How can I appeal to parents as a babysitter regardless of my age? (16 y/o girl)
In my experience parents want two things from a babysitter. They want their kids and home to be safe, and they want their kids to have fun or be happy. Not having a huge mess to clean up when they get home is also a factor. If you are interviewing for the job you can tell the parents about what you plan to do with the children. Let them know that you plan to clean up when the kids are asleep or even with the kids before they go to sleep. Be prepared to answer how you would handle any emergencies or temper tantrums. It helps if you've taken a baby sitter course and a first aide course. You will feel more prepared and it looks good to the parents. Ask the parents questions about what they expect and about the kids routines and rules. They will trust you more if you ask questions. Especially ask them about their diaper changing routine (if the kids are in diapers) and the bed time routine (if you are putting kids to bed). These are two things I still ask parents after years of experience and 1000's of diaper changes. Every family does these things a little different. It's important to the parent to feel that their child will be cared for knowing how the parents take care of the basics is really important. Don't have friends over while you are babysitting. Seriously! This is not party time. You are at work. You should treat this as seriously as any part time job. If you do a good job you will get more requests to babysit. The parents will recommend you to their friends and soon you will have lots of babysitting jobs. You need to know the family very well, have their permission, and really trust your friend with kids and other people's stuff before it would ever be ok to think about inviting a friend over while you are babysitting. Agree to pay before you babysit and know how much the total will be for how many hours you spent there. The parents may ask you how much at the end of the night and you need to be able to tell them the total, but if they just hand you a wad of cash you need to be able to make sure they are paying you what you agreed. Parents choose a baby sitter they can trust but kids also get a say and they choose a baby sitter they like. Don't let them run wild. Enforce the house rules and the kids will feel safer with you. Bring something fun for them, board games, and art projects are easy and almost always a hit. Have fun with them.
How do you impress parents of children your babysitting for?
I'm going to be starting a part time job babysitting a one and three year old tomorrow night. I've never met the parents or babies before, and I want to know how to impress the parents. I'm a natural around babies when the parents aren't around and gone for the evening, but for some reason it never comes naturally when they are there! help please!
I'm 15 and I would like babysitting jobs, but I can't find any! Help?
I have done absolutely EVERYTHING to try and get a few babysitting jobs until I can start working in my dad's hospital, which won't be until May. Is there any advice you could give me? I would really love it if you could give me websites that will help me find a job... most of the sites i've tried are for ages 18+ (Sittercity.com, Care.com) I'm mature, responsible, and trustworthy! What am I doing wrong? I live near Charlotte, NC which is a pretty big city, so there have got to be plenty of parents who need a babysitter :) PLease help! I appreciate it!
Why aren't there many male babysitters?
It's not wrong for guys to babysit, but it's true that there is a certain stigma against men working in childcare, which has always been seen as a feminine area. Some people even go as far as assuming that men who want to be around children are necessarily pedophiles. (I want to clarify that I'm not advocating this position, but I think it exists, unfortunately). If you are a guy who enjoys working with children, then I don't think you should feel shy about babysitting. You should work to break the stereotype!
How do I get an infant babysitting job with no experience?
It is highly unlikely that anyone is going to hire you as a full-time nanny (the only way you'll make enough money to live on 'in the big city') with no experience at all. Volunteer work, or taking classes in childcare or early childhood education or the like might be helpful. Your volunteer experience in high school (I trust you have references) might also help you get a job in a daycare center. Though really, if you're focusing on the newborn age range, what you're really looking at is being a mother's helper or even a post-partum doula. For the first couple of months, the vast majority of women are still at home with their babies and doing their own babycare. What they might need is help and support, both help around the house and maybe some help WITH the baby.