A 'License Plate' to Bust Bad Baby Sitters

Oct. 20, 2006 — -- It's every parent's queasy paranoid fear come true -- the idea that "the hand that rocks the cradle" belongs to an unstable baby sitter.

Some people have resorted to the "nannycam" -- hidden video surveillance to watch what happens when they're not there.

Now a New York assistant district attorney and mother of two on maternity leave has come up with a new way for parents to spy on their caregivers in the open.

Just like the "How's my driving?" signs you see on 18-wheelers, the Web site HowsMyNanny.com allows citizens to report bad baby-sitting by e-mail.

For $50, you can attach a new "license plate" with the Web site address on it to your child's stroller.

It can turn anyone on the playground or the street into a potential informant.

Some moms say if a sitter has nothing to hide, she shouldn't have a problem with the plate.

"I think it is a good tool because you're being open about it and honest about it, and your nanny knows it's there," said mom Erica Best.

Baby-sitter busting is all the buzz on "mommy blogs," and even was a recent hot topic on "The View." Host Elizabeth Hasselbeck didn't hold back when she saw a baby sitter behaving badly.

"My camera phone wasn't working so I couldn't get her picture," Hasselbeck said. "So she has a purple tank top on, long hair, two babies -- adorable -- and they should have been being watched."

In a "Primetime" experiment, an actress posing as a baby sitter pretends to mistreat the kids she's watching.

Undercover cameras watch to see whether people who see her take action.

"You can never be too careful, so why not have this extra protection, because it can't hurt you. And especially if your nanny's doing something good, it could benefit her," said the Web site's creator, Jill Starishevsky.

But some moms worry about the quality of the reports they might get.