Have you ever been in a situation where you just didn’t know where to find the services you were looking for? And did you wonder how you would be able to trust these services with your family? Well, Babycito is here to help you and your family. Not only does Babycito provide a list of trusted providers that serve families in various ways, but you’ll also be able to create a cash fund registry for these services and more! Read on for an interview with founder Lindsay Bermudez.
Babycito
Q: So what exactly is babycito?
A: babycito is an inclusive, local provider network dedicated to helping parents find and register for trusted family support services. We’re a one-stop shop providing the families of Northern Virginia with the following services:
- Directory of Providers: Browse our curated directory of pre-screened providers to quickly and easily find trusted, local support.
- Service Registry:
- Expecting Parents: Create a cash fund registry for the services you need and want (e.g., doula, night nurse, lactation consultant, newborn photographer, etc.).
- Experience Registry (great for birthdays, holidays, special celebrations): Create an experience registry as an incredible alternative to physical gifts. Register for fun experiences (e.g., swim lessons, music class, ballet, day at Scramble, etc.) that friends and family can contribute to.
- Education: Our FREE Service Guide and FREE service consultations help families learn about available services, find specific providers, get support with a service registry, and more.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for babycito?
A: I started babycito because I saw a need for the services we currently offer (list of trusted providers/service registry). A while back I had an idea for a service registry for weddings, but didn’t take the time to do anything with it. Then, following the birth of our second child (read more here!), we had quite an experience trying to find a night nurse. We were searching the infinite world wide web in the middle of the night, sleep deprived, desperate for help. We essentially trusted Google to provide us with a legitimate, experienced and reliable local provider.
While everything worked out and we loved the company we worked with (Let Mommy Sleep), it made me wonder why there wasn’t one place where parents could go to find trusted providers in their area. These two life experiences, in addition to my passion for helping others, motivated me to start babycito.
Q: What kind of qualifications do you look for in your trusted providers?
A: There are many qualifications, experiences, dispositions and mindsets (among other things!) that we look for in our trusted providers. Here are the 5 components of our screening process and the why behind each piece:
- Education, Training, Qualifications: We of course want to know what formal education, training and qualifications this person and/or their team have to serve children and families in the capacities specific to their position.
- Experience: We ask questions to learn more about how long this provider has been practicing in their field and how many families they’ve worked with.
- Purpose/The Why: We discuss why this person has decided to dedicate their life’s work to serving families/babies/children in their specific capacity. We want to understand their why for what they do and how they came to find their passion.
- Client Interactions/Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI): We ask about client interactions and how the provider has responded in a variety of situations in order to get a sense for their professional approach. We also ask about how their business purposefully considers and incorporates diversity, equity, and inclusion into their practice.
- References: We ask all providers to share at least one local reference from the past 3-6 months so that we can be in direct contact with someone who has worked with this provider.
Given that all these areas check out and both the provider and babycito feel the partnership would be a good fit, then we welcome the provider to the babycito community as one of our trusted providers.
We understand that trust is grown, not given. We want the families of Northern Virginia to know we are putting in the work to earn each family’s trust.
Q: How does the cash fund registry work?
A: Our babycito service registry is a cash fund registry and can currently be used in two ways:
- For Expecting Parents: Expecting parents can take advantage of this functionality to register for services they need and want to use before, during, and after the arrival of their newest family member. Services like prenatal yoga, childbirth education, doula, lactation consultant, newborn photographer (and much more!) are all services expecting parents can include on their registry.
- Experience Registries: For parents who are tired of the mountains of toys or just want to forego more physical gifts, the Experience Registry is a game changer for birthdays, holidays, or any other special celebration. Here, parents can add activities and experiences that their child enjoys or wants to try, such as a day at Scramble, a ride on the carousel at a park, swim lessons, dance lessons, karate lessons, an art class or activity, a day at a trampoline park, and SO much more.
In either scenario (expecting or experience registry), your network of friends and family will be able to contribute cash payments towards the services you list on your babycito service registry. Once members of your support network contribute to your registry, you will receive weekly cash payouts of the funds that have been gifted. You can then use those funds towards the services you requested!
Payment for our cash fund registry is safe and secure thanks to our Stripe integration. You will connect your bank account via Stripe. The money is held until the end of each week and then any contributions that have posted are paid out directly to the account you connected.
And more great news… if you don’t end up needing or wanting a service, you’re not locked in. You receive the cash gifted towards that service, which makes it flexible. You can freely use gifted funds towards changing needs (maybe you need a night nurse for a few nights, and not as many sessions with a lactation consultant?) and wants (perhaps your son now wants to join a soccer team rather than taking Taekwondo). The gifted contributions are yours to use in the best way for your family and/or child(ren).
Q: What kind of education do you provide at babycito?
A: One of babycito’s core values is education, especially because Lindsay (babycito founder) was a public school teacher for 10 years! Knowledge is power and we believe that by learning about all the options, parents will feel more empowered (whether having the first child or the fifth!).
The baby service industry is rich with providers ready and willing to support local families. We are here to ensure Northern Virginia parents understand what services are available and when and why they might want to use them. Our goal is to help parents feel equipped with skills, knowledge, and service solutions, regardless of what curveballs kids throw their way!
Our FREE Service Guide and FREE service consultations are available on our website to help parents find specific providers, learn about available services, get support with a service registry, and ask questions.
Q: What else do you want families to know about babycito?
A: A few final but important things to know…
- We’re here to help and the best way for us to do so is by getting to know real, local families and their current needs, wants, and concerns. Please reach out to us with any service or support needs (info@babycito.co)! You can also follow us on social media to learn about upcoming opportunities to engage with babycito at upcoming community events. We’re eager to get to know you and your family!
- Instagram: @babycito.co
- Facebook: @co.babycito
- Tiktok: @babycito.co
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChqQg4oIFlMfOyYHjmUiyCQ
- We’re a business owned and operated by two local moms! Lindsay has 2 children (Millie, 4, and Ruben, 2) and lives in Annandale. Amy has 2 daughters (Molly, 4, and Emma, 7 months) and lives in Vienna.
- We love provider recommendations! If you’ve used an amazing provider in our area, please use this form to nominate them to join our community of trusted, local providers!
Thanks so much to Lindsay for taking the time to answer my questions about Babycito. For more information and to start your own cash fund registry, visit the website here.
Babycito
If you’re here checking out Babycito and what it has to offer you, I’m happy to say that Melissa Driggers Photography is one of the trusted providers on the site! Check out my portfolio and then head over to Babycito to add a styled Northern Virginia maternity session or newborn session to your registry!
For more motherhood content, check out these other blog posts:
As a Northern Virginia photographer and fellow mom, I felt there was a need for a safe, supportive, and drama free space for moms and moms-to-be to come together and support one another through the crazy lives we live as moms. Come join us and chat all things motherhood, pregnancy, and more!
