple of people ask me if I would do that, but I've always been in school or working and haven't been able to do that, but if your schedule is flexible enough, you should definitely offer that as an option. Hope this helps and good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Stratton on April 19, 2008 at 10:58am

This is a great idea! I actually logged on because I was watching d-Life last night and saw the story about Kimberly Ross and Safe Sitting. She began the website www.safesitting.com to help teenagers with Type 1 connect with parents of children with Type 1 who need babysitting services. I have a 4 year old who has diabetes and have been unable to find a babysitter for her. Most teenagers in my opinion are not overly excited about learning how to deal with diabetes just for a babysitting gig.

Good luck. I hope that you were able to find someone to work for.

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Permalink Reply by Meredith on May 6, 2008 at 9:20pm

I think that it's a GREAT idea!! I wish you lived near me, I would certainly love to have you watch my son! It's so hard to go out and trust that a non-diabetic babysitter or a babysitter that doesn't truly understand the disease is going to take care of everything. We, of course, do go out and have to just trust that God is going to take care of everything. Blessings on you! Hope your new school endeavor is fruitful!

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Permalink Reply by Kristin on May 7, 2008 at 8:02am

I did this in college too! It was great for the family AND for me!

The parents could relax, knowing that hypos and injections don't freak me out... and the kid thought that it was the coolest!

One day, he said "Oh my gosh, we have the same syringes-- white with an orange cap!" and my favorite was when (at the age of 6) he turned to his non-D sister and said, "Your pancreas works and OURS don't."

Too cute and a lot of fun!! A good way to find the kids could be through the schools or JDRF support groups (or your endo!!). Hope this works out !!!

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