We all get busier around the holidays, which is why the demand for babysitters is the highest around this time of year. Whether you’ll be attending holiday parties, need some extra time for holiday shopping or holiday cooking, or a much needed night out with your spouse, be sure to read our tips for finding a great sitter for the holidays.
- Start Early!!!
Parents have already begun securing sitters for the holidays. In fact, most GoNannies families book their New Year’s Eve sitter over a month in advance! If you need a sitter, be sure to get started right away before the good sitters are all booked up.
- Offer a Competitive Salary
With sitters in high demand, make sure you’re offering a competitive salary. The average rate for a sitter is about $10-13/hour (sometimes higher in larger cities and for sitters with more experience). However, for nights like New Year’s Eve, which is the most difficult night of the year to find a sitter, families are sometimes willing to pay between $5-10/hour more than the average rate. - Post Your Babysitting Job on GoNannies.com
GoNannies has thousands of sitters to choose from. To find a great sitter, be sure to post your job right away. Also, be sure to list all the details about your position, including the dates and times you need a sitter, whether overnight stay is required, etc. And remember, paid GoNannies members have free access to background checks and online references to help make your screening easier! Run a free SEARCH NOW to view the profiles of sitters near you.
Do you find it tougher to find a sitter over the holidays? Share your experiences.
Luckily we haven’t had any problems with sitters over New Year’s because we do something with our next door neighbors every year and we switch off houses. The kids have a sleepover and the adults play games and watch the ball drop.
Anytime we’ve tried to find a sitter for New Year’s it’s been an absolute nightmare – the sitters book up so fast! This year I’ll definitely be using gonannies to try and find a sitter – and i’ll be starting to look for one early!!
We’ve paid a pretty penny in the past for New Year’s Eve sitters! They definitely don’t come cheap, but since they’re in such high demand I guess they can afford to charge high rates!
Last year we waited until the last minute to try and line up a sitter, which was a huge mistake. We didn’t even consider that everyone wants to go out on New Year’s and everyone would be booking people. All of our regular sitters were booked and had been for at least a month, so we ended up having to cancel our plans. I love spending time with the kiddos, but it was pretty disappointing. This year we will NOT end up in the same position!
Thanks for the reminder post!!
A couple years ago we had a sitter who wanted us to pay $30/hour to watch our kids on New Year’s… while I understand why, we ended up staying in and celebrating at home because it financially just wasn’t worth it. Maybe I should offer to babysit on New Year’s…
We’ve haven’t run into this problem yet because our oldest is old enough to watch the little ones at night but too young to be going to any parties. In the next year or so though, that’s probably going to change. Good thing we have your site to fall back on!!