Babysitting jobs are not advertised. They are asked for.
Families do not post listings and shortlist candidates. They ask someone they trust, then they look in two or three places on their phone. Here is exactly where those places are near you, and what to say when you get there.
Find where to look near meWhere to look, where you live.
Put in your town or city and get the six places worth your time, with the links that go straight to your area.
Your local job map
Nothing is stored and nothing is sent. This just builds the right links for your area.
The fourteen-day plan, as a PDF you keep.
Eight pages. The scripts, the profile template, and a day-by-day plan from nobody knowing you sit to families asking for your dates.
How to Get Babysitting Jobs
Everything on this page, plus the parts that do not fit:
- The five lines your profile needs, with a fill-in template
- The first-message script, and three things never to put in one
- What parents really mean by each interview question
- The seven questions you should be asking them
- The referral ask, word for word
- A fourteen-day plan, one small thing a day
Free. No account, no card, and we will not pass your email to anyone.
Ranked by how much work they actually produce.
People who already know you
Neighbors, family friends, your parents’ colleagues, people at your place of worship. Almost every first job comes from here, and almost nobody works it on purpose. Write down ten households tonight and tell all ten this week.
Local parent groups
Neighborhood Facebook groups, school parent groups, Nextdoor. Someone posts “anyone know a sitter?” every week. You want to be the reply — or better, be remembered from a post two weeks earlier.
The sitter platforms
Care.com, Sittercity, UrbanSitter. Real demand, worth a profile, but you are one of hundreds locally — so the profile has to do the work. That is what the five lines are for.
Referrals from families you already sit for
The best work there is and the cheapest to get. One happy family can hand you three more. Most sitters never ask, which is the entire reason it works so well for the ones who do.
Physical and unfashionable
A card at the library, a pediatric clinic, a coffee shop, a rec center. Low volume, near-zero competition, costs a few dollars.
What does not work
General job boards. Families do not post babysitting gigs to Indeed or ZipRecruiter — agencies and daycares do. That is a different job, and it usually pays less per hour than sitting independently.
The message that gets a reply.
Short, specific, and ends with a question. Long messages do not get read; messages without a question do not get answered.
I have been sitting for [x] years, mostly with [ages], and I am certified in babysitting and first aid. You can check my certificate here: [your verification link]
My rate is $[x] an hour for [number] children.
Would it help to have a quick call before you decide?
Get all of them in the free guide, including the profile template and the interview questions.
Getting hired, answered.
How do I get babysitting jobs with no experience?
Start as a mother’s helper — you look after the children while a parent is still in the house. Almost every experienced sitter started there. It is not a lesser job; it is the fastest way to get your first reference, because the parent watches you work and then recommends you.
What is the best app for finding babysitting jobs?
Care.com, Sittercity and UrbanSitter are the three with real demand in most US cities. All three have free tiers that let families contact you. Do not rely on them alone though — local parent groups produce more work for most sitters, and cost nothing.
How do I get babysitting jobs at 13 or 14?
Through people who already know you, almost exclusively. Platforms generally require you to be 18 or older to hold an account. Tell ten households, start as a mother’s helper, get trained so there is something concrete to point at, and let word of mouth do the rest. More on age in how old do you have to be to babysit.
Why is nobody replying to me?
Usually one of three things, in this order: your rate is well above the local going rate, your profile contains no proof a stranger can check, or you told people once and never followed up. Fix them in that order.
What should I charge?
Decide before anyone asks, and give one number rather than a range. Our rate calculator works it out from your state, the number of children and the hours.
Is it safe to meet families I found online?
Meet in public or at the family home with a parent or guardian of your own present, never give out your home address or school, and never say exactly when you are home alone. If you are under 18, have a parent see the first exchange with any family you do not already know.
Do I need a certificate to get hired?
No, but it is the fastest way to stop competing on price. A certificate a parent can actually look up is the difference between “she seems nice” and “she knows what she is doing”. Ours is $45, or $12 for a single class.
Getting the job is the first half.
Raising your rate, using a contract, invoicing and turning one family into five is the half that decides what you actually earn in a year. That is the Business Blueprint — six classes and ten templates you keep.
See the business course — $79Or take single business classes from $19 on the classes page.