I'm a WAHM/graduate student and I'm starting up back at work/thesis-writing this week. We've hired a lovely babysitter to come twice a week for four hours (10 am - 2pm) and I'm really excited, but this coincides with my smiley, social four-month old becoming pretty clingy and developing stranger anxiety. When the sitter came over for an interview last week and hung out for a while, baby cried as soon as she the sitter began holding her (as she's started to do with every new person in the past two weeks... she'll be smiley with them up until the moment she's in their arms). Eventually she got used to it, and by the time the sitter left (maybe 45 minutes later) she was holding baby and walking around no big deal.

Question is: when the sitter comes tomorrow, how long should I hang out? I'm planning to work at the library most days, but thinking that the first day or two I should hang out for a while at home with the two of them so baby gets used to the sitter. Is that totally wrong-headed? Will that make it worse for me and the sitter? If I do hang out with them, how long should I stay? I think the adults are more likely to be stressed in the long-term than baby, and I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to be a wreck listening to her cry, nor do I want the sitter to feel I'm hovering over her. Thoughts/advice/good wishes much appreciated!

(Up until this point she's been babysat only by family members, and the last time was my sister, with whom she's super comfortable, right before the stranger anxiety began.)