Taking Away the Ho-Ho's Without Getting Boo-Hoos

Is your sitter helping your child become a Jelly Bean Princess?

With allergies are on the rise, more prevalent food scares, lifestyle changes becoming more common and childhood obesity now a major topic, the foods we feed our kids are under a much larger microscope. It's a whole new vegan, vegetarian, raw foods, organic world out there, folks.

When you're not around, it's true that your sitter or nanny could be feeding the kids, well, just about anything. Want to stop the madness? Here are 9 tips that you can use to nip any nipping at Snickers bars in the bud before it begins.

1. Start at the Beginning

The initial sitter or nanny interview is when you should approach the issue of jobs and food. Why? Because at this time, you can set expectations for the entire job. If your family is vegan and the sitter must have meat, you're in for an interesting ride. Use the Food Interview Checklist to learn what questions to ask your sitter and screen out a potential bad match in time.

2. Don't Make it a Guessing Game

Sitters and nannies have no excuse to serve the wrong foods if they are well-prepared in advance. Sittercity's taken all the guesswork out of on-the-job feeding. Fill out our interactive Food and Fitness Cheat Sheet and stick it on the fridge for your sitter to see. It's incredibly comprehensive (we might even say neurotic) so you don't have to feel bad being specific. Just blame us.

3. Create a Kids' Cabinet

Setting aside one cabinet dedicated specifically to your kids will also be a huge help. Not only will you be able to stock the shelves with exactly what you would like for them to have, but they will know (and boy, will they know!) exactly where to direct their sitter for that mid-afternoon pick me up. Additionally, if there are certain items you simply don't want your kids to have their hands on, don't buy them. Simple enough. That way, your kids can use their wonderful sense of adventure and to find the hidden pirate treasure buried in the backyard instead of the tasty treasure in the kitchen you thought was, well, better hidden.

4. Specify for the Sitter

If you have specific eating habits whether they are vegetarian, vegan, kosher or ethnic, you should tell your sitter right away, but also be prepared to teach them about your choice. This may seem a very obvious thing to discuss, but there are many intricacies that you are accustomed to practicing every day of which your sitter may not be aware. And, even though your home may be stuffed to the gills with the foods you expect your kids to eat, your sitter may want to bring a treat now and then to keep the kids motivated. If you don't prepare your sitter with knowledge, that treat might be a hamburger landing smack in the middle of your vegan lifestyle. Talk soon and talk often about what is and is not allowed.

5. Play Dates and Food Mates

Many times, when whisking the kiddies off for a play date, what they'll eat while there doesn't enter your mind. After all, you and your best friend know each other better than you know yourselves! But, keep in mind, this doesn't mean that you share the same philosophy when it comes to making meals. If you're concerned about what your kids are eating when they are at play dates, pack a snack with enough to give to their friends as well. Be sure to clear it with the other parents first and then encourage your child to share. Likewise, when having other kids to your own home, talk to their parents prior to the play date about the types of things they'd like for their little ones to eat as well as their children's preferences. You can save yourself a lot of food frustration when it comes to picky palates by simply asking ahead of time. This can be especially important in children with allergies.

6. List Child Allergies

Sittercity's Babysitter Cheat Sheet and Food and Fitness Cheat Sheet both include sections where you can list child allergies. There's a reason for this. Child allergies are one of the most important things to be aware of during a job. Sitters should ask right away about all possible allergies and how to curb them, and make sure to always take a child's complaints about dizziness, pain or stomach ache seriously. It could be an allergy that's just surfacing.

7. Implement Feeding Logs

Not sure the sitter or nanny truly "gets it" about your eating habits? Have them make a food log. This is a written or typed record of everything the kids ate for the day. It might be met with some grumbling at first, but in the end, it's worth it if you're both on the same page.

8. Know Your Ingredients

Take some time to research the ingredients that you want your kids to have, or not have. Sittercity's Food and Fitness Cheat Sheet allow parents to prohibit ingredients, so take a little time to figure out what preservatives or chemicals that you don't want your kids to eat. A little prevention now can go long way later.

9. Provide Tools

A sitter or nanny can do a fantastic job feeding the kids, she has the right tools. Direct caregivers to the recipes on Sittercity.com, or to a trusted cookbook or online source. Explain why it's important to you to have the kids fed properly, and feed them (so to speak) snippets of articles and recipes that might reflect your family's eating habits. The more they get from you, the more they will know.