How To Become A Babysitter – From Babysitter to Nanny Series – Ep. 1

Hi everyone!

In the last couple of months, we have noticed a huge uptick in the number of people deciding to enter the nanny world. Many of these people are looking to switch careers and do something more rewarding than their current job. Some are daycare employees or camp counselors who are looking to earn a higher hourly rate.

But how to get started? I’ve got you covered with my latest series, “From Babysitter to Nanny”! In this series, I will walk you through a tutorial I’ve built for how to get started as a nanny.

First, if you don’t have any childcare experience (or maybe just light experience watching a family member’s child or working part-time at a camp), you will need to get some experience under your belt. I recommend starting out with babysitting as you can gather experience and begin to better explore and understand the sitter/nanny childcare world.

Let’s get started with “How To Become A Babysitter – From Babysitter to Nanny Series – Ep. 1“. I got my start in the childcare world by becoming a babysitter at 12 years old. I fumbled around for a few months trying to figure out how best to gain experience and find parents to hire me. It was a struggle!

Click Here To Watch Episode #1

In today’s video, I cover my eight steps to becoming a babysitter. I discuss training through babysitter classes on how to find babysitting gigs all the way through setting up a digital business card and online payments to make it easier for parents to pay you for babysitting (I wish I had these tips when I was first getting started!)

Pro Tip: Start with pre-school-aged and older children. Most kids these ages are potty-trained (yeah for no diapers!) and can communicate. These age groups are easier to start with.

A transcript of the video can be found below: 

Hi everyone, Laura from Nanny Parent Connection here.

So many nannies get their “foot in the door” in the industry by becoming a babysitter first. I got my start in child care by becoming a babysitter at 12 years old, and I landed my first full-time nanny position when I was 18 years old.

Sometimes taking that babysitter experience, and transitioning that into your first nanny position can be difficult. So I’ve decided to create a new series, “From Babysitter to Nanny” where I will help to walk you through the process. In this first video, I discuss eight steps to becoming a babysitter.

Step #1: Look for babysitter classes

You can do a simple internet search to find out more about babysitter classes near you. Oftentimes, these courses are offered at local hospitals. If a local class isn’t available, check online for any modules or courses that might be available for you. It’s worth mentioning that many parents look for babysitters who have taken these classes and they can be a great place to develop some foundational skills in order for you to perform your job to the best of your abilities.

Step #2: Complete your CPR/First Aid certification

Again, this is not a requirement to become a babysitter, but many parents do look for babysitters who have this certification. The skills you’ll learn in your CPR/First Aid certification course will allow you to handle any emergency situations should they arise. I personally do recommend getting the CPR/First Aid certification if you are going to be caring for children.

Step #3: Getting that experience

This could be a family experience with younger siblings, or with cousins perhaps who are younger than you. If you don’t have younger siblings to gain experience with you could consider offering to watch a neighbor’s children, or a friend’s children while the parents are home in order to get some hands-on experience.

I know there are a lot of parents out there who can use an extra set of hands from time to time, and many will be open to this type of arrangement.

Step #4: Have a resume

It doesn’t need to be anything really extensive or formal, but it needs to be something that will give parents an idea of the ages of children you’ve cared for, how long you’ve been caring for children, and the types of job duties you’ve been responsible for.

For now, if your resume is on the lighter side with any paid experience, you could choose to include any family or friend experience, you could also choose to include volunteer experience, or you could choose to include any achievements from school, sports, clubs, or other activities.

This can help to demonstrate skills and attributes such as reliability, leadership, commitment, dedication, etc. And, don’t overlook any musical, science, culinary, or drama skills for example because all of those skill sets are extremely transferable into child care. If you want some guidance on how to create a great nanny resume, check out this video.

Step #5: Advertise your services

If you’re located in the Seattle area check out nannyparentconnection.com, where you can advertise your services directly with parents seeking care. You can also choose to advertise your services in community groups such as Nextdoor, or online on social media, and don’t forget that word-of-mouth referrals from other parents who have worked with you are a great source of advertising.

When advertising your services, consider having a digital business card. Something that you can text, email, or share online. And, be sure to include any information such as that you’ve completed those babysitter courses, or that your CPR/First Aid certification.

Step #6: Consider setting up online payment options

This could be Zelle, Paypal, or Venmo for example. Some of these options may require setting up a bank account. So, if that’s something you don’t already have, make sure you think about the time it may take to set up that bank account in order to get your online payment options off the ground. And keep in mind that, for 2022 you can earn up to $2,400 from one individual family before you, or the family are required to pay social security or Medicare taxes on that amount.

Most babysitters are not going to hit the threshold for families to meet the tax requirements. And, if you are, good for you. Go get it! Just make sure that you’re following the letter of the law, and do a little research on when you need to start paying taxes.

Step #7: Begin by babysitting children preschool age on up

Now, I make this recommendation because preschoolers on up are usually potty trained, you’re done with diapers and they have fairly good communication skills. It can just mean that this is an easy way for someone to get started if they’re newer to babysitting. Once you have gained some initial experience with this age group, go ahead and branch out.

Step #8: Get those letters of recommendation from families

Any family you have had positive experiences working with, go ahead and ask them if they wouldn’t mind either being a reference for other parents to contact about how you are as a babysitter or see if they might be open to providing you with a letter of recommendation which you can then share with other families seeking babysitting services from you.

Alright, everyone, that’s it for the video on “How To Become A Babysitter ” in my “From Babysitter to Nanny” video series.

I hope this information was helpful. Please join me back next time when we talk about what parents are looking for in a babysitter. Thanks, everyone, bye!