Baby-Sitting

[okeydokey]

How on earth do people afford that? That is insane. I am looking forward to the day my oldest can chill with his brothers.

When my kids were little, we just didn't go out much.

 

[NJlauren]

Thanks for providing more detail. That makes complete sense to pay her more then. I thought you meant you paid her more JUST because she's older and a daycare provider.

But I do think experience deserves more money too.

I mean at my job I have more experience then my coworkers so I make more money. This should apply to babysitting too don’t you think?

But then again her experience is why I let her drive DD around and take her to the zoo and playground.... maybe this post is irrelevant...

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

But I do think experience deserves more money too.

I mean at my job I have more experience then my coworkers so I make more money. This should apply to babysitting too don’t you think?

But then again her experience is why I let her drive DD around and take her to the zoo and playground.... maybe this post is irrelevant...

No I don't think so. If they are DOING more, like trips to the zoo, bath etc... Then yes. But I wouldn't pay someone more for sitting there while my kids slept just because they've babysat for longer.

 

[maxaroni]

I mean, "If she is available". We go by her schedule if we use her. We don't have any set hours or anything. Just a text if she is available on a certain and work with her schedule. I guess personally for me I don't put occasional baby-sitters in the same category as a day care worker or a nanny. I think that is why I am so shocked at the cost a lot of people charge. If I was having someone come in and watch my kids a a couple days a week, then yes I see paying $15-$20 an hour. For just an occasional date night, I think that is excessive.

Disagree with this. A babysitter when I grew up and then when DS25 was born, was an occasional use, type thing. Go out on a saturday night, meeting during the week, type thing. When I sat it was $1.00 per hour; $5 per hour for DS. Nothing was ever viewed as babysitter vs daycare. If sitters are now getting $10 + per hour, that then is the going rate. When I sat it was also more if after midnight.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

What value do you place for the safety of your children?

Apparently not as much as the people who will spend $18/hr on a babysitter!

Either that, or I am not picking a very good one if they require that I compensate them as much as a person making $35K a year in order to do a pretty un-skilled job for a couple hours in order to make sure my kid doesn't run into the road or not burn the house down when I'm not there.

More money does not = better parent. That is my whole point.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

My 2 oldest were born in the 90’s, I paid at least $10 an hour. We used sitters a lot, even though my parents lived in town (they liked to go to bed early, and we felt bad staying out late, but didn’t with a well paid sitter). Honestly, kids are so busy these days, a good sitter is hard to find. We had great ones who played with the kids, my kids loved having sitters.

$6 an hour for a sitter? Maybe decades ago.

Yes, that sounds about right for the the inflated wage increase started for babysitting. Hence, why I wouldn't pay it! My oldest was born in 2000.

 

[sk!mom]

My 22 year old niece also CPR certified and in nursing school just told me at brunch that she worked for a family last night- 3 kids about 4 hours and they paid her $90. She said that this is the one family that she rarely turns down because they pay so well.

 

[Turn the Page]

No I don't think so. If they are DOING more, like trips to the zoo, bath etc... Then yes. But I wouldn't pay someone more for sitting there while my kids slept just because they've babysat for longer.

I don't know. If they are doing more then yes, they deserve to be paid more. However, I do think age should be a factor here. Not necessarily because they have more experience but I'm willing to bet the 25 year old has some sort of regular, full time job so a Saturday night is her weekend too. A Saturday night spent taking care of your kids is time she could have been spending hanging with her friends, spending time with her family, going out with her significant other, running errands, taking care of her household duties, etc. It would cost a heck of a lot more to get me to agree to give up my Saturday night at 25 than it would have at 15.

 

[undertheradar]

Apparently not as much as the people who will spend $18/hr on a babysitter!

Either that, or I am not picking a very good one if they require that I compensate them as much as a person making $35K a year in order to do a pretty un-skilled job for a couple hours in order to make sure my kid doesn't run into the road or not burn the house down when I'm not there.

More money does not = better parent. That is my whole point.

If you consider babysitting "unskilled," why not just pick up someone off the street to do it? A babysitter is expected to watch and protect your children , your home, not destroy your family and home.

As for economic divides and personal wealth? That is for another thread.

 

[sk!mom]

We never paid babysitters when my kids were little. We took them with us, or didn't do it. On the rare occasion we HAD to do something and the kids couldn't go, my SIL or MIL watched them.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD:

$18 an hour??!! I didn't make that much money an hour until I had a bachelor's degree! holy crap!!

Despite what many on here are saying, it's not "cheaping out" to pay a babysitter less than minimum wage. Min wage was $4.25 when I used to babysit in HS (in the 90's), and the going babysitting rate was $2.00-$2.50/hr, and for that pay, I used to do a pretty good job! It's really not THAT hard to keep kids alive and safe for a few hours, so what do they need $18/hour for today??!!

Personally, I think that charging (and paying!) that much is insane, and like everything else, parents feel guilted into paying that much because they think that paying any less - and then something happening - will make them bad parents. Things are going to happen no matter if you are paying a 15 year old $6-$8 (which I think is much more reasonable for a kid to earn babysitting for a few hours) or if you are paying them $18.

But I get it - we are raising entitled kids in an entitled world, in an entitled time. They expect to be paid $18/hour to make some mac and cheese and put the kids to bed at 8pm, and sit around watching Netflix for a few hours. And parents agree to pay it. Why? Because it's SOOOO unheard of for a teen to be expected to keep a kid safe and fed for 20 bucks while their parents have a date-night? In order to provide these VERY basic duties, these kids have to be paid more than most of the parents started off making after college?

What a racket.

To those willingly paying that much, and enjoying doing so, more power to you. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are getting any "better" care for your kid. A 15 year old is a 15 year old, no matter how much s/he is getting paid.

YMMV.

Wow, I'm sorry for you that you know so many entitled teens. I don't know any. I do know a lot of hard workers though.

Why should anyone work for less than minimum wage?

My DD21 has worked an easy office job for 14 hours a week all the way through college. She mostly does homework while standing by to answer the phone. She makes $12 per hour and has all weekends and evenings off. Her second job is variable based on projects for an interior designer. She gets $20 an hour for that and it averages 10-20 hours a month. With jobs like that available, why would she give up evenings and weekends to babysit especially for less than minimum wage. Plus the jobs she's doing will look better on a resume than babysitting.

Around here, I don't think anyone is being guilted into paying more. It's just a fact that if you want a sitter you have to pay more. No one is giving up their weekend evening for $20. Give them a $100, though and you shoot to the top of their preferred list.

My niece is a sought after sitter. She loves kids but she'll tell you straight out that if the kids are too much trouble or the parents cheap out when it's time to pay up, she'll never sit for them again. She doesn't have to- more people then she can fit in are calling her.

 

[NJlauren]

Also I think it’s regional too, someone in NYC pays more then me, I’m an hour outside the city. It’s just the way it is, so I would think other areas may be different too.

Similar to house prices and cost of living, if they are higher chances are so is the going rate for a babysitter.

 

[LSUmiss]

I babysat in the 80s and would make,at least $20 per Friday night-dinner and a movie dates for 3 kids. Not seeing $70 30 plus years later out of line for 7 hours, with an older young person, who is cpr certified and has a car. I stopped babysitting at age 17 when I started working part time in a bank.

We have 4 kids, paying babysitters is part of why we are just now going out again as our youngest is now 16. Never went out because we wanted to be fair to babysitters.

My 4 kids started refereeing soccer at age 12. None of them ever babysat as refereeing soccer could make them more $ on a good day.

Things are expensive and kids have options. Ds19 works in a fro yo place in his college town. With tips, he made $15 an hour today.

There are so many things good kids are involved in today that it has to be worth their while to do it.

And you want someone conscientious to care for your kids at home, so I always felt it important to pay well.

This is Mississippi, so not a traditional high cost of living area.

Don't most regular day care workers make less than the occasional babysitter? Not that it's fair, it's just what it is.

We never paid babysitters when my kids were little. We took them with us, or didn't do it. On the rare occasion we HAD to do something and the kids couldn't go, my SIL or MIL watched them.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD:

$18 an hour??!! I didn't make that much money an hour until I had a bachelor's degree! holy crap!!

Despite what many on here are saying, it's not "cheaping out" to pay a babysitter less than minimum wage. Min wage was $4.25 when I used to babysit in HS (in the 90's), and the going babysitting rate was $2.00-$2.50/hr, and for that pay, I used to do a pretty good job! It's really not THAT hard to keep kids alive and safe for a few hours, so what do they need $18/hour for today??!!

Personally, I think that charging (and paying!) that much is insane, and like everything else, parents feel guilted into paying that much because they think that paying any less - and then something happening - will make them bad parents. Things are going to happen no matter if you are paying a 15 year old $6-$8 (which I think is much more reasonable for a kid to earn babysitting for a few hours) or if you are paying them $18.

But I get it - we are raising entitled kids in an entitled world, in an entitled time. They expect to be paid $18/hour to make some mac and cheese and put the kids to bed at 8pm, and sit around watching Netflix for a few hours. And parents agree to pay it. Why? Because it's SOOOO unheard of for a teen to be expected to keep a kid safe and fed for 20 bucks while their parents have a date-night? In order to provide these VERY basic duties, these kids have to be paid more than most of the parents started off making after college?

What a racket.

To those willingly paying that much, and enjoying doing so, more power to you. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are getting any "better" care for your kid. A 15 year old is a 15 year old, no matter how much s/he is getting paid.

YMMV.

Entitled?? It’s all about supply too. That’s how capitalism works. Young ppl have other options esp at 18. I don’t know OPs area, but here reliable babysitters are expensive & hard to find. So, it’s pay the going rate or do without whether you think it’s worth that or not. Like ppl say about other things, it’s not a charity. Why should ppl who have other options give you a discount of what the going rate is b/c that’s what you think it’s worth? That doesn’t make ppl entitled but savvy. Entitled is thinking it should be cheaper b/c it used to be or b/c you think it should be. There are plenty of things I don’t think are worth what I have to pay for them, but I don’t get to determine the going rate on most goods or services. And the OP isn’t using a 15 yr old but a legal adult.

 

[EveDallas]

We never paid babysitters when my kids were little. We took them with us, or didn't do it. On the rare occasion we HAD to do something and the kids couldn't go, my SIL or MIL watched them.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD:

$18 an hour??!! I didn't make that much money an hour until I had a bachelor's degree! holy crap!!

Despite what many on here are saying, it's not "cheaping out" to pay a babysitter less than minimum wage. Min wage was $4.25 when I used to babysit in HS (in the 90's), and the going babysitting rate was $2.00-$2.50/hr, and for that pay, I used to do a pretty good job! It's really not THAT hard to keep kids alive and safe for a few hours, so what do they need $18/hour for today??!!

Personally, I think that charging (and paying!) that much is insane, and like everything else, parents feel guilted into paying that much because they think that paying any less - and then something happening - will make them bad parents. Things are going to happen no matter if you are paying a 15 year old $6-$8 (which I think is much more reasonable for a kid to earn babysitting for a few hours) or if you are paying them $18.

But I get it - we are raising entitled kids in an entitled world, in an entitled time. They expect to be paid $18/hour to make some mac and cheese and put the kids to bed at 8pm, and sit around watching Netflix for a few hours. And parents agree to pay it. Why? Because it's SOOOO unheard of for a teen to be expected to keep a kid safe and fed for 20 bucks while their parents have a date-night? In order to provide these VERY basic duties, these kids have to be paid more than most of the parents started off making after college?

What a racket.

To those willingly paying that much, and enjoying doing so, more power to you. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are getting any "better" care for your kid. A 15 year old is a 15 year old, no matter how much s/he is getting paid.

YMMV.

You need to back off on a lot of these assumptions. I am far from a teenager and yes, I do think it's cheaping out to skimp on child care. I don't "put the kids to bed and watch TV". I have a one year old that I watch every Sat while mom works. I fed him breakfast, change his diapers, feed him lunch. I take him to the park or the zoo. Sometimes we go play at the local bouncy house place when they do toddler time. I also happen to be CPR and first aid trained. I make $100 a day for this and his mom says that she's happy to pay it knowing he's well taken care of. Thankfully not many parents have your attitude.

 

[superme80]

Yikes! Hi everyone! A little background. My baby-sitter is 18, she is a full time college student, and works part time at the local grocery store. That is why I talked about working with her schedule. She is very busy. I personally would never pay more than my husband makes in an hour to a baby-sitter. That is my personal choice. As for how we make it with 3 kids, rarely going out and eating out, a very hard working husband, and some inheritance money covered housing.

 

[Southernmiss]

Yikes! Hi everyone! A little background. My baby-sitter is 18, she is a full time college student, and works part time at the local grocery store. That is why I talked about working with her schedule. She is very busy. I personally would never pay more than my husband makes in an hour to a baby-sitter. That is my personal choice. As for how we make it with 3 kids, rarely going out and eating out, a very hard working husband, and some inheritance money covered housing.

She is doing you a huge favor. She started sitting for you at age 14, before she grew up with adult responsibilities and a real job-thats why she started working for you cheap!

Now, she has a full time college schedule and real responsibilities. If she's gotten too expensive for you, look for someone else, but I'm guessing you'll not find one as good with your kids for your price.

As I said upthread, dh and I did not go out at. all. for several years.

You have to weigh which sacrifice is more important to you-going out and paying for it or staying home.

As an adult, would you babysit someone else's kids like yours for less than $10 an hour?

 

[missbrooke06]

$10 is more than a lot of people in our area (which considering it's barely over min wage is surprising) and the fact that we pay it usually means we have a babysitter.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

I think we used a babysitter once and paid $10 an hour for one child 10 years ago. We felt uncomfortable spending that much on a date night, so we just didn't do it anymore after that. Thankfully, my parents were able to babysit on Saturdays when I had to work. DH should have been able to handle that, but there are multiple reasons why he is an EH now. In recent years, I have used my DD's old daycare person and paid her $40 for 4 to 5 hours. She didn't set the rate and was really doing me a favor, so I tried not to be too cheap about it. Plus, she likes DD and wouldn't do it for other clients. Saturdays are mandatory for me, but absolutely not worth is to me if I pay back out half my salary on babysitting. Now DD is 11 and she is either with her dad or comes to work with me and reads, plays Legos or has time on the iPad.

Anyway, to the OP, have you thought about trading date nights with another couple? You go out once and they watch all the kids and a different time, they go out and you watch all the kids. It might be worth considering.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I don't know. If they are doing more then yes, they deserve to be paid more. However, I do think age should be a factor here. Not necessarily because they have more experience but I'm willing to bet the 25 year old has some sort of regular, full time job so a Saturday night is her weekend too. A Saturday night spent taking care of your kids is time she could have been spending hanging with her friends, spending time with her family, going out with her significant other, running errands, taking care of her household duties, etc. It would cost a heck of a lot more to get me to agree to give up my Saturday night at 25 than it would have at 15.

Okay. I agree to disagree

 

[superme80]

She is doing you a huge favor. She started sitting for you at age 14, before she grew up with adult responsibilities and a real job-thats why she started working for you cheap!

Now, she has a full time college schedule and real responsibilities. If she's gotten too expensive for you, look for someone else, but I'm guessing you'll not find one as good with your kids for your price.

As I said upthread, dh and I did not go out at. all. for several years.

You have to weigh which sacrifice is more important to you-going out and paying for it or staying home.

As an adult, would you babysit someone else's kids like yours for less than $10 an hour?

I have. I rarely baby-sit as most of my friends have family near by willing to watch their kids. I think there is a huge disconnect between the 2 opinions. Myself and a few believe that it is just a side gig that is worth only about minimum wage because it is not a consistent job. Other believe it is a legitimate job that should be paid as similar to a nanny or daycare rate. This thread has shown that there will be no seeing eye to eye. Everyone views it differently.

 

[somcgregor]

I think it is a regional thing and comparing it to what we made back in the 90s. Yes it hasn’t changed and they should be making more but I was an excellent babysitter back between 94 through 2003when I graduated college. I started out making $3 an hour for 3 kids worked my way to $5 an hour by may senior year and when I was in college I maxed out at $7. And the reason I made that much money was because I came back from college to watch kids. I did a lot including making meals, baths, and putting kids to bed and I did my homework after they were in bed. I was also on call on Tuesday’s for a family and they paid me $20 a night for that if they did not use me because they needed me available that night as the dad was a dr and the mom had to lead a women’s bible study. I try and pay well but when a teenager who has to have me come gets them wants $20an hour to sit on a phone while my kid sleeps sorry that is not happening. I’m willing to pay them $30 for about 3 to r hours.

We don’t go out much because frankly we can’t afford to pay those rates. I do use the date night service at my sons daycare and pay $20 for 4hours of care with dinner. Oh and he is with his friends and they play games and stuff