Evening
Ends at or before midnight. Hourly rate with a three-hour minimum. If the booking ends at 11 p.m. or later, the $25 ride-home stipend applies.
How it works
Book the sitter. Skip the cover story.
Here is everything that happens between "we need a sitter for Saturday" and "goodnight, thank you", for parents and for sitters. The short version: you tell us when, never why.
For parents
Your side of the evening
Set up once, then booking a sitter takes about as long as choosing a restaurant.
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Create your account
Sign up with Google or with an email address and a password. Either way, your email address is all we use to identify your account. Pick a display name: it is all a sitter sees of you until a booking is confirmed.
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Set up your household
Add your address, a phone number, an emergency contact, and your children by nickname and birth month. We do not ask for children's full names or photos. Note pets, any cameras in the home, and confirm that hazards such as pools and firearms are secured.
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Search by date and time
Enter the start and a firm return time, or switch on overnight. You will only see approved sitters who are available for those hours. Each profile shows experience, age groups, rate, reviews and the vetting steps that sitter has passed.
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Send a request with your brief
You see the full quote first. Then you fill in the pre-job brief (more on that below) and send the request. The sitter has up to 24 hours, or until the start time if that is sooner, to accept or decline.
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Pay to confirm
Once the sitter accepts, you have 12 hours (or until the start time) to pay by card. Payment confirms the booking. Only then does your sitter receive your address, your phone number and your brief.
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Have your night
Your sitter checks in on arrival and checks out when you are home. You can message each other in the booking thread. If you are running late, say so; overtime after the 15-minute grace period goes entirely to the sitter.
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Afterwards
Leave a tip if you would like to (all of it goes to the sitter) and a review. Reviews run both ways and are revealed only when both are in, or after 14 days, so nobody writes theirs in response to the other.
Booking types
Evening, late night or overnight
You do not choose a type. You choose times, and the booking is labelled from them, so the sitter knows what kind of night to expect.
Late night
Ends after midnight, by 6 a.m. Hourly rate plus $5 an hour for the hours after midnight. The ride-home stipend applies to finishes up to 5 a.m.
Overnight
Ends the next morning. Hourly until the children are asleep, then the sitter's flat overnight fee ($150 to $400) while they sleep in your home. Overnight sitters are 21 or older.
Not sure when you'll be back? Book the overnight.
It is the calm option. Nobody watches the clock, nobody drives home at 4 a.m., and you return in the morning to children who have had breakfast. You will tell the sitter where they can sleep as part of the brief.
The pre-job brief
We never ask where you're going. We do ask these.
"We never ask where you're going" is a promise about your privacy. It is not "no questions asked". Anyone looking after children needs a few facts, and every booking includes them.
None of these questions is about your plans. All of them are about your children and your home. The brief is released to your sitter only after the booking is confirmed, and to nobody else.
- A firm return timeSo the sitter can plan their night, and so everyone knows when "late" begins.
- A phone number you will answerKept on and within reach. A child with a fever at 1 a.m. is the reason.
- An emergency contactAn adult who is not one of the parents out that night, and who could come over if needed.
- Your children's ages, routines and allergiesBedtimes, medical needs, what is and is not allowed.
- Pets, and other adults in the homeSo nothing and nobody is a surprise.
- CamerasIf you have cameras indoors, you say so and where. Sitters are entitled to know.
- Hazards securedYou confirm that pools, firearms and similar hazards are locked or secured.
- For overnights, where the sitter sleepsA bed or sofa of their own, and where the children are.
- How the sitter gets homeThe ride-home stipend, or the sitter's own car.
For sitters
Your side of the evening
You are an independent sitter running your own schedule. We bring you families who value late hours and pay accordingly.
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Apply and build your profile
Tell us about your childcare experience, the ages you work with, your skills and languages. Set your hourly rate ($18 to $60) and, if you are 21 or older and want overnights, your flat overnight fee.
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Complete the six vetting steps
Identity verification, a background check, two childcare references, a CPR and first-aid certificate, a video interview, and the signed Sitter Agreement. You appear in search once all six are passed and your payout account is set up.
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Set your availability
Choose the evenings you work and how late you will stay, including past midnight. Block out dates whenever you like. You only receive requests that fit.
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Accept or decline requests
Each request shows the times, the children's ages, the neighbourhood (city and ZIP), the parent's rating and what you will be paid. You decide which requests to take.
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Get the brief, do the job
When the parent pays, the booking is confirmed and you receive the address, a phone number and the household brief. Check in when you arrive and check out when you hand over.
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Get paid
Your payout is released 24 hours after checkout, provided there is no open incident on the booking. It includes your full rate, any after-midnight premium, the overnight fee, the ride-home stipend and any overtime that has been collected from the family's card. Tips are sent as soon as they are paid.