Can I 'babysit' without a license? So confused! Please help!

@guss2000 (2232)
United States
July 31, 2007 12:24am CST
Gosh I'm so undecided! I've been thinking about offering babysitting services to parents that need it. I was thinking I could watch people's kids for when they wanted to go out on a date, or if they just needed someone before or after school-- just real quick like things. I thought it would be a nice easy way to make a little extra money in the month, and would also keep me busy since I'm a stay at home mom. So, I started researching if I could do that in my state without an OFFICIAL license-- and it seems like I really can't unless I know the parents or whatever. This is taken from the Maryland Child Care Administration Website http://somd.com/Detailed/3220.php A family day care home is not required to be registered if the provider: (1) Is a relative of each child; (2) Is a friend of each child's parents or legal guardian and the care is provided on a non-regular basis less than 20 hours a month; or (3) Has received the care of the child from a child placement agency licensed by the Department. So, I guess I can't babysit kids like I wanted without a license. It's ALOT of work to get a license and I know they will knit-pick inspecting my house and I'm so scared I will pay a fortune just to babysit a few kids here and there. This is so frusturating. I'm a good person, and I love children, and I'm clean so it seems like a lot of work to go thru to get a license just to babysit a few kids here and there. HOwever, sicne I wanted to advertise the babysitting services (and it wouldn't be in the family or for someone that I know) I feel like I would be breaking the law or something. Can someone please help me figure this out? By the way, if I really wanted to become an offical daycare I would have to do everything in the following link: http://mdchildcare.org/mdcfc/for_providers/startingfamily.html I also searched online in my newspapers for babysitters-- and there are a ton of people advertising for babysitting in other areas of my state-- so if they can do it, why can't I? Help please! Do I need a license or not?
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