A babysitting contract is a short written agreement between parents and a babysitter that sets the rate, hours, cancellation terms, house rules and what to do in an emergency. It’s for a regular sitter, the college student who takes Tuesday and Thursday afternoons or the neighbor’s teenager who covers date nights, more than a one-time favor. Our free babysitting agreement template is written in plain language so a 17-year-old and their parents can read it at the kitchen table without a dictionary.
When is a babysitting agreement worth writing down?
It’s worth it once the arrangement is regular or involves real money. Hypothetically: a family in Austin books the same sitter every Friday night at $20 an hour. One week the parents come home at 1 a.m. instead of 11 p.m. Another week they cancel at 6 p.m. A third week the sitter asks if she can bring her boyfriend. None of this is a crisis, but each one is a small awkward conversation that a one-page agreement would have settled in advance.
If you’re hiring a full-time or live-in nanny, this template is a starting point, not the whole answer. A nanny whose work you direct is likely your household employee (see the tax section below), and you’ll want a fuller employment contract, a proper payroll setup, and a look at your state’s domestic worker rules. And if you only need a one-off permission for a sitter to take your child to urgent care, use our medical consent form for a minor, which also works well alongside this contract.
What should a babysitting contract include?
Schedule. Regular days and hours, or “as booked.” How far ahead you’ll book, and how the sitter confirms.
Pay. Hourly rate, any extra per additional child, a higher rate after a set time (midnight, say), and a minimum number of paid hours per booking. How and when you pay: cash at the end of the night, a payment app, or weekly.
Overtime and late returns. What happens if you’re late. A simple rule works: time-and-a-half after the booked end time, and a text as soon as you know you’ll be late.
Cancellations. Both directions. If the family cancels with less than a set notice, they pay a set number of hours. If the sitter cancels, they give as much notice as they can and, ideally, help find cover.
Duties. What the job includes: meals, homework, bath and bed, school pickup, light tidying after the kids. What it doesn’t include: deep cleaning, pet care, or looking after extra children without asking.
House rules. Screen time, snacks and allergies, bedtimes, visitors, phone use while the kids are awake, whether the kids can go outside or to the park, and anything that’s a firm no.
Driving. Whether the sitter may drive the children, in whose car, with proper car seats, and whether you’ve checked their license and insurance.
Emergencies. Where the first aid kit and emergency numbers are, who to call first, and a line referring to the separate medical consent form if you’ve signed one.
Ending it. Either side can end the arrangement with notice. Keep it simple.
Do you need to think about taxes or minimum wage?
For some families, yes. IRS Publication 926 lists babysitters among household workers and says a sitter is usually your household employee when you control both what work is done and how it’s done. A sitter who runs an independent business, supplies their own tools and controls how the work is done may be self-employed.
If your sitter is your household employee, the numbers that matter for 2026 are these. If you pay one household employee $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026, all of that year’s cash wages to that person are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. Wages paid to employees under 18 are excluded unless household work is their principal occupation, and for a student it isn’t. Federal unemployment tax (FUTA) applies if you pay $1,000 or more in total cash wages to household employees in any calendar quarter of 2025 or 2026. Your state may have its own rules. Publication 926 walks through the rest, and a tax preparer can confirm how it applies to you.
On wages, federal law has an exemption from minimum wage and overtime for babysitting on a casual basis. The Labor Department’s regulation describes that as generally not more than 20 hours a week in total across all employers, or hours above that which are irregular or intermittent. Someone who babysits as a full-time occupation isn’t casual. Your state or city may have its own minimum wage or domestic worker law, so check it before you set a rate.
How do you fill in a babysitting agreement and sign it?
- Talk through the terms with the sitter first. If the sitter is under 18, include their parent in the conversation.
- Fill in the schedule, rates and cancellation terms you agreed on.
- Edit the house rules to match how your home really runs.
- Both sign, and both keep a copy. Tape the emergency section to the fridge.
A minor can usually sign a contract, but a contract with a minor is generally voidable by the minor, so with a teen sitter, have their parent read it too. The signature matters less here than the conversation it forces. E-signing is fine for an agreement like this; federal law says a contract can’t be denied legal effect just because it’s electronic. For the details, see are electronic signatures legally binding.
Download it, fill in the blanks, and send it for e-signature with any tool you like. (SignWren is being built for simple agreements like this; join the waitlist.)
This template is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your situation, talk to a lawyer or tax professional licensed where you live.