Babysitting Rates

[robinb]

I pay $4 per hour for one child and my sitters are 13 and 14. The 14 year old sits for us when we go to the Opera or the theater which is usually an 6-8 hour job and my DD is asleep for most of it!

 

[justhat]

Wow, in 1994 (when I was 14) I got $5/hour for 2 kids and $6/hour for 3 kids in northern NJ. In 2000-2001 (when I was 20-21) in the same area I got $8-$10/hour, mostly dependent on the family, not the number of kids. At 22-23 in DC the least I ever got was $10/hour, usually around $12, and that is for 1 or 2 kids. Now that I have a 2 month old and am on the employer end the people I trust with my daughter (all in their 20s and coworkers from the day care I used to work at) all charge between $12 and $15/hour. It does seriously limit how often you can go out, cause if you figure on 3 hours for just going to dinner, that's between $36 and $45, plus the cost of the meal which would be around $50 since neither of us really drink and providing we don't go anywhere too nice. So between $85-$100 just to go out for 3 hours!

 

[simonfam76]

where at in NW fla lol. i can't find any teenagers that babysit anymore. my mom in law has been watching mine but u know how that goes. she lets them do whatever they want . i pay 2.00 per kid an hour. i wish we had more teens that babysat around here. they seem to all be busy.

 

[disneymom3]

Originally posted by justhat
that's between $36 and $45, plus the cost of the meal which would be around $50 since neither of us really drink and providing we don't go anywhere too nice. So between $85-$100 just to go out for 3 hours!

Yes indeed and that is the beauty of a mother in law. Yes, mine lets the kids do whatever they want too, but hey, that is what grandmas are for right? We never go to a movie or anything very expensive unless my MIL is sitting for us. We did have to stop using her in the evenings for awhile because we would come home at 10:00 and our kids would still be up and that is just going too far! My philosophy is "What's the point of going out if you still have to put the kids to bed when you come home?"

I will say that while we pay a lot less than the East, I always try to pay toward the high end with the thought that I want my sitters to try to be available when I call. It's worth it to make sure the girls feel like it's worth it to be here.

A side question related to this topic: What are your expectations for a sitter? Our kids are allowed one video at the most (and I am talking a half an hour one), no one is to use the phone or computer while we are out, toys need to be picked up before or after the kids are in bed. I think that is about it, but all three of the girls we use also clean up the kitchen, especially if they have made dinner or lunch. What do you expect of the sitters?

 

[justhat]

Yeah, unfortunately both grandmas live out of state, one in NJ and the other in New Orleans, while we're in DC. Actually, no one from either family lives near us so that means when we do go out (which we haven't done yet, other than a visit to NJ when we left her with my mom and MIL, who was also visiting) we'll have to pay someone. As far as what I expect, right now nothing other than holding my daughter who hates to be put down for longer than 2 minutes. If the kitchen (or any other room) is dirty, that's fine, and if her toys are out, that's fine too. I would typically clean up any food mess made while I was babysitting, and put away any toys the kids forgot about when they went to bed, but again, not a huge deal to me. I also had to bathe the kids before bed in most cases. SInce my daughter is so young, I feel the fewer the tasks the babysitter has to do the better, since right now my daughter needs lots of attention.

Another expense I forgot about. When I would babysit during a mealtime, the parents would leave takeout menus and $20 for me to order whatever I wanted for dinner. They'd also offer anything in the house, but if I didn't like the selection then I was free to order in. Living in DC makes that easy since practically every restaurant will deliver food. I only orderd pizza once when the kids wanted i too (parents said to order them whatever they wanted, separate from mine if I wanted something else), but many people I worked with at the day care who also babysat would never order food or order something very small and then keep the remainder of the money leftover. This money is in addition to the hourly rate.

 

[simonfam76]

i rent a movie for the kids and order pizza, yanno standard things. and i just would like the house to be in one peice when i get home. the kids can pretty much take care of themselves. they used to have a sitter but she moved to jacksonville. my son adored her. she played with them constantly. thats the only sitter they have had other than mom in law. when my mom in law watches them she will let them eat every snack in the house , as long as it makes them happy. i buy these snacks to last a few days at the least not for a few hours lol.

 

[soccerchick]

I'm in Northern Virginina. We have a 13 year old who lives next door and my DD ADORES her. She asks for $2/hour and she is CPR certified/REd Cross Babysitter certified, etc. I usually give $3-4 (and even more at Christmas, holidays, etc) because 1) I want her to say YES to me when I ask her to sit 2) DD makes her go non-stop while she's here. I also pay her even more if it is a last minute thing like the baby is sick and I don't want to drag DD to the dr. office w/us, etc.

I teach high school and the girls I'd be willing to trust with my kids are all way too busy to baby sit. I figure I've got two more years to use Kayla and then she'll be too busy for us too

 

[roadtripper]

Price of a DVD at the video store: 3.75
Bottle of good but not expensive wine: 10.00
2 hours of "date time" after the kids are asleep: priceless (if you can stay awake!)

LOL-- we go out a lot, and spend more on the sitter than we do on our date--in Central Ma 8-9 dollars an hour. Still, it's worth it for some real alone time. I want to actually LIKE the guy when we get to go to Disney!