01
Hourly Babysitting
A flexible option for shorter daytime or weekend jobs.
Babysitting business starter
How to start a babysitting business
Finished a babysitting course and ready to do something with it? Turn your skills into a real business with services, pricing and a website you can share with families.
Start free Three starter services Built for young founders
Your starter shop
Ready to customize
Name, services, prices and website are editable before you share.
Choose your offer
Start with services families understand.
Lemonade Lab loads three common babysitting services so a new founder has something concrete to edit. Keep only the services that fit the sitter’s experience, schedule and comfort level.
Start my babysitting business$15 example
02
Evening Babysitting + Bedtime
An evening option that can include dinner, stories and the family bedtime routine.
03
After School Babysitting
Care after school with reading, homework, games and simple snacks when agreed with the family.
What parents look for
Trust comes before the logo.
Parents want to understand who is caring for their child and how prepared that sitter is. The strongest signals are practical: training, references, clear boundaries and an emergency plan.
Read the American Academy of Pediatrics parent checklistTraining
Babysitting, first aid or CPR training when appropriate for the sitter and job.
References
A trusted adult or family who can speak to reliability and experience when appropriate.
Boundaries
A clear answer about which ages, routines and situations the sitter is prepared to handle.
Emergency plan
Parent numbers, the job address, medical information, emergency contacts and house rules.
Babysitting rates
How much should I charge?
There is no universal babysitting rate. Location, experience, number and ages of children, evenings, bedtime routines and extra duties can all change what is fair.
These are current member listed averages for one child from Kidsit on August 17, 2026. They are market examples, not recommended rates for a young sitter.
See the current rate sourceMarketOne child example
Vancouver, BC$19.36 CAD
Calgary, AB$18.14 CAD
Phoenix, AZ$17.50 USD
Los Angeles, CA$20.31 USD
Check your own local market with a parent before setting a price. Your Lemonade Lab starter prices are editable.
Training and babysitting courses
Know what the course actually means.
Course eligibility is not the same as legal or family readiness to babysit. Training can build useful skills and confidence, but parents and founders still need to decide whether a specific job is appropriate and check local rules.
American Red Cross
Babysitting Basics is designed primarily for youth age 11 and older. The in person Babysitter's Training course is designed for ages 11 to 16 and covers child care, safety and emergency response.
See American Red Cross trainingCanadian Red Cross
The Babysitting course is designed for youth 11 to 15, with a minimum age of 11 or completion of Grade 5. It includes first aid, care skills and the business of babysitting, and provides a completion certificate.
See Canadian Red Cross trainingFinding customers
How do I get my first babysitting clients?
Start with people your family already knows. A first babysitting job is a trust decision for both families, so warm introductions are much stronger than broadcasting a young person’s private information to strangers.
- 1Make a short list of families your parent or guardian already knows.
- 2Share your business page with one trusted family first instead of posting personal details publicly.
- 3Agree on the date, hours, children, responsibilities and price before the job.
- 4After a successful job, ask whether the family would recommend you to another family they know.
Before the first booking
Questions that matter once a family is interested
Do I need a licence to babysit?+
Rules vary by location, age, the number of children, where care happens and whether the work becomes a larger child care operation. A babysitting course does not replace local legal requirements. A parent or guardian should help check the rules where you live before you accept jobs.
What should I put on a babysitting flyer or website?+
Keep it focused on the business: the services you offer, relevant training, general availability, the area you serve and a safe way for a parent to contact the business. Do not publish a young person’s home address or other unnecessary private information.
What should I ask before I accept a babysitting job?+
Ask how many children there are, their ages, the exact start and end time, the address, pets, allergies, medications, bedtime or screen rules, emergency contacts and any responsibilities beyond watching the children. A parent or guardian should be involved in deciding whether the job is appropriate.
What information should I have before the parents leave?+
Have the parents’ mobile numbers, the home address, an emergency contact, medical or allergy information, house rules and clear instructions for meals, bedtime, visitors and anything the children are not allowed to do.
What if the family has pets?+
Ask about pets before accepting the job. Make sure you are comfortable around them and understand whether feeding, walking or letting them outside is part of the job. Pet care should never be assumed just because you are babysitting in the home.
What if the parents are later than planned?+
Agree in advance on how the family should contact you if plans change. If a return time changes significantly, keep your own parent or guardian informed and make sure everyone agrees on any effect on the final price.
Babysitting business toolkit
Go deeper on the part you are working on now.
Each guide solves one specific startup question. Use only the resource you need, then come back to the main launch flow when you are ready to build.
babysitting business names
Name your business
Naming formulas, original ideas and a quick parent test.
Open guidebabysitting flyer
Make a flyer
What to include, what to leave out and how to share it safely.
Open guidehow much should I charge for babysitting
Set your rates
Use local market context and a simple rule for quoting jobs.
Open guidebabysitting business plan
Build your plan
Turn services, pricing, trust and goals into a one page plan.
Open guidehow to get babysitting clients
Find first customers
Start with trusted families, referrals and repeat bookings.
Open guidebabysitting website
Build your website
Show the right trust signals without publishing private information.
Open guidebabysitting certification
Understand certification
Understand what training means and what it does not mean.
Open guideReady to build it?