We've had an offer to babysit from one of the swim instructors at LO's swim lessons. It's not his instructor, but the instructor of the adjacent class. She absolutely looooves him and comes over at the end of every class to play with him. She's really nice, and both DH and I like her.

She's around 20, and a college student. She says she's done lots of babysitting before (I'm not sure if it's mostly been for family or not), and is clearly really good with children, including small babies. LO is only 8 months old, and he laughs at and reaches for her every week. As part of her job, she would have had to pass a background check, and be current in first aid. So she seems like she'd be a really good fit.

My question is, what should we do in preparation for her babysitting, in terms of asking for references, etc.? Also, how much would you pay per hour? Any other tips? We've only ever had my parents watch him, whenever they've been visiting.