Should I Babysit?
What You Should Know Before You Take Care of Other People’s Children
From watching your neighbor's toddler to operating a home daycare center, learn the facts before you agree to babysit.
Many stay-at-home moms find that taking other children into their homes benefits them as much as the mom who’s getting a babysitter. It gives their own children some other kids to play with, and mom gets the reward of knowing she’s providing a lifeline to a fellow mom.
If you’re charging a fee to babysit, or operating a home day-care as a small business, you can earn income while still being at home with your children. Childcare is one of the few jobs you can do at home that doesn’t take you away from your children.
There are risks and responsibilities that go along with babysitting, however. Before you decide to open your doors to little ones, know what level of childcare you’re providing and the regulations and responsibilities that go along with it.
Being a daycare provider at any level requires that you childproof your home to make it safe for children of a set age, that you know and can use CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver, and that you have a working automobile, a telephone, and emergency phone numbers, including where the parents can be reached.
Regardless of how long a child is staying in your home, know his allergies, what he can and cannot eat, and any health risks.
If you decide to charge
If you’re planning to charge money to babysit, you could very well be operating a business, as far as local, state and national regulations are concerned. In that case, do your homework first. You will have to follow all rules for home day care.
Depending on how many children you’ll have in your home, you may be required to have a background check and home inspection done, as well as some required training and regular paperwork filed.
Know what the laws are for the maximum number of children of what age you’re allowed to have in your care
Babysitters’ liability
When you agree to take other children into your home, even if you aren’t babysitting for money, you are taking responsibility for them.
According to Rough Notes Company Inc., an insurance publisher, a home owner’s liability insurance does not cover claims for injuries arising in connection with a business conducted from the home. Business is defined as an activity engaged in for money or other compensation and does not include an arrangement in which you babysit for a family member or for a friend in return for a favor.
If you’re babysitting for a friend or neighbor as a favor, your home owner’s liability insurance should cover any accident involving the children in your care.
Regardless of how close you are with another family, if you are caring for their children in your home, remember your responsibility.
Swaps and co-ops
If you’ve got a network of friends with small children, an arranged babysitting swap might be what you need. For every time you watch your friend’s children, she owes you one equal-length day of babysitting your kids.
And if you’ve got a larger group of friends, a babysitting co-op is an organized way of earning free babysitting for yourself by babysitting other children. Some co-ops are organized so that you earn and pay “tokens” per child per hour, so that all co-op members get equal benefits.
If you’re considering being a part of an organized swap or co-op, be sure to set the rules and put them in writing, no matter how minor they seem. One parent taking advantage can not only demolish a babysitting arrangement, it can cause irreparable damage to friendships.
