- Once you've decided on your hourly rate, get the word out to parents and start interviewing with potential clients.
- Improve your babysitting skills by ironing out an emergency plan, brainstorming fun activities, and learning to keep clients' homes clean.
- Get experience as a new sitter by taking a babysitting course or offering to babysit friends' kids for free.
Building Your Business
Write a 1-page resume. Include all your babysitting experience, work history, education, any babysitting courses you took, and any other interests or activities that show responsibility. Type the resume up and print out a few copies so that you can give it to potential clients. You should also include at least 3 references on the resume who parents can call to verify your credibility. For example, if you babysat your younger cousins, you can put down the contact info for your aunt and uncle as references. An example of an extracurricular activity that shows additional responsibility and knowledge would be if you were or are a boy or girl scout, especially if you had any leadership role in your troop.
Choose the age range that you want to babysit. Ensuring that you are comfortable with the age of the children you babysit is essential so that you may perform your job well. Pick an age range that you feel capable of caring for.Tip: When you are just starting out, kids that are at least 2 years old are a good option. They are no longer infants, so you don’t have to do things like bottle feed them or change diapers. For instance, you may feel that infants and young children are more difficult to care for and opt to babysit older children.
Decide the price you will charge for babysitting. The average hourly rate for babysitting is around $15-$16 USD. Charge less when you are just starting out so people are more likely to hire you, then gradually increase your rates as you gain more experience. You could talk to other local babysitters and see how much they charge to help you decide what a fair price is.
Start advertising your services. Make business cards with your name and phone number on them and start handing them out to people you know who have children. Make fliers advertising your services and post them on local community center boards, in local shops, or in a library. Be sure to include ages you will babysit, your phone number, and days or hours you would be available on any fliers. If your community has any local social network pages, such as a Facebook page or Nextdoor page, you can also advertise there.
Interview with parents who want to hire you. Parents will typically want to meet with you or at least speak on the phone before actually hiring you to take care of their kids. Ask questions to help you understand what their kids’ needs are and answer any questions they have about you and your experience to show off your babysitting skills and knowledge. If you are under 18, then always make sure your parents know when you are going to an interview and give them the name, phone number, and address of the potential clients, even if it’s someone you know. If the child you will be babysitting is present during the interview, make sure to interact with them so the parents can see how you get along. If you aren’t comfortable with how a certain job sounds, it’s perfectly OK to reject it. The interview process goes both ways and is about finding a good fit for everyone.
Use a planner or app to schedule your appointments so you don’t overbook. Make sure to record the dates and hours of your babysitting appointments every time you get hired. You will be able to refer to them as personal reminders as well as to make sure you don’t accidentally double schedule yourself. You can also keep track of your payments in a notebook or app to do personal accounting as well as record all of the contact information for your clients and any special notes about the children you babysit.
Improving Your Skills
Get a list of foods the children can and can’t eat. This especially includes anything they are allergic to. Make sure to keep any prohibited foods out of reach of the children and don’t bring anything with you that they are allergic to. If a child does have any allergies, make sure you know where their emergency medication, such as an epipen, is.
Have a plan for how to handle any emergency situations. You need to be prepared for any kind of emergency that might occur, from a minor scrape or cut to a house fire. Make sure you know where the first aid supplies in the child’s home are and have a mobile phone with you at all times so you can quickly call emergency services if you ever need to. Other emergencies could include getting locked out of the house, a child choking, a child falling down and hitting their head, a child running off, or a burglar. You need to know how to react to any of these possible situations.
Plan fun activities to do with the kids. Try to come up with fun things to do with the kids you babysit like art projects, playing board games, or going to a park. Make sure that anything you plan is OK with their parents, especially if you want to take the kids out of the house. This will keep the kids entertained and they will look forward to spending time with you. Planning fun activities will make you a way better babysitter than someone who just sits and watches TV with the kids for the entire time.
Keep the house tidy for the parents. Make sure to pick up any messes you make before the parents get home. This means cleaning up after playing games or doing art projects, as well as washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen after making food. Try to leave the house in the same or better condition than it was in when you got there. Parents will really appreciate that you kept the house in good shape for them.
Avoid being on your phone while you are babysitting. Focus your attention on the children you are babysitting and don’t get distracted by your phone. Don’t use Facebook, Instagram, or text with friends while you are supposed to be caring for a child.Tip: If you want to use your phone or a computer after putting a child to bed, just make sure it’s OK with the parents first. Don’t listen to any loud music or anything else that will prevent you from hearing the child if they get up or need something from you. This is especially important when you are watching young children who can easily get themselves into trouble if you aren’t paying attention.
Gaining Experience
Obtain permission from your parents if you are under 18 years old. Let your parents know that you are interested in starting a babysitting business to earn some extra money. Ask them for their approval so that you can start your babysitting service. This is very important because your parents will be able to judge if you are mature enough and responsible enough to care for other younger children. If your parents don’t feel like you are ready to babysit, you can ask them what you need to do to show them you are ready for the responsibility. Even if your parents agree that you are up to the task of babysitting, they might have other concerns. For example, they might worry that it could interfere with your schoolwork or family responsibilities. You can discuss these types of concerns with your parents and try to come to an agreement about how you will balance babysitting with your other tasks to get their approval.
Take a babysitting course. A formal babysitting course will help prepare you for various situations by teaching you valuable child care skills and first aid skills, including CPR. Look for well-known courses with good reputations like the ones offered by Red Cross or Safe Sitter. Parents will feel much better about leaving you to take care of their kids if they know you have received formal training from a reputable company.Tip: Use a search engine to search for "Red Cross Babysitting and Child Care Training" or "Safe Sitter." These are 2 of the most reputable babysitting courses and will provide you with a variety of valuable information and safety training, including optional CPR certification. Some course topics include basic child care, professionalism, safety, and even how to start a babysitting business. You typically have to be at least 11 years old to take these types of babysitting courses.
Volunteer to care for children you know. Start by asking your parents, relatives, family friends, and members of your social circles to recommend you to people in need of a babysitter or let you watch their kids. Offer your services for free at first so you get some babysitting experience you can put on your resume. For example, if you have any young cousins, you can ask your aunts and uncles to let you look after them while they go run errands or go out for a date night. After they see that you can look after their kids with no problems, they might recommend you to other people they know and you can start charging for your services.
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