It's not unusual for new parents to feel reluctant to leave their children with a babysitter. After all, who else but you can prepare the bottle just the way Grant likes it? Who else can read the bedtime stories using the funny voices Cecile adores so much? But here's the reality: Parents need time off to nurture their relationship and children need a gentle dose of independence. So is there a middle ground? How can parents learn to overcome their initial fears so everyone ends up happy?

"My wife and I have three girls and a newborn baby boy," says Paul Loughran, a dad from Phoenix, Ariz. "We're not only reluctant to use babysitters for our baby, Aaron: We flat out won't do it. With our children as our most precious possessions, we quite consciously avoid babysitters on the remote chance that we get a shady sitter."

This belief has often left Loughran and his wife in a tight spot – especially because both are firm believers in the importance of weekly date nights and time together by themselves. But, thankfully, the family can now rely on their eldest daughter to babysit, though this wasn't always the case. In years' past, the family had to rely on the kindness and availability of family relatives. Otherwise the children came along in tow, or the couple resigned themselves to staying at home.

"But we've never ventured outside of the family for childcare services," Loughran admits. "Personally, I'm always concerned about the children when we're out of the house. You know that you see the best of a babysitter when you meet them or first get to know them, but there are just too many horror stories out there about negligent sitters. When the door closes and the car pulls away, you don't know how the babysitter is going to behave."

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