Do you pay your oldest child to "babysit" his/her siblings?

[yeahdisney]

We don't pay DD to watch DS. This was the first year DD was old enough to watch DS after school. We did get DD a phone so she can call us direct if she ever any questions, and she understood she got a phone with us paying as her payment for watching DS until dad arrived home shorter after DS. I told DD it was practice for future babysitting for other families. Families want to know who you have watched successfully.

Also we saved the money we were paying a sittier-- in a what shall we --buy fund? and they got an above pool this summer (no swimming without an adult home) and for the summer we paid for the pool chemicals with the savings from having a sitter. Win Win for us and them. Now we will continue to save that money into a what shall we buy fund.

 

[laughinplace199]

My kids are DD12, DS10, and DS4. If I just go out to do a few errands for an hour or so, I don't pay DD12.

However, if DH & I go out to dinner or something and we're gone for a few hours, I pay DD12...in shopping trips. This year will be her first year in a school that does not require uniforms and she is really looking forward to buying clothes. Whenever she babysits, we make a date to go shopping for school clothes.

 

[TheRatPack]

Yes, my oldest dd took the first aid, CPR babysitting class from the Red Cross as well and she gets paid when it's true babysitting. If I just have to run to the store and she doesn't want to go....that's not necessarily babysitting LOL But when DH and I have the rare date night...she babysits and gets paid, or when I have a doctor's appt...etc.

 

[mom2travel]

If we are out for a short time then no, it is just helping out as part of the family. But if we had a planned night out for several hours then we would pay DS $20 (flat rate regardless of whether we were out 2 hours or 8)

 

[FairydustyPrincesses]

My oldest is turning 8 and I pay her for helping me with the youngest who is about to turn 1 . She obviously doesn't babysit her but if she occupies her for me while I clean or do whatever I need ( in the house with them obviously) I pay her for that so yes I think paying the kids to actually babysit would be the right thing to do.

Mine has earned $50 for Disney this sept . So I haven't paid her technically but she's earned that much for souvenirs over what we would typically buy them (bbb dress and mouse ears)

Also when it's her $ I let her buy whatever she wants instead of discouraging the fifth purchase of baby Disney blanket wrapped stuffies like I would if it was my money being spent.

 

[shaylahc1]

My oldest DD has been "babysitting" since she was 12....I say "babysitting" because she only does it when DH & I go out on date night, which she doesn't do often....and when she does do it, it's after her siblings are in bed so she really doesn't have to do anything No, we don't pay her for that.

However if she was working hard taking care of her siblings, and doing it on a regular basis, then yes I'd pay her. Not a lot, but I do think siblings should be compensated for their time if they babysit often.

 

[Jenny3]

Nope. My almost-16 y/o DD watches my two from time to time. It's considered helping out, as part of this family.

 

[4under4]

I was the family babysitter when I was growing up, and it was a LOT of responsibility.... and it forever changed the dynamic between me & my youngest brother/sister. It is only fair that he is compensated, because the truth is he is doing a JOB. Like a PP said, I probably wouldn't expect you to compensate him while you ran to get milk, but any time you leave for more than an hour, yes. YES. YES.

And I'm speaking from experience [THIS IS NOT A FLAME, just further explanation]. I was the family babysitter, and I wasn't paid for it ever.... was I scarred for life? NO (well, maybe a little ), but I really did resent it as a teenager, especially when I was home babysitting so my folks could go out to dinner. In my young mind, *they* had kids, not me, so why should I be left to watch them while they got time away. I really can't tell you how much it meant to me when my stepmom apologized for putting that level of expectation on me, 25 years after the fact.

 

[crystaldawn]

Yes, we do. I was the oldest and "had" to watch my three younger siblings and like the pp I resented the added responsibility with no compensation. I could easily have had a PAYING job but instead was home watching my own siblings. Honestly my mother probably could not have afforded to pay a sitter which is why I was doing it...

Anyway my oldest is in middle school. He is very helpful and responsible. I do not pay him for short periods (like running to the corner market to get milk) BUT if I plan several errands or have to get something done in the house and ask him to be in charge of his siblings for a while I do pay him... not necessarily a set amt. I like that he has a "job" and I think it teaches him to value money etc. He is currently saving for something (although it changes daily so who knows what lol) but also has a little spending money if he wants to go to the movies or to get a smoothie etc.

 

[PatsMom]

When I was 12 my mother paid me to watch my two brothers after school. I had to meet them and walk home with them and take care of them until she got home from work about 3 hours after school. I also usually had supper started when she got home.

During school vacations I was paid to babysit them all day long. She would "hold back" part of my pay in the summer and give it all to me at once to do my back to school clothes shopping in the fall.

She was a single Mom and if I hadn't babysat, she would have had to pay someone else to do it. And since I could have babysat other people's kids, she felt she should pay me.

I was not paid to watch them when she was running out to the grocery store, etc. Or my brother Steve was big in sports - hockey and little league. If she went to one of his games and I was expected to watch my youngest brother I was not paid for that.

 

[DisneyBabies]

I have been wondering.... do you pay your child when they watch/babysit their younger siblings?

I am headed back to school soon and the next few weeks I will be working while the kids are still home on summer break... My oldest has "babysat" off and on all summer, when I'd go grocery shopping, run to the store or for an appointment or something. Now that I am headed back to work a little more regularly, and am leaving oldest DS in charge (who is super responsible and mature BTW and younger brothers respect him and behave really pretty well).... I wonder if I should be compensating him for his work and if so - how much?

Please no flaming on me leaving my kids home unattended, why you dont leave your kids home alone and if you think I'm a horrible mother or not. Thats not up for debate here. We have a great neighborhood, DH is only a few miles away, and we have had strict rules set up since the get-go.

Thanks in advance!

I was a latch key kid and there was nothing wrong with me being left at home for a couple of hours at that age, so you certainly won't get any flames from me. You do what you have to do and as long as you are leaving your children safely, no one should have an opinion about it. Now I will be getting off my soapbox.

And to answer your real question, I think it would be great if you paid him at least a little something. Depending on how long he will be watching the other children each day, I think $10 - $20 per week would be great. It's not an excessive amount, but it is enough to thank him for his help and responsibility.

*I have to agree with others that if you would pay someone else to do something, you should pay your child for the same service (mowing lawn, babysitting etc.).

And I think it is great that you are even considering it; a lot of parents wouldn't. I had to watch my little cousins "for free" and frankly I hated it. They weren't my children, so they shouldn't be my responsibility. My children are not old enough yet to babysit one another, but when they are, DH and I agree that they will be paid when they do it.

 

[smb6]

I agree with most of the others.... To run errands for short times; no. Also my ds14 babysat last summer each Tues & Thur for 2 hours at a time because I had a class over the summer; I did not pay him for that either.... I feel all of the above are his way of contributing to the family....
Now if I were going out for date nights or something; I would be willing to pay him a little something.... especially if it were on a regular basis....