BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK – Hesitant about trusting that baby sitter with your child? The Raritan Valley YMCA, Tices Lane, has a new program that may ease your mind.
The YMCA is holding baby-sitter training certification sessions Aug. 20-24 to teach sitters ages 12-16 the skills they need to be successful and trustworthy. The certification program is being administered and run by the American Red Cross.
The program will make sure sitters are “proficient in basic care and basic first aid,” according to the YMCA. Those taking part will receive instruction in holding, feeding, diapering and dressing children, as well as recognizing signs for breathing, choking and bleeding emergencies.
Successful completion of the required sessions will be recognized with American Red Cross certification. Those who take part will also receive a baby sitter’s “bag of tricks” and a Red Cross handbook.
Stephanie Cooper, a fitness coordinator from the YMCA, is overseeing the program. She said the training will give prospective employers something by which to measure the qualifications of baby sitters.
“They’ll be a little more prepared,” she said of those who complete the program.
Cooper said she’d want to know that someone caring for her children had training instead of just being “someone off the street.”
The program piggybacks on the YMCA’s child-care programs and its efforts to help the community raise and educate children.
Cooper said this is the first time the YMCA has offered baby-sitter training, a program she found through the Red Cross’ Web site. Carol Bruno, who is certified by the Red Cross, will conduct the training.
“These kids will get hands-on training in our child care too,” Cooper said.
The training „will help participants develop skills in leadership and professionalism, basic care, safety and safe play,” according to a press release from the YMCA.
Those taking part must attend every day. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to noon. The price per student is $50.
“It’s something different,” Copper said of the program. “People need to know what they’re doing when they do baby-sitting. They’re learning how to take care of a little infant or older child.”
The YMCA can be reached at (732) 257-4114.