Working Parents Take the Panic Out of Flu Pandemic

How to be prepared for the impact of H1N1 outbreaks

CHICAGO, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- With Swine Flu (H1N1 influenza) outbreaks
already resulting in more than 600 school closings this fall and daycares
quickly reaching maximum capacity, an increasing number of parents are finding
themselves without child care options; but not Sittercity.com parents. On
Sittercity.com, the nation's largest and most trusted online source for
qualified babysitters and nannies, the number of parents finding sitters to
cover last-minute care needs before the need arises has increased by 37% over
the same period last year.

Sittercity has over a million on-line sitter profiles across the country that
provides detailed information on each caregiver, including experience,
pictures, background checks, references and parent reviews. Sittercity.com
has also briefed its sitters on the current flu situation, and has
specifically equipped them with flu preparedness information from the American
Red Cross.

Sittercity.com offers tips on you can develop a swine flu contingency
caregiving plan:

Tip #1 - Know What You Want in a Sitter. Parents need to determine their
sitter requirements before they begin their search. For example, is it
important that the caregiver has been vaccinated for the H1N1 flu? Sittercity
has begun to see parents of children with infants routinely including this
criteria in their Sittercity job post. If this or other criteria is important
to you, include it in your job posting or make it a question during the
interview process.

Tip #2 -Start Early. Plan ahead and make sure you have an alternative child
care plan in place before your child's school or day care center closes its
doors due to an outbreak. Sittercity.com gives parents instant access to
hundreds, if not thousands, of the best local caregivers in their area.

Tip #3 Make Sure You Have Multiple Choices - During the process of vetting
potential sitters, make sure to find a few sitters that you can go to if you
have an unplanned need. Often, sitter's schedules can change and having a
stable of sitters increases your chances of having a back-up even if it's at
the very last minute.

Preparing a swine flu plan beforehand and making sure everybody in the family
is aware of this plan will help your family in the case of an outbreak.

About Sittercity.com®
Sittercity.com, the inventor of online caregiving, is America's largest and
most trusted online source for child care, pet care, senior care,
housesitting, housekeeping and tutoring. Sittercity has a network of more
than a million caregiver profiles nationwide, and helps families and
individuals across America find the perfect in-home care provider quickly,
easily and safely. Sittercity's care seekers can use the company's four-step
screening process, which includes checking references, reading caregiver
reviews, conducting interviews and utilizing free access to background checks.
Sitter profiles also come with photos, experience, training, safety skills,
availability calendars, reviews and more. Our Corporate Program now serves a
number of marquee clients, including Avon, MasterCard, FOX Networks, Pitney
Bowes and Monster Worldwide. For more information, visit the company Web site
at http://www.sittercity.com.

SOURCE Sittercity.com

Mary Schwartz of Sittercity, +1-312-436-0952, mschwartz@sittercity.com