Strengthen your support network with a babysitting co-op

I've heard a lot of questions about finding ways to develop a support network of women who are willing to help each other out. How can you find time for yourself if your spouse works or travels a lot, and you don't have $10 an hour to spend on babysitting on a regular basis?

Maybe a babysitting co-op is the answer. In a co-op, you form a group among trusted women and trade babysitting in an organized and fair way. Imagine being able to ask a friend to watch your child while you take a yoga class, go on a job interview, or attend your own doctor's appointment without an antsy toddler in tow.

How can you get started? I've found a resource that promises to lay out all the details for you--The Smart Mom's Baby-sitting Co-op Handbook.

Author Gary Myers says that "This handbook has everything you need to start your own co-op after one meeting with three friends. Moms all over have discovered how best friends make the best baby-sitters. If two are three sitters are good, ten or twelve are even better."