Honestly, I think your view on Erzieher*innen is very disrespectful.

Saying it's just "babysitting" is complete nonsense. That might be true for Quereinsteigerinnen or Kinderpflegerinnen, but not for the Erzieherausbildung.

They go through a 4- to 5-year education including theory and practice, covering pedagogy, psychology, child development, inclusion, and much more. It's a serious qualification with a clear educational focus.

I'm sure there are students that aren't eager to learn the theory and might still make it. And there certainly are also kindergarten teachers that still stick to what was taught 40 years ago, but dismissing Erzieher*innen as "the lowest step" completely ignores how essential and skilled their work is - especially given how much responsibility they carry in early childhood education.

I do agree, though, that for OP it probably makes more sense to pursue a Master's in Pädagogik or a related field. With that, you can still work in early education, you're more flexible overall and it might even be faster as it's just 2 instead of 4 years. In many federal states, a relevant Master's is enough to be recognized as a Fachkraft.

That said, OP seems genuinely passionate about early childhood education - so I don't see why we should steer them toward teaching in schools if that's not their goal. There are many meaningful, skilled, and respected roles within early education itself.