If you need a babysitter or Nanny there are many online services available.
Hiring a babysitter online can be a safe and easy experience, if you know the right place to look and how to utilize the features that are available to you through this type of service.
The Babysitter and Nanny referral services have various offerings and price ranges, you can go with the Cadillac or the Kia.
Some sites perform Extensive background checks while others provide a link to perform your own through another online service such as
LexisNexis. Locations that the providers service can vary as well.
Not Just Babysitters performs criminal and DMV background checks, as well as reference follow-up. Sitters are Certified in CPR and are college educated (or pursuing Degrees) Not Just Babysitters services Manhattan and Los Angeles.
Founder and Owner, Zee Miller, will visit you at your home and assess your needs to ensure that she matches you with an appropriate candidate for you child-care needs. There is an Annual Fee for a one year membership that is in addition to the sitter costs which vary by sitter and number of children to be watched. You do not pay the babysitter directly. You pay Not Just Babysitters and they pay the sitter. There is a minimum booking of four hours for all sitter work and the sitter should be booked 48 hours in advance. Same day booking is available for an additional twenty-five Dollar fee.
babysitters4hire has a well designed, easy to navigate, and intuitive website.
Candi Wingate, President of
babysitters4hire was kind enough to answer some questions and provide some more information about her company.
Babysitters4hire.com is designed to assist families in finding a quality babysitter for their specific needs and requirements. A free preview of available babysitters is available to families through our local neighborhood mapping technology. Once you are a registered member, you will be given immediate access to nannies through text messaging, email and phone.
Families seeking a sitter post a profile to state exactly what they are looking for and so the sitters can contact them directly provided the family choose to keep their profile visible.
Babysitters4hire comes in considerably less than the other services.
There are 2 different packages available:
The Yearly Plan - $69.99 non-refundable fee gives you 12 months access to Babysitters4hire.com. No Registration Fee.
The Monthly Plan - $26.99 non-refundable Registration Fee gives you access to Babysitters4hire.com for a 30 day period.
There is a $12.00 monthly fee thereafter.
You may cancel the $12 monthly fee at anytime via phone or email.
A canceled monthly membership may be reinstated at anytime for $14.99
Babysitters4hire does not provide background checks or customer reviews of sitters.
They do recommend that you perform a background check on a prospective sitter and they provide a link to perform an online background check for registered users.
Prices for background checks range from ten dollars for a basic multi state check to a hundred dollars or more for an extensive private search.
Care.com Is an online referral service for Babysitters, Pet Sitters, Senior Care, Tutors, and housekeepers.
Care.com offers free limited access. For twenty-five dollars a month you get Unlimited access to all providers and free background checks (Discounts are available for registering for 3 or 12 months)
They provide service in most cities and states.
Care.com performs SSN, Address Verification, and Criminal Background Checks.
A search of criminal records will be conducted to see if the user has a criminal record. The records that are searched include:
- State and county criminal record repositories
- State sex offender registries
- Prison, parole and release files from state Department of Corrections
- Administrative Office of Courts, and other state agencies
- Proprietary LexisNexis criminal record information
DMV Records are not checked. In some counties they will review court records (This is not available in NY and NJ)
One thing that I like about Care.com is that they allow members to post reviews of the sitters they have employed.
Sittercity.com provides parents and sitters with a central location to find each other quickly, safely and easily. Both parents and sitters create detailed online profiles and can search the site for matches using over 30 search criteria. Parents can also post unlimited jobs for sitters, obtain references from sitter profiles and follow their four-step screening process to hire a quality caregiver.
Both sitters and parents may request background checks, read and post reviews for each other, and use tools like their Rate Calculator to determine fair pay and their Interactive Babysitter Cheat Sheet to prepare their babysitter.
There are two billing options:
$39.99 for the first month and $9.99/month thereafter, or
$7.99/month billed in the one-time annual sum ($95.88).
Sittercity does not screen caregivers, Instead, they have created a four-step screening process to carefully guide you through the hiring process and help you make the best decision for your needs.
- Read the online reviews and ratings directly on a caregiver's profile.
- Conduct an in-person interview with your favorite caregivers.
- Check a caregiver's references (also listed directly on caregiver profiles).
- Run a background check.
To make the screening process even easier, Sittercity has comprehensive libraries with tons of articles for care seekers, which includes interview questions to ask the sitter, how to conduct reference calls and what to ask, tactics to distinguish a good sitter from a bad sitter, and more.
Word to the wise: NEVER hire someone without following a screening procedure first.
Special Offer: Sittercity is offering 10% off memberships using code:
sitter10
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