Childcare is what a nanny, babysitter and childminder have in common. All three have the same job of looking after your children when you have them looked after.
However, there are some differences in the amount of time they spend looking after children, their qualifications, their age…
Let’s look at the profile and role of each!
The babysitter
A babysitter is usually a young girl or someone the parents know who will look after their children. They are usually high school or university students and do babysitting to earn a little money on top of their studies. They can and often do extracurricular childcare (school trips, etc.). This is not always a full-time job for them. Parents often call on a babysitter when they decide to go on an occasional outing, something out of the ordinary. A babysitter does not necessarily have a diploma in early childhood education. Finally, most of the time, babysitters look after the children at your home and not at theirs. Some babysitters even offer specific services such as multilingualism on marypop.com
The nanny
A nanny is often older and will look after children on a more regular or even full-time basis. A nanny is in charge of picking up children from school, cooking for them, helping them with their homework… Some diplomas are available to become a more competent nanny:
- The BAFA (Brevet d’Aptitude aux Fonctions d’Animateur) which allows you to learn how to manage a group of young people and to organise activities in leisure centres or camps.
- The AFPS (Attestation de Formation aux Premiers Secours), which enables you to learn first aid techniques and how to react in an emergency, to learn how to give a heart massage, etc.
- Certain structures such as the IFAP (Institut de Formation à l’Assistance aux Personnes) provide access to training courses that allow the integration of good reflexes to have with children
The childminder
A childminder must have certain qualifications and, in particular, a licence from the departmental PMI (Protection Maternelle et Infantile) in order to work. This approval is obtained following one of the training courses listed below. This diploma is valid for 5 years. The childminder will look after children in her own home and in the children’s home. She can look after 2 children at the same time and can ask for a derogation to look after 3 or 4 children. To become a childminder, there are three possible training courses:
- The State diploma and the childcare assistant diploma (one year training)
- The CAP (Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle) (two-year course)
- Level III diploma in the field of early childhood
During these training courses, various topics are covered, such as the development and needs of children, the human body and a child’s health, dietetics and nutrition, the basics of education and how to communicate well with parents.
Childminders can work as self-employed or under the jurisdiction of a town hall, in family day-care centres.
So, if you want to have your children looked after, you can choose between 3 profiles of childminders: it all depends on the criteria you are looking for in the person you are going to work with.