In my first post about starting a babysitting coop, I wrote about the benefits of these parent groups, deciding what kind of coop you need and how to go about finding or starting one.

Say you have assembled at least two other families and you're sitting in your living room, ready to start up the coop. You've decided that you want to track your hours by exchanging tickets with an agreed-upon value. What to do now?

GROUND RULES

Even the most laid-back group of parents will need a small set of rules to keep things running smoothly. Here are the rules for the coop I recently organized in my neighborhood:

Membership

A. Full membership will be 10 families.

B. When an opening exists, any current member may sponsor a family to join the coop. Applicants will become members after attending one meeting, unless any current member has a reasonable objection.

Using the co-op

A. Each new member, upon paying a one-time $5 fee, will receive 100 tickets and an information binder.

B. Standard rates for sitting are as follows:

4 tickets per hour for 1 child

6 tickets per hour for 2 children

1 additional ticket per hour for each child beyond 2

C. Members arrange sits by contacting other families directly using the information in the binder. Members can also e-mail the group looking for volunteers.

D. Members are free to negotiate all terms of individual sits amongst themselves. For example, a member may offer to “pay” extra for sitting on a popular night or if the child will have meals with the sitting family, or a member may offer to sit for less than the standard rate. Location of the sit is up to the participants to decide.

E. Members that leave the co-op with less than 100 tickets are to pay the co-op $5 for every 4 tickets below that level. Members that leave with more than 100 tickets will not be reimbursed.

Restrictions

A. No sit will be hosted in a home containing firearms, illegal drugs, dangerous animals or any other serious danger to children. A family that owns firearms may join, but must visit other members' homes to babysit and must drop off their children at sitters' homes.

B. Membership packets include medical release forms and family information forms. Fill out the medical form, except for the name of caregiver, and keep one copy at home and one copy with the child when dropping off. Please complete all parts of the family information form.

C. Please let other parents know if your child shows signs of illness within 24 hours of a sit. Then you can decide together whether to go ahead or cancel.

Meetings

A. Meetings will be held monthly in 2007, and thereafter every 3 months.

B. Meetings will be hosted by members on a rotating basis.

C. Members should bring their tickets to the meeting and report their totals to the secretary, who will record the balances.

D. Families are encouraged to bring their children to meetings.

Other coops may have more extensive rules. For instance, coops may have more stringent rules for admitting new members, requiring background checks or a home visit from coop members. Coops can set minimums for coop use and meeting attendance. They can pay and charge different rates for nighttime and daytime sitting. It all depends how simple or complex your group wants it to be.

KEEP THINGS RUNNING SMOOTHLY

Once your coop is running, you can begin to reap the benefits right away. The keys to making it work are open communication, consideration for other families, and active coop usage. Here are a few tips for achieving those things:

• Inform other parents if your children are sick -- and give the parents the chance to opt out of sitting for sick children.
• Give the sitters a clear idea of how long you will be gone and ask their permission if you want to stay out later.
• If coop usage is low, you can often stir up activity by sending out emails letting people know when you are available to sit. Just saying "I'm free Saturday" is usually enough to get members thinking about a last-minute dinner date.