Childminder vs Babysitter

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Please tell me the difference between the 2.

I looked into becoming a child minder a few years back but decided I couldn't do the training at that point. Looking on Facebook there is a group where people advertise themselves as childminders or Babysitters. I thought if you are paid to look after children you have to be a registered Childminder but I'm pretty sure the teenagers I've seen advertising aren't doing it for free.

Could someone please clarify?

Childminders work in their own home, have to be OFSTED registered, regularly inspected, having passed training qualifications including first aid training, and should have public liability insurance. It is a profession which requires a commitment to the early years foundation education framework if you are caring for young children.

Babysitting is what teenagers do for a few quid and a pizza. It requires no training, no registration, no qualifications and is essentially just watching TV while the kids sleep in their own bed most of the time.

HTH.

Basically what raging has said above. A cm is registered with ofsted, has various dbs checks, insurance, trainings and qualifications and is inspected regularly to check they are caring and educating the children they look after well.

A babysitter is someone who has decided they want to look after children at the child’s home, normally in the evening while parents go out. No formal training/insurance/qualifications are required.
Unfortunately some people use the term ‘childminder’ to describe their babysitting services, which is really frustrating and I imagine confusing for parents who then think the unqualified babysitter knows what they are doing.

I’ve phrased that last bit incorrectly- a babysitter might know what they are doing, but probably has no insurance, no up to date paediatric first aid certificate/dbs/safeguarding/child development training.

It’s also not the case that you get what you pay for as if you only need a babysitter for 1 child, it’s probably more expensive per hour to hire a babysitter than a childminder. (I know one of my cm families who pay me £4 per hour during the day, pay a 16 year old £6 per hour while the child is asleep. And yes, I know it’s unsociable hours, but it is still frustrating when they moan about their high childcare bill each month).

The key difference in UK childcare law is where the care takes place.

A babysitter comes to your home and cares just for your children.

A childminder provides a service to many families from their home. You take your children to the childminder's home and collect them again later on.

A nanny is like a babysitter but is on a more permanent basis. A babysitter is booked on a per occasion basis. A nanny is employed on a contract, so they may be coming to your home every weekday, or one/two/three/four days per week every week.

And the only one of the three - Childminder, babysitter or Nanny, who has to legally have a suitability check, training including first aid and follow any education bases activities is the childminder. Yet they are often the cheapest option and then have to pay for all the equipment, insurance, training, often food and activities that the children do.
Many child minders have level 3 qualifications or above and can take government funding and childcare payment schemes, (Ofsted registered Nannies can access this, but Nannies do not have to be Ofsted registered),