How to Get Babysitting Jobs Without Care.com
The apps are not where most sitters find work. They are where most sitters find competition.
Search for babysitting jobs and every result tells you the same thing. Make a profile. Upload a photo. Get a background check. Wait.
There is nothing wrong with that advice except that it is incomplete, and the part it leaves out is the part that pays. Most working sitters get most of their bookings the same way plumbers and hairdressers do, which is from someone who already used them telling someone else.
Here is the whole picture, in the order that actually works.
1. The families you already know
Start with a list. Not a mental list, a written one. Everybody who has children and knows your name: neighbors, your parents' friends, families from your old school, the people at whatever you did on Saturdays as a kid, anyone whose children you have ever held for five minutes at a barbecue.
That list is longer than you think and every name on it already clears the hardest hurdle in this business, which is that a stranger is not going to hand you their child.
You are not asking them for a favor. You are telling them a service exists. There is a real difference and it shows in how you say it.
2. Ask in a way that gives them an easy no
The message that works is short, specific, and does not require a decision on the spot.
Hi Sarah. I am babysitting properly now, mostly Friday and Saturday evenings, and I have my CPR certification. I charge $22 an hour for one child. No pressure at all, but if you and Tom ever want an evening out, I would love to sit for Maya. And if you know anyone else looking, send them my way.
Four things are doing work in there. It names the availability so they know when to ask. It names the rate so nobody has an awkward conversation later. It gives them permission to ignore it. And the last line is the one that matters most, because it turns one family into a source of families.
If a family asks for something in writing after that, a half page is plenty, and it matters more what is on it than how long it is.
3. The referral ask, which almost nobody makes
After a booking goes well, the parent is standing in the hall, relieved, in a good mood, about to pay you. That is the single best moment you will ever get to ask for something, and most sitters use it to say "anytime" and leave.
Say this instead:
I really enjoyed tonight. If any of your friends are looking for someone, I would be glad if you passed my number on.
One family who likes you is worth more than any profile on any website, because their recommendation carries the trust you would otherwise spend six months building.
4. Be findable in the places parents already look
Not lampposts. Parents are not scanning lampposts for childcare. They are in a handful of specific places, and a card or a flyer in those places gets seen by exactly the right person:
- School and preschool noticeboards, especially the ones inside the office rather than the entrance
- Pediatric and dentist waiting rooms, if they let you
- Gyms with a creche, where every member has children and an evening problem
- Church, synagogue and community center halls
- Local neighborhood apps and parent groups on Facebook, where you reply to requests rather than posting adverts
The last one is worth more than the rest combined. In most towns there is a group where somebody posts "anyone know a sitter for Saturday" twice a week, and the sitter who replies first with a name, an area, a rate and a certification usually gets it.
We wrote a whole piece on what to put on a flyer so it actually gets calls, because most of them make the same three mistakes.
The free calculator builds your rate from your area, your experience, the ages and how many children. Two minutes, no card.
Work out my rate5. Use the apps, but use them properly
Apps are a supplement, not a strategy. They are useful for filling gaps in a schedule and for your first job when you genuinely know nobody. They are bad as a main channel because every family posting a job gets a queue of applicants, and the thing that separates the queue is usually price.
If you are going to use them, know what they cost you first. Care.com takes 10% of your earnings on instant bookings and charges $15 to $20 a year for a mandatory background check. Sittercity takes no commission at all and lets families pay you directly. Bambino is free. Those are very different deals for the same work.
Sitter-side fee comparison: Side Hustles, babysitting apps review
We compared all four properly in Care.com vs Sittercity vs Bambino vs UrbanSitter.
6. Say yes to the awkward jobs, once
The Tuesday afternoon. The one with the four-year-old who bites. The New Year's Eve nobody wants. Taking one of those early buys you a reputation as the sitter who actually turns up, and that reputation is what gets you the easy Saturday bookings later.
Once. Not as a habit, and not at a discount.
None of this is much use before you have decided what you charge and what you will not do. If you have not taken a booking yet, start with how to start babysitting and come back.
Have your number ready before any of this
Every route above ends the same way, which is a parent asking what you charge. If you have not worked it out in advance you will do what almost everyone does, which is guess low, and then you are stuck at that number with that family for as long as you sit for them.
Work it out first. Then all six of these become easy.
Common questions
How do I get babysitting jobs with no experience?
Start with families who already know you, because they are hiring you rather than your resume. Offer to do one shorter daytime booking first so they can see you with their children before they leave you for an evening. Two of those and you have references.
Where is the best place to find babysitting jobs?
Local parent groups and referrals from families you have already sat for. Apps are useful for filling gaps but put you in direct price competition with everyone else who applied.
Is Care.com worth it for babysitters?
It can be for a first job or for filling a quiet week, but the 10% commission on instant bookings and the annual background check fee make it the most expensive of the major platforms for a sitter. Sittercity and Bambino cost a sitter nothing in commission.
How do I ask someone if they need a babysitter without being awkward?
Tell them the service exists rather than asking for the job. Name your availability and your rate, and give them an easy way to say nothing at all. Most of the awkwardness comes from asking a yes or no question in person.