Compare the Top Five Babysitting Services and Nanny Agencies to Find Great Babysitters in Your Area

Do you just need a babysitter once in a while, or are you looking for a full-time nanny? Maybe you need a pet sitter or a private tutor.

• Check out the top five babysitting services below to find a babysitter in your area that will best suit your needs.
• Click on the name of the babysitting service or nanny agency in the top row to visit their site and view all available babysitters in your zip code.
• Find answers to any questions you may have and get the assistance you need today!

Should You Use Online Babysitting Services

Babysitting services? Newspaper Classifieds? High School bulletin boards? Nanny agencies? Hiring a babysitter can be a stressful undertaking.  Let’s face it, usually this means hiring a complete stranger to come in to your home, stay there for several hours unsupervised with all your personal belongings, and be responsible for the lives of your children.  This is scary stuff!  You hope the sitter is trustworthy and she’s not neglecting your children or going through your private things. But how would you know? You probably wouldn't know for sure but you can do your best to prevent it by choosing your potential sitter carefully. 

A great place to look for a reliable babysitter in your area is on the internet at an online babysitting service. These services and agencies offer benefits that newspaper classifieds cannot match.  For instance:

• Online babysitting services usually provide photos of potential sitters.  While it is true “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” people do like to see a face when searching for a babysitter or nanny. 

• A short biography is usually posted by online services and nanny agencies that often gives you some background information and an idea of the sitter’s age and experience level.

• Some online services have pre-screened the babysitters in their service and have made background checks available for members to review.

• Many online babysitting agencies will also show each sitters rate of pay and possibly his or her availability.

• Typically, if a babysitter has bothered to apply to an online babysitting service, upload a photo, and write a short biography in addition to fulfilling any other requirements of the babysitter service, then she probably is eager to work and interested in caring for children, not just making money.

When you find a potential babysitter in your area and are ready to interview her, consider your needs.  Then jot down a list of questions.   Obviously, you wouldn’t need to ask her if she has experience with infants if your children are over the age of two and you don’t plan on having any more.  But, you should be sure she has had experience with kids in your children’s age group. If you have found your potential babysitter in one of the babysitting services or nanny services listed above, then most of your questions may already be answered for you. But keep in mind that you should always ask for references and check them yourself!

Once you have found the perfect babysitter for your family, find another one as a back-up!  You should have two or three that you can call in case one cancels at the last minute.  Baby sitting services and nanny agencies usually have many available babysitters in your town as well as neighboring towns to choose from. When searching for babysitters or nannies, keep your standards high – your children are worth it!

If you are not comfortable with the idea of having a nanny or babysitter in your home, but need to work full time to support or even help support your family, maybe you should consider Starting Your Own Family Day Care!