Babysitter vs Nanny: Cost & Duties (Which Is Best For Your Family?)

7 May 2024

Written & Illustrated by
Matthew James Taylor

Babysitting video by
Lydia Kutz

Reviewed & Edited by
Renee Irving Lee, B.Ed.

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Not sure whether your child needs a babysitter or a nanny? Your choice will come down to the duties and responsibilities you expect them to perform. So how are they different?

Both babysitters and nannies care for children while parents are away, but nannies are more involved. Nannies play a bigger part in the children's lives and do other tasks like housework, food preparation, and home management. Babysitters are short-term caretakers who are hired on an ad-hoc basis.

Often the line between a babysitter and a nanny can be blurred. Below, Lydia Kutz explains some of the typical differences:

Lydia Kuts is a babysitting business owner in Florida, USA with many years of experience as a nanny and a babysitter, in this video she explains the differences between a babysitter and a nanny

Babysitter Vs Nanny

Common differences between Babysitters and Nannies
Babysitter	Nanny
Casual contractor	Full-time employee
Often a temporary position	Permanent position
Works on an ad-hoc basis when needed	Works longer hours on a consistent schedule
Performs basic child-minding and entertainment	Provides holistic childcare centered around your child's wellbeing and development
Performs minimal household duties	Helps to run the house including cooking, cleaning, laundry, and more.
Often a family outsider	Becomes a deeply connected part of the family
Has basic training and sometimes minimal experience	Advanced training and education with years of experience
Less expensive	More expensive
Paid per hour	Often issued an official paycheck
Lives elsewhere	Sometimes lives in the family home
Babysitting is often just a job	Childcare is typically a long-term career goal

There are many different names and types for childcare providers, but nannies and babysitters are two of the most common ones. Before you decide to hire one or the other, read this article to learn the finer details. Then you'll be ready to make an informed decision and pick the best childcare option to fit your family's needs.

What's A Babysitter?

Babysitting is very occasional for different families, short term jobs. Depending on the time of the day the job includes entertaining the kid, dinner, bedtime routine, bath maybe... and you get paid at the end of the job

Lydia Kutz babysitter and nanny — **Lydia Kutz**
Little Bugzz Babysitting
St Petersburg, Florida, United States

A babysitter is usually someone who provides temporary care for your children while you're away.. Their primary role is ensuring the well-being and safety of your children while they're in charge.

Babysitters are part-time workers who get paid by the hour. They are trained to watch children of all ages.

Most commonly parents use a babysitter on an "as needed" basis, when they have an appointment or a special occasion where they can't bring their child.

Some babysitters work on a regular schedule though. For example, you might get a babysitter to pick your children up from school and watch them until you get home, from 3 to 6 pm every weekday. Or you might schedule them to babysit for you every Friday night.

Sitters are also usually responsible for planning and facilitating activities for your children. That includes things like arts and crafts, games, or sports.

Some babysitters will do additional tasks like driving children around, helping with homework, cooking, or light housekeeping. But normally a higher wage is expected for these types of activities and they aren't considered to be baseline babysitter tasks.

Some babysitters will even work full-time. Essentially like having a one on one daycare in your own home during the week. In this case, the line really starts to blur between what's considered a babysitter, nanny, or daycare provider.

What's A Nanny?

While a babysitter only cares for your child part of the time, a nanny is really involved with your child's wellbeing and general development in a much more holistic and complete way.

A male nanny is called a manny!

Nannies (and mannies) care for children fulltime when parents are at work. They have a lot more responsibility than a babysitter, including setting daily schedules and activities for the children. They're intimately involved with your children's emotional, physical, and mental growth and wellbeing.

Nannies do a lot more around the house, including cooking meals, helping with homework, doing the dishes and laundry, and driving children to activities like swimming lessons or gymnastics.

Where a babysitter is still somewhat of an outsider, a nanny is a really connected part of your family. They might even run errands for you, like going grocery shopping or getting your clothes dry cleaned.

Nannies usually have advanced childcare training, beyond the basic CPR or first aid certification that a babysitter probably has.

To compensate for all of their extra duties and responsibilities, a nanny typically gets paid more than a babysitter. They earn a weekly salary, as opposed to working for an hourly rate.

A nanny is essentially a full-time employee of yours, the same as other household staff like a gardener, janitor, or butler. Because of this, there's a lot more administrative work involved with paying your nanny.

A babysitter normally gets paid cash. As a parent, there aren't really any concerns about things like taxes. But if you have a nanny, you'll need to issue them an official paycheck. That means also deducting taxes from their pay and submitting it to the government, as well as unemployment benefits and potentially even providing healthcare benefits.

It's normally expected that nannies will receive at least two weeks of paid vacation per year as well. Most nannies would also expect holiday pay and a Christmas bonus.

Hiring a nanny can sound like a really big commitment and responsibility, and it is. That's why it's important to have an in-depth nanny contract that lays out all of the terms and conditions of the job, including everything above, plus other items like sick days.

However, nannies also provide an unrivaled level of care that you can't get from a basic babysitter. Nannies become a part of your family, and bond with your children to form a relationship that is more akin to a role model or co-parent than just a caregiver. Your nanny will be more involved with parenting and discipline and generally raising your child.

Live-in nannies

You can also get a live-in nanny, who will have a bedroom in your house or perhaps an attached apartment. In this case, you'll be providing room and board to your nanny in addition to a salary.

Live-in nannies can travel far from home to stay with their employers, so it's a nice gesture to pay for a plane ticket so they can return to see their family once per year.

A live-in nanny also creates a complicated situation in case you ever need to fire your nanny. Since they're both an employee and also a tenant, you usually can't simply terminate them instantly. You'll need to give them notice and a reasonable time to move out, along with potentially paying for their relocation.

Nanny Contracts

Lydia Kutz explains that "Nannying has a lot of variables to it and that usually comes down to what the nanny wants to do and what the family is looking for the nanny to do." so it's commonplace for nannies to work under a detailed contract.

Here are some of the typical items that a nanny contract can cover:

Pay rate or salary
Time and days you're watching the kids
How many kids there are
Start time and end date
Holidays and vacation time you get off
Whether it's paid or unpaid work
Who's car will you use? (yours or theirs)
Job duties including:
- Entertaining the kids
- Creating curriculums for the kids
- Taking the kids to or from school, appointments, and activities
- Food preperation
- Doing the dishes
- Grocery shopping
- Laundry
- Light housework
- Cleaning
- And a lot more

Things That Differentiate A Professional Nanny From A Babysitter

Schedule

A nanny can work part-time or full-time, but they almost always work exclusively with one family. Babysitters, on the other hand, can often work for multiple families even within one week. Nannies normally have set hours that are planned well in advance or don't change from week to week.

Experience

A nanny usually has at least 5 years of experience working with children, at least 3 years of those being experience working as a nanny. Nannies may have started off as babysitters, or they may have previously been teachers or daycare workers who transitioned into the role.

Job duties

Nannies look after your children's nutrition, transportation, schedule, hygiene, and lots more. Babysitters have a much more limited job scope. Usually just supervising the child is the majority of a babysitter's job.

Education

Nannies might have a degree in early childhood education, child development, or a similar related field like human psychology. Babysitters typically have less education or no specific related education at all.

Long term career goals

Babysitters are usually doing their job part-time as a way to earn extra money while they're still in school or working toward some other career goal. Nannies have picked their career and stick with the profession in the long-term. They're more invested in their work and aren't pursuing anything else. Nannies might belong to professional nanny associations or attend conferences and workshops.

Myths About Nannies

A nanny is just a babysitter that works longer hours

As discussed above, a nanny's job description goes above and beyond what is expected of most babysitters. It's a lot different than just making a microwave dinner for children and letting them watch a DVD while their parents are out.

A nanny is actively involved in the day to day care of your children and their development.

Anybody can become a nanny

Nannies are often more highly educated than you'd expect. In addition to certification in CPR and first aid, they might also have early childhood education or a similar teaching degree, knowledge of child nutrition, and specialized skills like sign language depending on the family they work for.

Some people might think being a nanny isn't a "real job." Try telling that to a full-time nanny with 15 years of job experience!

Nannies just sit around all day

Being a nanny is hard work. While they deserve the occasional break, nannies are on their feet most of the day. When they aren't actively looking after or engaging with your children, they're usually cleaning up after them.

Compare that to a part-time babysitter, who might just spread out on the couch with your children for a movie marathon while you're out.

Nannies are hard workers, problem solvers, and critical thinkers.

Babysitter vs Nanny – Pros and Cons

Wondering whether a babysitter or nanny is better for your situation? Let's look at some of the pros and cons.

Babysitter Pros

Cheap. If you just need someone to watch your children for a couple of hours after school, you can likely get your 13-year-old neighbor to do it for a fraction of what a nanny would charge.

Flexible. You can choose the exact hours that you need your babysitter to work. You can book them for a 3 or 4-hour time slot instead of having to pay them for an entire day. Plus you can have multiple backup babysitters in case your main sitter isn't available.

More privacy. A babysitter is less connected to your family than a nanny would be. They might help themselves to food in your cupboard, but they won't be folding up your clothes and opening your underwear drawer as a nanny might. They have a more casual surface-level relationship with your children.

Babysitter Cons

Less intensive. Babysitters might do arts and crafts with your children, but most of them are pretty hands-off when it comes to discipline and actually raising your child.

More limited availability. It's hard to get a younger and more inexperienced (and therefore cheaper) babysitter during daytime hours because they're probably in school or have another part-time job. A daytime sitter will be a more experienced caregiver and have rates more comparable to a nanny.

Nanny Pros

More control. Having a nanny gives more consistency and control compared to a babysitter. You can tell your nanny exactly what your children eats and what their schedule is like. They also give more consistency and stability. Most nannies even give a detailed report at the end of the day to let you know how things went.

More attention. Nannies are more focused on your child than a babysitter might be. They create a one on one bond with your child. They are likely to get your child much more engaged than a babysitter will.

Better logistics. A nanny is around your house all the time during the day. That means you can use them to deal with deliveries or to have a contractor come to perform repairs on the house. If you forget to do something, you can call the nanny and ask them to do it for you. Plus nannies do housework and chores that a babysitter usually won't.

Nanny Cons

Potential discipline or parenting style conflicts. Your nanny is with your children all day, every day. So if you disagree on things like discipline or when your child should sleep, it might make things difficult. It's less serious to have a babysitter with different rules than Mom and Dad, compared to someone who's with the children for 40 hours a week.

Cost. A nanny will usually cost you significantly more than a babysitter. In addition to working more hours and having more responsibility, they also tend to have more experience and qualifications that warrant higher pay.

No backup. If your nanny is sick or shows up late, you likely won't have a replacement and will need to stay home with your child or scramble to find alternative arrangements. Plus your nanny likely gets paid sick pay even if they don't show up.

You're an employer. Having a nanny as a full-time employee means you're responsible for things like taxes and benefits. You'll need a much more in-depth contract, you'll have to pay them vacation time, and you generally have a lot more legal responsibility and liability. Overall it's more paperwork and hassle.

What About A Full-Time Babysitter Instead Of A Nanny?

You can give your nanny the job title of a babysitter or vice versa, but in the eyes of the law, the details are much more important than a superficial label.

In some places, you're considered a childcare provider instead of a babysitter if you look after the same child for more than 15 hours per week. That comes with all kinds of legal ramifications attached to it. In the eyes of the law, that would be a daycare or nanny as opposed to a babysitter.

What Are The Dangers of Paying Your Babysitter Off The Books?

Say you have a babysitter that you've hired and you're paying them an amount of cash that exceeds the annual tax limit.

If your babysitter tries to file for unemployment benefits and lists you as a past employer, the government will likely look into your family's tax returns and see that you didn't pay any tax or unemployment insurance on the sitter's behalf.

Your babysitter will get denied their benefits, and you'll likely get a call or visit from the tax man.

What Paperwork Do I Need To Pay My Full-Time Caregiver Correctly?

If you pay your babysitter or nanny enough that you need to issue a paycheck and collect taxes on their behalf, there are a few things you'll need. This will vary from country to country, so for the sake of an example, I'll be referring to the American requirements.

The first thing you'll need is your caregiver's Social Security number or their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN.) In Canada/UK this would be their Social Insurance Number (SIN), or in Australia, it would be their tax file number (TFN.)

In the US your caregiver will also need to fill out an I-9 form, which verifies their identity and employment authorization. As well as a completed W-4 form, which is a federal form allowing you as the employer to withhold income taxes from their paycheck. It's also a really good idea to have an employment contract with your employee that lays out things like vacation time, sick days, and other details.

To deduct childcare expenses on your own tax return, you'll need to fill in Schedule H which shows how much you paid your employee, including their salary and any taxes or benefits paid.

Of course, you don't have to do it alone. There is a whole industry of accountants and companies that specialize in tax services for employing caregivers. They can even do your payroll and issue your caregiver's paychecks or direct deposits for you, for a fee.

Conclusion – In My Opinion, Which Is Better?

While the idea of having a nanny look after your child full-time is appealing, I don't think it's a reasonable solution for most parents.

The extra cost and tax requirements aren't feasible for many families.

A nanny might be a great option for a family with two professional parents who both work full-time. In that case, you might be able to justify paying a nanny to work for you 40 hours per week.

Especially considering that they can take care of cleaning and other household tasks that you may not have time to stay on top of. They can even deal with teaching your child life skills like potty training.

If you only need childcare to fill in gaps during a few hours per week, then a babysitter is a much better option. They're more affordable, there's less (or no) complicated paperwork to fill out, and they generally offer a lot more flexibility.