The Top 10 Best Movie Babysitters

5. Mary Ellen- Annabelle Comes Home

Ed and Lorraine Warren had a very peculiar career that pitted them against all sorts of supernatural entities. Knowing that they were basically demon hunters, I have to hand it to Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) for having the most guts of all the movie babysitters on this list for just showing up to watch over their daughter for the night. The second the Warren’s head out though, Mary Ellen’s BFF, Daniella (Katie Sarife), shows up and wants to see their legendary trophy room. It’s filled with all sorts of horrifying trinkets tied to malevolent spirits and entities, and despite the big “do not touch sign,” Daniella pokes one of the creepiest dolls in movie history, Annabelle. After that, all bets are off. But rather than cut and run, Mary Ellen protects the Warren’s daughter with Daniella. Luckily for them, little Judy Warren learned a thing from mom and dad, and together they manage to fight off some pretty nasty baddies.  

4. Buck Russell- Uncle Buck

In my experience, there are three kinds of uncles. There’s the kind that you and your family don’t talk about because of “reasons,” the kind that shows up at Thanksgiving every year to make everyone uncomfortable, and the fun kind. Fortunately, Buck Russell is the latter. When a family emergency calls Bob and Cindy Russell out of town, their only choice to watch their 3 kids is Uncle Buck. Buck is far from what anyone would consider a good role model. He smokes cigars, drinks too much, gambles for a living and drives a car that I’m pretty sure is a fire hazard at this point. Despite all that, he’s family and when family needs you, you come. Buck shows up and the kids soon discover that he’s got a very unique parenting style that allows them a chance to grow as individuals. Uncle Buck’s visit might not have been exactly what Bob and Cindy hoped for, he became a regular papa bear for those kids, making him one of the best movie babysitters ever!  

3. Katherine “Kat” Araújo- Mystic Pizza

I totally get a parent wanting a “good girl” as their babysitter. There’s no risk of them having drug-fueled orgies or attempting human sacrifices when they should be keeping an eye on the kids instead. So, I thought it was probably a good idea to include at least one goodie two shoes on this list of movie babysitters. Kat is scrimping and saving every cent she can to get out of Mystic, Connecticut. By day, she works as a babysitter and seems to be a pretty good one since she seems to be in pretty high demand. At night, she slings pies at one of the best movie restaurants of all time, the titular Mystic Pizza. Sure, Kat makes some mistakes along the way, but that’s all part of growing up. Besides, none of her mistakes have to do with the children in her care and we’ve seen way worse from some of the other sitters on here. It only seemed right to award Kat a top spot for all her hard work.   

2. Laurie Strode- Halloween

Look, boring babysitters are all good and well, but if a psycho slasher shows up while you’re at a PTA meeting, you’re going to want a sitter that will go down swinging to protect your kid. Enter epic final girl, Laurie Strode. While many of the movie babysitters on this list brought misfortune on themselves thanks to a few bad decisions, trouble came looking for Laurie. Unfortunately for trouble, Laurie was home and she was responsible for little Tommy Doyle. I get that Tommy’s parents might have been upset that Laurie and Dr. Loomis did battle with Michael Myers, aka “The Shape,” on their dime, but stuff happens. The point is that while Michael might have racked up an impressive body count in Halloween, neither Laurie or Tommy were among the deceased. In fact, Tommy grew up to do battle again with Michael, and Laurie, well, she and her brother are still working on their relationship. Namely, they’re still trying to kill each other.   

1. Katy- Date Night

If Laurie Strode proved anything, it’s that unforeseen events can come up for movie babysitters. Well, that goes both ways in the case of Katy. Look, I’m well aware that Date Night was mediocre at best. However, when it comes to movie babysitters, Katy (Leighton Meester) is everything you could ever want in a sitter. As things go from bad to worse for the Foster’s on their long-awaited date night, Katy remains pretty flexible with them. Looking for a short notice sitter? Katy is your gal! Need her to stay a little later? Sure thing, Mr. and Mrs. F. Hoping she won’t talk to the cops? For a decent tip, she’ll probably give you a full-blown alibi. Katy isn’t exactly the most memorable part of the film, but isn’t that what you want from a babysitter? Someone who gets in does her job and gets out with no fuss or muss? Well, you’re going to want to get you a Katy, because she’s so good that it’s almost boring.  

Honorable Mention: Amber- The Night Sitter

I will admit that when the night started, Amber (Elyse Dufour) did not have the best intentions at heart. In fact, she was hoping to rob the place blind and disappear into the night before anyone was the wiser. However, when three ancient witches are unleashed by the two kids in her care, she steps up in a big way. More than that, it turns out that the whole thing was planned by the dad who hired her. He wanted those witches released so that he could make a reality show about stopping them. That goes out the window pretty quickly and it’s up to Amber to save the kid in her care. Because of her change of heart and unique sitting style, I wanted to give her an honorable mention.

Shout-Out: Charlotte Field- Long Shot

While she might not be a babysitter anymore, Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) had a big impact on the kid she sat for. Most of us had a crush on a babysitter at one point or another in our lives, especially the guys. However, Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) carried that flame for years. I can’t blame the guy, Charlotte was kind, supportive, smart, and inspiring. She carried those qualities with her into adulthood where she ended up becoming one of the most influential women in the world and a Presidential candidate. Not a lot of movie babysitters can compete with that. Her days of sitting are long since over though, which is why she’s only getting a shout-out on this list. 

Animated Shout-Out: Kari McKeen- The Incredibles

Kids are a handful. Superpowered kids, well, they can be extra difficult. That’s why I had to give Kari McKeen credit for babysitting the Parr families youngest in Pixar’s The Incredibles. The Parr’s are a family of superheroes, but their youngest, Jack-Jack, hasn’t shown any sign of being superpowered. That’s why they’re fine leaving him with a civilian sitter when their duties call them away. Kari though soon discovers that not only does Jack-Jack have powers, but he’s got all the powers! Her sanity stretched to the limit by a baby that can teleport, shoot lasers from his eyes, and transform into a monster. It’s a wonder she stuck around instead of running for the hills. Props to Kari for seeing the job through. Hopefully, she’ll get hazard pay next time. 

Those are my picks for the best movie babysitters of all time. There are a lot of them out there and if I missed one of your favorites, let me know in the comments below. As always, I’ll be updating this list as I discover new and amazing movie babysitters. So, be sure to check back from time to time in order to see how the rankings might change.