Babysitter/nanny - Youngstown,OH

A nanny is a professional caregiver, and SHOULD be able to take care of a child ages newborn on up. She should be able to fix meals, do light housekeeping, and basically nurture a child the way a parent would. Nannies usually prefer to work out a set weekly salary, as opposed to babysitters who are hourly. I was a full-time nanny for several years, and I didn't accept a job unless I was paid like any other employee that worked in a business environment. I got a weekly salary, 2 weeks paid vacation per year, paid sick days, and extra for any overtime. But I was very professional. I cooked, I cleaned, I had a clean driving record, I was prompt, rarely sick, and only took my vacation time with the family took theirs. The children were my job, and I made sure they were happy and healthy on my watch.

A baby sitter is an occasional person you call to watch your kids when you go out to a movie or another activity. A nanny is a regular employee who has set hours and a steady income, that comes to your home. They are more full time where a baby sitter is sporadic.

Nannies are in general more experienced, professional and have CPR and First Aid. They are able to charge more and are generally for more of a 15+ hours a week position.

Babysitters are more informal, charge less, and do sporadic care without set hours. They can be both certified or not in CPR and First Aid.

People use the term nanny when the person cares for their children on a scheduled and regular basis. It suggests that the person is more qualified than a babysitter. Babysitter is synonymous with the neighbor girl coming over to watch your kids while you go out to dinner and a movie.

A nanny is a career professional, often educated in Child Development or Early Childhood Education. They should carry SIDS/Shaken Baby, CPR and First Aid training. Transportation/Car seat training is a good idea if they will be driving your children (along with PROPER insurance, often paid for by the family). They are alloted a benefits package including paid time off, sick days, and are paid for mileage when driving for work. They should have a contract that covers these benefits and other scenarios such as traveling with the family (should the need arise), what raises will entail (yearly, merit, new baby, etc), duties (light cleaning, laundry, errands, in addition to childcare if that is part of the job), etc. You pay the employer portion of the taxes all on the up and up. It is a real and true "grown up" job. LOL

A babysitter is the occasional caregiver for dinner and a movie, or that wedding you need to attend. She could be a teenager from down the street, or perhaps someone equally as qualified as a nanny or daycare provider (who is moonlighting for cash)....but you do not contract with her or provide those benefit packages. You use for short term, occasional assignments and pay her cash at the end of the night.

Hi M.,

The way I always understood it was that a nanny was an extension of the parents -nurturing, came up with structured educational things for the kids(s) to do, was more independent, was responsible for more tasks etc.

A babysitter makes sure the house doesn't burn down and the kid is alive when you get back from wherever you went. lol (not to belittle babysitting - it's very important job).

Therefore, nannies would be paid more and babysitters would be paid less.

Just my $0.02

a baby sitter is some one who only watches a kid for a certain amount of time while a nanny takes care of them while the parents are gone or busy everyday/almost everyday