Urban Sitter

What: Babysit for pay

Expected pay: $11 – $16 per hour (1 child)

Husl$core: $$$$

Where: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts. Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia.

Requirements: Be at least 18 years of age; legally able to work in the U.S.; have a clean criminal record

Review: Urban Sitter, like Sitter City and Care.com, offers a website where you can post a profile and advertise your child care services to potential clients. Babysitters and nannies pay nothing. Parents, however, pay at least $100 annually to use the site. Theoretically, the site doesn’t have specific requirements, but sitters say they’re picky about those who post profiles, requiring both background checks and clear photographs of all nannies. Though reviews of this site are overwhelmingly positive, a number of sitters have complained about getting booted from the site for what they believe were minor infractions — cancelling a job because of a family emergency or inadvertently walking away with an owner’s key, for instance. The site does have the right to boot sitters for any reason whatsoever and, given that parents pay for the service because they imagine they’ll get better-vetted babysitters, Urban Sitter has every incentive to be cautious. 

That said, there are several sites that will allow you to advertise your child care services, so if Urban Sittter isn’t your cup of tea, try Care.com, Sitter City or Nanny Lane. 

What their users say: (From Glassdoor and Indeed)

I love working for Urbansitter. Very competitive, Great Families and good pay. I have been working as a caregiver for over 10 years and absolutely love what I do.

You are basically self-employed. Really easy to create your own schedule. The local managers are really nice and helpful! They also put on local events for sitters to network and find new opportunities.

Working for urbansitter required going all over San Diego and meeting new parents and kids.The days always varied based on the age group of the kids one day it could be diapers the next driving a carpool to soccer. Typically I would watch the kids , cook them dinner, pack their lunches, pick them up from school, some light cleaning , and taking them to tutoring. With younger children it was typically dinner and then a the nighttime routine of bath time , story, and bed. I learned how to be responsible and accountable for people other than myself.It was a nice job because I was technically my own boss. I was able to create hours that accommodated my schedule and occasionally was able to negotiate pay.The hardest part of the job is it’s just you and the kids. No co- workers , no adult interaction it was not a very social job( which is something I really enjoy)The kids were by far the best part of the job. Kids are so full of excitement , innocence , and curiosity. Even when they were misbehaving I still loved them.

I love being able to login and select which jobs I want and when. I have a regular job Mon through Fri so I work as a babysitter on the weekends for extra cash.