Nanny or Babysitter?

Which option is right for my family?

We receive many questions from clients trying to determine whether they should be working with our long-term Dallas nanny side of our business or if their family's needs would be better served with a Dallas babysitter. Below is a description of the main differences, in order to set your expectations about our process. Please feel free to call us as well if you have any questions.

Long-term:

• Consistent, set schedule
• 20 hrs/week or more
• One long-term caregiver (one year commitment)
• The agency fee is a one-time charge (see our Pricing page)
• Families will likely have a several week process that includes creating a position description, viewing profiles, interviewing candidates, doing trial time, and completing employment agreement

Temporary:

• Irregular schedule and/or <20 hrs/week; min. 4 hours each usage
• Multiple caregivers (while we do try to limit the number of caregivers that a family receives, our sitters do have flexibility and provide us their schedule on a week-to-week basis)
• Families call in as-needed to provide requests for care
• Agency fees are charged per day of usage (see Pricing page)
• Quick turn-around of placements; families will receive basic information about their assigned caregiver(s)

The reason that we must keep these two processes separate and defined is because of the very different nature of the caregivers that are in each "pool". While all caregivers are screened the same way, there are various differences that exist between the two groups.

The typical profile of a Mom's Best Friend nanny:

• Caregiver seeking full or part-time work with a consistent schedule and 20+ hours per week (most are looking for 40+ per week)
• Looking for a long-term position and is willing to commit to a family for at least one year
• Views this as their career

The typical profile of a sitter / babysitter can vary greatly:

• Caregivers may be college students, teachers looking for evening and weekend work, long-term nannies working on-call until they find a long-term position, stay-at-home moms looking for occassional work, caregivers with another part-time job (e.g., daycare centers), and many other iterations
• Depend on the job to be flexible (they provide us weekly availability and are not able to commit to particular schedules or families)
• Cannot give us long-term commitment (though many have been with us for many years)