Experienced
You have looked after other people's children, more than once, and two of those families or employers will tell us about it. You hold, or will get, a current CPR and first-aid certificate.
Become a sitter
Paid properly for the hours nobody else wants.
SwingSitters is for experienced babysitters who are happy working late, are good at minding their own business, and expect to be paid well for both. You set your rate. You keep all of it.
You must be 18 or older, and 21 or older for overnight bookings.
Who we're looking for
The short list
Discreet
You do not ask where parents are going or when they come back looking happy. You do not post about clients, describe their homes to friends, or have opinions about their luggage.
Unshockable
Families come in every shape. The parents who use SwingSitters have full adult lives and would like a sitter who finds that unremarkable. If you do, you will get on well.
Kind
To children at bedtime, to a toddler at 2 a.m., and to a tired parent at the door. Warmth is the job; everything else on this page supports it.
Reliable
You turn up when you said, you stay awake when you are meant to be awake, and you know when to pick up the phone. Late nights only work when both sides keep their word.
And an adult
Every sitter is at least 18. Overnight bookings need a sitter aged 21 or older. This is childcare only: you are never a guest and never part of a parent's plans, and our zero-tolerance policy backs you up on that.
What you earn
Your rate, all of it, and then some.
We charge parents a service fee on top of your pay. We do not take a commission from you, and there is nothing to pay to join.
| Your hourly rate | $18 to $60 | You set it. Three-hour minimum on every booking. |
|---|---|---|
| Extra children | +$3/hr | For each child beyond two. |
| After midnight | +$5/hr | For awake hours between midnight and 6 a.m. |
| Overnight | $150 to $400 | A flat fee you set, for bedtime to morning, on top of the awake hours. |
| Ride home | $25 | When a booking ends between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. |
| Overtime | 1.5× | After a 15-minute grace period, in 15-minute blocks. |
| Tips | 100% | Sent to you as soon as they are paid. |
Worked example
Saturday, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Three children, your rate $28 an hour.
- 7 hours × $31.00 (rate + one extra child)
- $217.00
- After-midnight premium, 2 hours × $5
- $10.00
- Ride-home stipend
- $25.00
- You are paid
- $252.00
Before any tip. The parent also pays a 15% service fee ($34.05) on top; none of it comes out of your pay.
When you are paid
Payouts go to your bank account through our payments provider, 24 hours after you check out, as long as no incident is open on the booking. If a parent cancels late, you are still paid: 50% of your subtotal for a cancellation inside 24 hours, or three hours at the booking's hourly rate inside two hours. Overtime is charged to the family's card when you check out and paid to you once it has been collected; if the card is declined we retry it over three days, the family cannot book again while it is overdue, and a person on our team reviews anything still unpaid.
To stay visible you keep your steps current: we remind you 30 days and 7 days before your CPR certificate or your yearly background check runs out. If a step lapses, your profile is hidden and you cannot accept new requests until it is renewed. Uploading a new certificate early never interrupts your profile.
You are an independent sitter, not an employee of SwingSitters. You are responsible for your own taxes, and some families may count as your household employer. See the Sitter Agreement.
Protections for you
You look after the children. We look after the terms.
Zero tolerance, no exceptions
Any sexual advance, invitation or exposure toward a sitter is a breach that ends that family's access. You are there for childcare and nothing else, and one report is enough for us to act: their account is paused as soon as you file it, and closed for good once a person on our team has confirmed it.
You know what you are walking into
Every booking has a brief: who is in the home, pets, cameras, hazards secured, a reachable phone and an emergency contact.
Homes only
Care happens in a family home or a hotel room registered to the parent. You will never be asked to work at a venue, club or event.
The right to leave
If you ever feel unsafe, the "I need to leave" steps on your safety screen walk you through calling the emergency contact so that you can go without leaving children alone, and calling 911 if anyone is in danger. If you have to end a sit for your own safety you are still paid for the time worked or three hours, whichever is more.
Late means paid
Overtime at 1.5× after the grace period, and if no adult is able to take over, you stay on the clock while the emergency contact is called.
Someone to tell
File an incident from the booking and a person on our team picks it up; what you write is never shown to the family. You can block a family from booking you again without them being told, and you choose which requests you accept, every time.
How to apply
Six steps, in whatever order suits you.
You can start today and finish the steps in any order. Your profile goes live when all six are passed, your application is approved, your payout account is connected and your area is open for bookings. We start interviews in an area once enough families are waiting there, so that you are not approved and then left with nothing to do; until then we do not run a background check or contact your references.
Timing depends mostly on how quickly your references answer and how long the background check takes in your county. Parents see a badge for each step you have passed. More about the screening and your rights: About background checks.
Verify your identity
A government-issued photo ID, checked through our identity provider.
Consent to a background check
Run by a third-party screening provider: criminal records including county courts, and a sex-offender registry search. You can ask for a copy of your report.
Give two childcare references
People who have seen you look after children. A member of our team contacts each of them.
Upload your CPR and first-aid certificate
It needs to be current, and we record its expiry date.
Have a video interview
A conversation with a person on our team about experience, emergencies, late nights and discretion.
Sign the Sitter Agreement
The code of conduct and confidentiality terms, signed in the app. Read it first.
Good with children. Good with secrets you were never told.
If that sounds like you, we would like to hear from you.