I hired my mom to take care of my 3 months old son so I can work. Should I issue a 1099-misc to the babysitter?

Technically, that is what you are supposed to do if you pay her more than $600.

However, since you must report the babysitter's name, address and SSN on the Form 2441 in order to claim the Child Care Credit, the reporting of that information has the same net effect, i.e. it tells the IRS that you paid someone a set amount of money to care for your child while you worked, and that someone had best report that income on his/her tax return.

You can not pay a relative for child care. No aunt, uncle, sister, brother, inlaw, etc. the person who provides care for a child or elderly adult can NOT BE related to the person!!

Melissa - first please note that this thread is over a year old. Second - you are not correct. It is true that you can not claim the credit if you made child care payments to someone you claim as a dependent, or to your spouse, or to a different child if under age 19. But no problem if you pay your mother (assuming she is not a dependent). You can tread the details here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p503.pdf