Paying your babysitter - how much

Mommy2Isabella wrote: We are looking for a sitter for monday nights for about 3 - 4 hours.

How much would you pay a sitter for that amount of time? Half of the time Isabella will be asleep. They will just be responsible for feeding her dinner and putting her to bed.

mummy2girls replied: I would pay them as much as if she was awake all the time. Just because she is asleep doesnt mean they should get paid less. I hated when people did that too me... I would say at least 7 an hour...

Calimama replied: Well we have friends who do it usually, but when we hire out it's $10-11 an hour.

Cece00 replied: I was wondering the same thing. I have a 15 yr old that I am going to start using once a week and then sometimes on the weekends or when I have stuff I need to do. She babysat today for about 2 hrs & I paid her $20 because I didnt know what her rate was, but when I asked her how much she would want for 1 day a week for about 8 hrs, she said she usually lets the parents decide, but usually gets about $5 an hr.

I think that is pretty reasonable (very reasonable, actually, considering I have 4 kids...) & its still good money for a 15 yr old. She cant legally work yet (she has to be 16, plus she doesnt drive yet...) so $5 an hour, since she wont be getting taxes deducted like if she was working IRL, I think is pretty good. That is making $160 a month just for working 1 day a week from me, and she has 2 other families she babysits for. I figured if I used her 1 day a week & 2 weekend nights, she would make like $235 a month from me, and if she makes that much from each other family, she is making about $700 tax free...that is pretty darn good money for a 15 yr old...I didnt make that much a month when I was 15 I didnt even make that much money when I was working a real job b/c they restrict how many hrs you can work until you are 18 & then they take out taxes and all...

I probably will plan on paying her a little bit more if I use her to babysit on the weekends, because we would probably stay out a little late. I actually used to babysit her & her 3 sisters when *I* was 15, and her parents did the same thing. When they would have me over there overnight (they would go to the casino like once a month...) they would pay me a little better than when I came for a couple of hrs, which I appreciated.

tammyhopkins replied: OMG I feel cheap. I have my neice during the summer looking after my son as daycare is closed and i pay her $20.00 a day which is $4.00 more htat i pay a day in daycare. Larissa is very excited to be making her own money and hasn't complained so neither will i LOL

Mommy2Isabella replied: We were thinking about 20 - 25 dollars. I don't think that we should pay less because she is sleeping ... that wasn't what I was trying to say.

I was trying to say, that they really don't have to do much, just feed her, and put her to bed. Its not like I am asking them to clean the house!

One girl wants 15 and hour .... WHAT!!!

So, we will see what comes of it!

luvmykids replied: I don't know how he gets away with it but my BIL pays a flat $20, wether he's gone one hour or five. I guess the girl figures she comes out even.

I have a wide variety of babysitters.....one was a teachers aide at the twins' preschool and she only charges me $7/hr for all three kids. I have a teen who I pay $10/hr unless she were to stay all day, then it's a flat $50. I have a younger teen who has come once while I was here needing to work and since I was in the house it was $3/hr.

Boo&BugsMom replied: I don't know, but I will tell you how much I charge for daycare for a day like that. Anything 4 hours and under is $28 a day. Over 4 hours is $38 a day.

ZandersMama replied: my little brother sits for me, its usually about 5 bucks an hour, maybe more. but, on the other hand, he is only here a couple hours a couple days a week, and i give him another 20 bucks a couple times a week just cause i love him. and my parents don't give him an allowence.

Kentuckychick replied: I think there are several factors in deciding how much to pay and included in those are time of day, age of sitter, age(s) and #of children, experience of sitter and what you expect of your sitter and the rule of thumb seems to be "If you find a sitter you love, treat them well!" (makes sense )

I've babysat for so many different families at this point that I couldn't even keep track of all the different amounts I've been paid but I truly don't feel I've ever been ripped off. When I was younger and babysat in the neighborhood I typically made $4-$5 dollars an hour and that was fair. I wasn't expected to do the dishes or clean or fix meals, basically I was just there to watch the kids a few hours while the parents ran errands and occasionally they would leave dinner ready or order a pizza for us or something of that nature.
As I matured and started babysitting longer and staying longer and having more responsibilities the amount I made rose. By age 17 or 18 I was making $6.50-$7 an hour and depending on the number of children sometimes a dollar or two more on occasion.

Now that I'm 24 and would consider myself "highly experienced" (earning a child development degree and 12 years experience) I expect to be paid more. I wash dishes, cook, tidy the house, bathe the children, do outside activities, bring supplies for arts and crafts and for baking, take the children on outings (often using my own money which I don't mind), care for the dog and everything else you can think of. When asked what I charge I say I don't, I tell them that I let them decide and I've never had anyone offer too little. I would usually expect at least $7 for one child for hourly. Daily really depends, I accepted a once a week this past semester for one child 8 hours for $35/day.

I babysit for a couple who has three children (9, 6 and 1 1/2) and for nights I make $10-$13/hour depending on the number of children (and they tend to chip in extra if they stay out past midnight). I babysit for them occasionally during the days as well (last summer I was their fulltime nanny 5 days/week) and I made/make $65 per 10-11 hour weekday and $75 on Saturdays (again a 10-11 hour day). I think babysitters should definitely be paid more on Friday nights and weekends than on weekdays.

I would say if you hire a babysitter and after a few times you just really like them, your kids like them and you feel like they are doing wonderfully and they are going above and beyond, then you can always pay them a little extra.


Location is also key... I think babysitters in New York City are going to make more than those in Lexington, Kentucky... but that's just a wild guess

luvbug00 replied: here the going rate is 15-20. we use grandparents but if we hired one they would be earring that amount by being CPR cetified and have referances. for me paying for that kind of knolage is priceless.

gr33n3y3z replied:
thats what Ed and I always paid bc you pay ppl. good they take better care of your child/children

Oh I just wanted to say this was like 20 give or take years ago at that price

CantWait replied: I'd say $4 or $5, no more. She is just a teenager after all, it's not high quality childcare by a dayhome provider, and as you said she wouldn't have to do much. $20 for 4 hours of care is more then enough and quite fair.