Work and Business

Baby-Sitting Becomes Big Business on Campus

When Vanessa Wauchope landed in New York City for college, she figured she could make some extra money baby-sitting. She didn’t realize the hot demand was going to lead to a career she wasn’t anticipating.

Genevieve Thiers, 27-year-old graduate of Boston College, saw the same potential for making baby-sitting a legitimate business.

With parents willing to pay a premium for college students, baby-sitting has become big business on campus for college students and parents willing to pay high fees for reliable sitters.

Started by young college women in New York and Boston, companies like SitterCity (sittercity.com) and Sensible Sitters (sensiblesitters.com) capitalize on the demand for baby sitters. These companies compile a list of baby sitters, mostly college students, and a list of parents and match the two. With introductory fees as high as $150 and monthly membership fees, selling baby sitters can be a profitable business. Parents are willing to spend up to $20 a month for access to college sitters, and college students are grateful for the income.

“Without Sensible Sitters, I wouldn’t be able to meet these people and baby-sit for them,” said Lauren Cunningham, a New York University student and member of Sensible Sitters. “Trying to make these connections on your own is really hard.”

Founded by young women who spent high school and college as baby sitters, both SitterCity and Sensible Sitters use firsthand knowledge to run their New York based companies.

“I realized the demand in New York for young, responsible, college-educated baby sitters,” said Wauchope, founder of Sensible Sitters. She charges parents an introductory fee of $150, with a monthly membership of $20 for access to her baby sitters.

Thiers, founder of SitterCity, saw the same demand at Boston College. She baby-sat for 30 families to pay her way through school and wanted to offer the same opportunity to other college students. Handing out fliers on college campuses around Boston, she assembled a team of college baby sitters and started making her online database.

“There are thousands of really good college baby sitters and no way for parents to find them,” Thiers said.

SitterCity is an online database of more than 3,000 babysitters in New York City, and at least 1,000 sitters in 20 other cities, including Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. The sitters join the service for free, setting up an online profile with availability, age preferences and pay minimums among other information. Minimum fees can be set as high as $45-50 an hour, but most New York sitters charge $12-16 an hour, said Thiers.

Parents who join SitterCity pay $39.99 to subscribe and $5 a month to maintain their membership. They can type in their zip code and get a list of all the sitters in their area or post requests that are e-mailed every morning to local sitters. The service does not check references of the sitters on the site, so Thiers recommends that parents still interview and check references of all sitters.

Sensible Sitters, on the other hand, has approximately 80 college baby sitters. With such a small group, Wauchope can keep a close eye on her sitters and her clients. She offers her sitters security by meeting all of the parents who subscribe. She personally interviews all her babysitters and requires at least five references, three years of childcare experience and CPR certification.

One phone call guarantees parents a responsible sitter with résumé and references within 24 hours. “The theory behind Sensible Sitters was to make it a safe, reliable and referable baby-sitting service,” Wauchope said. “The theory works so that any of my clients feel comfortable using any of my baby sitters.”

For many parents, Sensible Sitters is worth the cost. “It’s great to know that if I need someone to baby-sit last minute, Vanessa’s going to find someone,” said Erin Eccles, a parent and subscriber to Sensible Sitters.

Sensible Sitters also sets the fee for baby sitters at $14 an hour, which is lower than many New York baby sitters and nannies, Eccles said.

“She makes a point of matching parents and baby sitters, so all the girls I use live in my neighborhood,” Eccles said. “The monthly fee is equal to having to pay one cab fare for a sitter who lives outside the city.”

To recruit parents as well as baby sitters, SitterCity hosts events like “Speed Sitting,” and Sensible Sitters offers “Sensible Sitters Soirees.”

“We took the idea that parents fall in love with their baby sitters literally,” Thiers said about Speed Sitting. The latest event was held Feb. 1 at Dylan’s Candy Bar and was planned to mimic Speed Dating, where parents and sitters chat for five minutes until a bell tells them to move on. Hopefully by the end of the session, a match is made. There was even heart-shaped cookies to get everyone in the mood.

Sensible Sitter Soirees provide sitters to assist and entertain at children’s birthday parties, giving makeovers and playing games.

These events help spread the word about the quality of the company’s baby sitters and add to the number of jobs available to college students.

“I can call Vanessa and tell her that I need to work a little more this week to make a little more money, and she’ll hook you up,” Cunningham said.