what to pay a babysitter?

wow, if i got paid $80 as a 13 year old i'd be ecstatic!

when we lived in seattle, we paid $15/hr for a nanny to watch our kid for 7 hours! but we didn't know any 13 year olds, we had a fussy infant son who ended up needing a lot of care / comforting for 3 of those hours, and we knew she was totally reliable and good and didn't want to sitter-shop.
needless to say, that was the only time we went out for a while!

now we live next door to a 13 year old and pay her $5/hr for 1 sleeping kid. i would probably pay more if she actually had to do something besides watch tv.

[shortcake2386]

i got pd $20 an hour nannying one 4 year old...but he was special needs

[GrowingUpMad]

I charge $5 for one, $8 for 2 and $10 for 3 with a $25 minimum. I don't do random sitting though, this is for either my daycare child (and occasionaly her 2 older sisters) that I already have 50-70 hours a week or for my friends 3 boys (she's a SAHM). Thankfully my family watches my kids and it's free.

[urchin_grey]

I used to babysit my best guy friend's little brother and sister and usually got paid $60-$70. But they were older, like 7 and 12 so no diaper changes.

[orangemnms]

We pay our sitters $12 an hour. We have three kids, ages 5, 3, and 1. Our sitters are usually teachers from our preschool, highly qualified, our kids know and love them. I figure our children are the most important things in our lives, without them, nothing else matters, so we pay accordingly.

[A'smommy]

I'd usually think $5-8 an hour, depending on whether it was the weekend, how late they stayed, if we got home on time, etc. Usually DH takes care of the actual paying though and he waay overpays. Last weekend it was $40 to a 15 year old for watching DD for 3 1/2 hours....but she came to our hotel rooms (we were at an out-of-town Christmas party) and it was kinda last minute. We were expecting to pool with some other party attendees so she'd be watching 3 kids, but they cancelled at the last minute. I wanted to make sure she'd still make decent money for her effort (don't worry she was referred to us by one of DH's coworkers from that town. They're next-door neighbors.) I always prefer to err on the side of overpaying; especially since she was only 15 and didn't know us personally. DH said he'd trust his coworker absolutely, so I deferred to him----plus we were right next door at the restuarant. She did a fantastic job and DD was asleep when we got back.

Anyway...overpaying a babysitter (if you can) is almost always a good thing!

[stephdpn]

Originally Posted by 4BoysMom Funny I would think day sitters would make more since night sitters are getting paid to watch TV or sleep/nod off themselves once the kids head to bed, and day sitters are changing numerous diapers, prepping meals, reading stories, playing with the kids...

In my area it is a case of supply and demand...night sitters are harder to come by, therefore, i pay more to get a good one...like i said, my day sitter doesn't drive, so I have to pick up/drop off, which costs me money and time. My night sitters do not sleep, nor did I ever sleep when I was nanny - unless I was spending the night. If I walked in to a sleeping sitter at 10pm, I would be upset...my sitters usually study.

[CMamma]

I way overpay my sitter I guess, at least after reading this post. The only girl I've ever used is awesome & she does everything I ask. I also want to know that she'll always be available to me & she always drops everything when I call her. She drives to & from & has also watched the kids at her house before in town while I've run to a meeting. I've always given her a minimum of $10 b/c I don't feel like it's worth "getting out of bed" for less than that. I mean, I wouldn't. So even if it's just an hour, she gets $10. She's also certified & had all the classes & her mom is always "on call" for her or at home w/her when she's sitting. And our boys love her & that's the most important thing.

One time have we ever gone out for an extendd perioud of time & that was to see the musical "Chicago." We left at about 4:30pm & didn't get home until about 10 or so. She got like $65-75 at least.

I dunno, it may sound like too much $ but we rarely ever get a sitter & that's just one expense I'm not willing to be cheap about - don't mean to be insulting to anyone.

ETA: I guess also I figure when I was babysitting over 10 years ago I was getting paid $8+ an hour so I thought it woud have to go up too.

[LuAnn]

Here people want 10hr for 1 little one, and than like 5-7 hr for each extra child (needless to say thank GOD for my friend--free because I watch her kids (4) also so we just trade, plus its the only 1 I trust here......

[tarah1218]

Since I babysit for extra money and to keep me busy I don't charge much but I think 5 bucks an hour is fair and a great price. Usually I would charge 20 bucks flat for a few hours. Lately I have been doing a flat rate of 160 per month since military pay isn't great and 160 pays all our bill off post. But anywho, I'd pay her 5 bucks an hour plus like 5 extra for doing it at night and taking out of her sleep/play whichever it is, plus maybe she needs to the money to buy something nice for christmas...