What’s The Difference Between A Nanny vs A Babysitter?

Are you looking for a nanny or a babysitter? Maybe, you’re not even sure of what you’re looking for. It’s okay. There’s a thin line between nanny vs babysitter.  

Some folks interchange the two terms. However, they shouldn’t be interchanged. They’re actually two different care providers.

Deciding which childcare provider to choose is never easy. It’s even worse if you don’t even know the difference between a nanny and a babysitter.

Well, I can help you out. I will list down the differences between nanny vs babysitter so that you can choose between the two.

So, if you want to know the differences between a nanny vs babysitter, read on.

Nanny vs Babysitter

The only similarity between a nanny and a babysitter is that they both care for kids. However, if you take a close look at nanny vs babysitter, you’ll see a list of differences between the two.

Let’s start with a nanny. A nanny usually has years of experience to back her up. She’s a professional. More often than not, she has taken up advanced courses in childcare, child development, and childhood education.

A nanny is hired on a long-term basis. Hence, she becomes a permanent employee. This also means that she becomes a permanent figure at home.

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Not all nannies are live-in. There are also some nannies who are live-out, meaning they don’t stay over. There are also night nannies who care for newborns. They assist the parents at night. That way, the parents can get some sleep.

Since a nanny is hired on a long-term basis, she plays a huge role in raising and disciplining the kids. She’s also expected to help around the house, doing laundry, cooking, and other household chores.

Now, since nannies become full-time employees, you need to consider vacation and other holiday leaves. As full-time employees, there are also other benefits that you would have to look into.

At a glance, here’s what a nanny is:

• Hired on a long-term basis.
• More expensive than hiring a babysitter
• Becomes a permanent employee.
• Could be live-in, live-out, or someone who just stays overnight.
• Plays a huge role in raising the kids.
• Entitled to vacation and other holiday leaves, plus other employee benefits.

Now, let’s look at what a babysitter is. A babysitter usually comes over to lend a helping hand. They don’t work full-time and aren’t considered permanent employees. A babysitter is pretty much a temporary position. Hence, it’s the reason why babysitters are often shared among families.

Unless the parents have a to-do list, babysitters just have to make sure the kids are safe. Oftentimes, they’re hired to keep the kids company.

While babysitters are hired to care for the kids, they’re not really expected to do much. Unless the parents have a to-do list, babysitters just have to make sure the kids are safe. Oftentimes, they’re hired to keep the kids company.

Most babysitters I’ve come across are usually college students. For me, I find that very convenient since they usually end up helping my kid with homework without me having to say so. Some of them have also taken up First Aid, CPR, and AR training, which gives me some peace of mind if I have to leave home.

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Since babysitters aren’t exactly permanent employees, there’s no need to think about vacation and other holiday leaves.

At a glance, here’s what a babysitter is:

• A helping hand.
• Not a full-time employee.
• Not as expensive as hiring a nanny
• Hired to keep the kid’s company.
• Are usually college students, some of whom have First Aid, CPR, and AR training.

Between A Nanny And A Babysitter, I Chose A ….

It’s tempting to think of hiring a nanny, especially if you’ve just given birth. The thought of having someone around the clock is tempting. Then, of course, it could be quite costly.

In my case, I went on to hire a babysitter. Of course, the cost was a big factor in my decision. However, as I did more research on nanny vs babysitter, I realized that there were a lot of babysitters who were just as good as nannies.

For example, the babysitters I hire are professional as well. They’re not students but professional babysitters with years of experience. I have come across a lot of them who have had advanced education and training in childhood care and development.

When it comes to duties, the babysitters are prepared to do more than just watch over the kids. If you’re wondering where I find these babysitters, I go to Sittercity.

Sittercity gives me lots of options when it comes to babysitters. It also allows me to go over the profiles of the babysitters. From there, I can tell how many years of experience she’s had. I can also pick up some bits of information from the description on her profile.

If I like her profile, I can check out her availability. If she’s available on my preferred dates, I can easily send her a message or even schedule an interview right away.

Hence, it’s the reason why I opted to hire sitters instead. It’s easy to connect and communicate with them. Most importantly, I don’t have to worry about hiring them full-time.  It’s really just a matter of setting expectations with them.

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Setting expectations with a babysitter is very important since I can tell her exactly what I want. So far, it has worked well for me since the babysitters I hire end up fulfilling all the tasks I’ve assigned them to do. There are even times when they do more than I expect them to do.

For me, it’s like hiring a nanny at a fraction of the price; devoid of all the employee benefits. That’s the reason why I choose to hire a babysitter from Sittercity instead.

It’s worth noting that you can also find nannies on Sittercity. Aside from babysitters and nannies, Sittercity also offers senior care and pet care.

In going over the profiles of the babysitters on Sittercity, I was able to find someone who fit my budget and could deliver the tasks I had in mind.

Choose What Suits You Most

When it comes to nanny vs babysitter, the choice is yours to make. It depends on what suits you most. In my case, I had a budget and I simply didn’t want to hire anyone on a long-term basis.

When I started connecting to babysitters on Sittercity, I learned that I could actually hire professional babysitters as well. They were almost like nannies but I could pay them by the hour. That suited me well.

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Hence, it depends on what suits you well. If you’re really keen on connecting to nannies, I recommend you take a look at the database of Sittercity as well. You’ll find a lot of nannies there.

There you have it. You now know the differences between a nanny and a babysitter. Although it’s quite easy to interchange the two, there are differences.

A nanny is more costly and is hired on a long-term basis, A babysitter is a lot more affordable and you don’t have to hire her full time.

It’s really up to you to choose which one suits you best. Keep in mind that no matter what your choice is, consider Sittercity as your resource for childcare.

Which do you prefer, a nanny or a babysitter? Share your thoughts with us. We’d love to hear them.

Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate. Click here for details.

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Gigi Hernandez

It used to be the case that I would babysit for families. These days, I’m the one hiring sitters to watch over my little girl. LOL! How time flies. My mission now is to share some of my insights so that other moms get to benefit from my experience with babysitting. Read More