Run a Babysitting Co-op as a Signed Hour Ledger, Not a Memory — Free
Babysitting co-ops fall apart on arithmetic, not goodwill: nobody remembers whether the March swap was four hours or six, one family quietly stops asking, and the whole thing ends in an awkward conversation that nobody wanted. This form runs the swaps as a dated ledger from an opening balance, prints the running total after each entry, and marks the lowest point — the week someone was most in debt to the group.
The proof surface
Free path: the form computes locally in the browser with no key and no account. Where an AI step helps, any free chat assistant works — Google AI Studio's free tier and Groq's free tier were both no-card and rate-limited when this page was reviewed on 2026-09-13 (limits change; check before you rely on them).
Why the flat version breaks
A favour is uncountable, which is exactly why it resents being counted later. Recording each swap as a dated hour figure, with an opening balance, turns 'we owe you one' into a number both families can see — and the number is what keeps the asking and the offering balanced over a year.
How to use the babysitting co-op form in four passes
Positive when they cover you, negative when you cover them — or the reverse, but one way. Write it in the rules line so the ledger cannot be read two ways six months later.
18:30 to 23:00 is 4.5 hours, and 'a long evening' is whatever each family remembers. Date it, hour it, and note what it was for — the note is what makes the entry believable later.
If one family already owes hours from before the ledger existed, say so and put the number in. Writing off an old imbalance is a legitimate decision, but it should be a recorded one.
A ledger only one side has read is a grievance in progress. Ask for one correction each, print it, and keep the copy — that is the whole maintenance the co-op needs.
SAMPLE DATA, NOT A VERIFIED CLAIM: Whitfield and Okafor families · 11 swaps from 20 Sep 2026 to 7 Feb 2027 · 4.5 hours in credit · the largest single swap was six hours overnight on 1 Nov. Replace these values with your own source before you rely on anything.
What breaks first
Rounding in your own favour
Two and a half hours written as three, four times a year, is the reason co-ops end. Keep the half hours; the rules line is where you agree how to treat them.
Counting favours that were never swaps
A lift to school, a parcel collected, a birthday present. Mixing them in makes the ledger uncheckable, and an uncheckable ledger gets ignored.
Letting one family do all the asking
The imbalance this form shows is usually about who offers and who asks. If one column is empty for three months, that is the conversation to have, and the form is how you start it.
What you pay otherwise
| The usual route | What it leaves out | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A babysitting app with a token economy | Points, accounts, and strangers' children in a marketplace | a subscription plus a background-check fee |
| A paid sitter | Reliable, and priced per hour at the going rate | £10 to £14 an hour |
| An uncounted co-op | Goodwill spent unevenly until one family stops asking | a friendship and a childcare arrangement |
| This page + the free babysitting co-op form | Computed in your tab, result on screen before you type anything | $0 |
Try the free babysitting co-op form
Eleven swaps are already run from a zero opening balance, with the running balance in each note column and the lowest point marked where one family owed eight hours. Change the opening balance to 1.5 and every figure shifts with it.
Open the free babysitting co-op form →Keep the work if you will use it again
Every swap, the running balance, the lowest point and the signature lines, plus copy and share-link, with no account.
The on-screen result is free and repeatable forever. The one-time tier adds a tangible file you keep and the saved history that comes with it; it never removes or degrades the free result.
Boundary: This records the swaps you type in; it is not a contract, it cannot verify hours, and it does not cover safeguarding, insurance or the legal responsibilities of whoever is looking after a child. Agree your own rules with the other family, and check any DBS, insurance or consent requirements that apply where you live.