How much do you pay........

[Carol Ann]

I'll pay 6-8 for a teenager (but rarely use them). We recently found a really reliable adult sitter (about 22 yo) - she asked for around 8, but we tip her up to 10/hr (she always wants to sit for us at that rate!)

 

[DVCLiz]

DD16 is paid $8 - $12 an hour, depending on which family she's sitting for. One pays in the $8 range, and two others $10 to $12, depending on whether she does a full evening of dinner, baths, etc. She is now able to drive herself to and from her jobs, so that is a big plus for these families, and they pay her well to keep on her list!!! She can come home from an evening with 45 - 60 dollars, a far cry from my 75 cents an hour!!!!

Lucky you that pays $3.00 an hour - can't tell you what the teenage babysitters around here would say about you, but you'd have a hard time getting them back a second time!!!

I know one poster stated that first aid was important to her, but do most of you feel that you need that level of training for the average teenage babysitter on a Saturday night?? Our local Red Cross offers the babysitter's course to kids 11 and up, and DD11 will take it this summer. DD16 is a certified first responder, so she has the training, but it has never been an issue with her babysitting clients. I don't think I'd need this level of assurance - in an emergency our fire dept. is only a minute and a half away - as long as a babysitter called 911, I'd rather a professional handle an emergency anyway.

 

[vossjemi]

I guess I'm getting off cheap and never realized it! Our evening sitter charges us $3/hour total for 2 kids, ages 5 and 3. However, when we figure up the nightly rate, sometimes we throw in an extra $5 or so dollars onto the total to round it up. She lives across the street and is from a very very good family. She became certified in CPR and first aid when she was 13, and we started using her after Mom suggested it at a garage sale. She's 15 now. She's always been available when we need her. The kids love her and she's fun for them to play with. She's a straight A student, not that it matters, but I've had other babysitters before her, and it seems the smarter they are, the more reliable and better caretakers they are as well.

We had a girl before her who charged about the same....the only problem was once she got her driver's license, she became unreliable and too tired to babysit. I remember one time we needed her during christmas break for a day while we worked. When she got to our house, she said she hadn't slept all night, having been up with her friends. Another time, she forgot, and her Mom had to track her down. Needless to say, we stopped using her after those 2 incidences. But, our sitter now is absolutely wonderful, and I get nervous just thinking about her 16th birthday wondering if she too will "change".

 

[vfb2girls]

Wow I need to moved and baby sit in some of these other states. I am retired and baby sit for the neighbor boy and make $2.00 an hour, I watch him about 10 hours and day, and then I also do day care for my grandsons, but don't charge for that, that is a labor of love job!

 

[vossjemi]

Yeah, I think home day care is a little different. Many home daycares around here charge $75-100/week. Once you break that down into hours, its really not very much at all, and meals are included. In our state, you are only allowed to take care of 4 unrelated children w/out getting a license. If you get a license, you can take care of 10. So, unless you yourself are a stay at home Mom who just wanted some extra cash, it would seem much more profitable to get licensed and get the 10 kids.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

When I was babysitting I used to get paid fifty cents an hour and I cooked and cleaned the house. I loved to babysit as the houses were always a lot nicer than mine.


One thought here from a grandma, unless your mil is sickly and the kids would not be safe you might want to consider that you could be hurting her feelings if she enjoys her time with the kids. Some grandma's do and some don't. I do not think less of those who say they have done their time and are not interested but I am interested. I take them any time I can get them and I will have one full time this summer. Adventures will happen!!

Slightly Goofy

 

[VSL]

I came across this thread (obviously a few weeks old now) and just felt I had to comment.

Wow - I really can't imagine anyone in Britain leaving their children with anyone other than a fully qualified 'nanny'. If not, they stay with relatives (or close friends). I don't know of anyone who would leave their young children with a teenager and allow them to cook, etc. in their house (unless, of course, it was a relative/older sibling).
But, then again, maybe local communities in America are more close-knit than the ones over here.

Amazing how different some aspects of our cultures are though.

 

[grlzmom]

We live in the east and have three kids we occasionally (1-2 times per month) get a sitter for.

Kids are 2.5, 2.5 and 3.5 years old. All are potty trained. We pay 10-12 per hour for an adult sitter who is great. We paid a little more when the twins were in diapers

My own teenage dds also babysit and they average 8-10 an hour for babysitting.

I do know that full day care is less per hour, I think infant care is like 175 per week or so.

I can't imagine finding a sitter for 3-5 an hour and that is great for those in areas where that is the going rate. I wonder that once they get old enough to get a job, they wouldnt rather do something that pays more (not sure what minimum wage is). Here the babsitters keep sitting all through college because they can't get a fast food job or whatever that pays what they are used to getting babysitting. Some however, do go on to lifeguarding which seems to be popular. (this is just what I have seen with my dds friends)

However, I consider it money well spent to have someone we trust watch them occasionally and I think that in general, childcare providers, babysitters and teachers are way underpaid as they are taking care of and teaching our most precious little ones.

Very interesting to read how the different areas vary in price.

 

[CheapMom]

Interesting VSL- I was not aware of that stark cultural difference. I am surprised people don't use teenage babysitters in the UK.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I came across this thread (obviously a few weeks old now) and just felt I had to comment.

Wow - I really can't imagine anyone in Britain leaving their children with anyone other than a fully qualified 'nanny'. If not, they stay with relatives (or close friends). I don't know of anyone who would leave their young children with a teenager and allow them to cook, etc. in their house (unless, of course, it was a relative/older sibling).
But, then again, maybe local communities in America are more close-knit than the ones over here.

Amazing how different some aspects of our cultures are though.

VSL - I'm with you on this one - I live in Chicago and I would never have a teenager watch my kids unless I was home too; let alone cook. I have a certified baby-sitter, 45yo Eastern European women, who lives in the area, has own transportation that I leave the kids with DD4 and DS3, when DH and I go for a night on the town. She charges $10 an hour and we have NO CURFEW!!! It gets clostly to say the least, but sometimes you just have to do it.

 

[VSL]

CheapMom - I guess it's just always been more the tradition to leave them with close friends/relatives. The only paid babysitters I hear of are 'professional' babysitters/'nanny's' (don't know the actual terms!). I'm guessing that it's probably more common in some areas of the UK than others though.
Also, maybe it's a grey area over here within working laws. I know that children can have a newspaper round, but I don't know if they can legally do anything else before the age of 16yrs (although I can't imagine that stopping people).

Cindy's Mom - that pretty much sounds like what would happen here if there were no friends/family available.

 

[Anastasia]

I too am shocked that anyone can find babysitters for $3-$5 an hour. We pay $8-$10/hour for three kids 6,8 and 10. We live in the Philadelphia suburbs. I do know people who pay more. I don't usually expect the babysitter to feed the kids, or bathe them. My kids are pretty easy, and it is usually one of a few teenage neighbors we know well who watches them.

Of course we also sometimes take advantage of the free grandparent babysitting!! It certainly helps to be able to go out and not have to pay $40 for the babysitting for the evening.

 

[murcor]

I feel spoiled...we pay our sitter 45/day or 30/half day. Which works out to 5 and 6 dollars an hour. I have 2 children 5 & 4 and she comes to our home. This has been the arrangement for the last 4 years.....Im embarassed and I think she deserves a raise. If on a weekend or evening, the inlaws are more than happy to watch the kids.

 

[jeepgirl30]

First, daycare/full time care and babysitting is totally different in my opinion.

We have a fantastic sitter. She was a worker at the daycare when my DD5 started. Since she knew my daughter and took care of her during the day I felt very comfortable. When I asked what she charged she said she took what she was paid. She said one family gave her $10/hr for one child. My face must have shown shock and she quickly added most don't pay that high. Now when we use her we just pay her for the evening and don't calcualte hours really. I use $7 as a guide and then round up 5-10 depending on how long we are out. Also depends on if she had to prepare dinner, baths, etc.

She has her own car and is in her mid 20s. She has a boyfriend we allow to come over. We would NEVER allow this with a teenager or any other sitter. The kids love her boyfriend and they have been together since before starting to babysit for us.

I did interview a couple girls as back ups but didn't feel comfortable. One lives across the street and I used her for a quick 2 hr trial but when she went to leave she was very uncomfortable when DD wanted a hug. DS was totally indifferent! Sweet girl but too young. Another teen demanded $5 per hour PER child. She had no experience to back it up.

 

[DianaPrincessofWales]

I think my kids are getting paid a "rock bottom" rate according to this thread.

They get paid 3$ an hour for three kids!!! Next door nighbors. Nice people, but obviously cheap! They rarely feed my kids a meal, don't need to transport them and never get a tip. It's always exactly 3$ an hour and if it goes into the hour they will nickel and dime it to the penny.

My kids take turns sitting and are 13 and 11. Should I say something? I wouldn't want to get into an argument- they are nice but..........I guess plain cheap. What could I say to not hurt her feelings? She has a sister-in-law who does day care so she knows that she's getting off cheap!

 

[mamalle]

$7.00 for one kid- $10 for both

we use ds's preschool teacher's daughter who is a nanny fulltime. the kids love her! ds named his turtle after her. I buy pizza and pay cash at the end of the night.

 

[ElizaB39]

8-10 for both, 8 & 11, and that is with a college age girl who also works in our office for us. I use a "mother's helper" during the day sometimes and that is $6 per hour since she is younger. usually they don't do anything but play with them or watch TV. We feed and pajama the kids before we leave. All cash...

 

[LisaNJ25]

I will admit I have it made with my sitter. We have had the same woman for almost 13 years from when my first child was 3 weeks old. She has charged the same rate of $50.00 a week. Now its actually only $20.00 a week and my daughter goes 5 days a week 4 hours a day.

She is now more of a grandmother to my kids. Her daughter is actually going to be Belle's godmother.

Her and her husband are now in their mid 70's and Belle is the only one there. They enjoy here there because it gives them something to look forward to each day.

 

[RADOPT]

Wow - I really can't imagine anyone in Britain leaving their children with anyone other than a fully qualified 'nanny'. If not, they stay with relatives (or close friends). I don't know of anyone who would leave their young children with a teenager and allow them to cook, etc. in their house (unless, of course, it was a relative/older sibling).
But, then again, maybe local communities in America are more close-knit than the ones over here.

Amazing how different some aspects of our cultures are though.

Boy am I glad that you did not live in our neighborhood when I was growing up! I wouldn't have had many school clothes. I started babysitting my neighbors at 13yr. old - every friday night & sometimes on the weekend or when school was out. I bathed them, cooked (started cooking when I was 8), cleaned up after them and putting them to bed. By the time I was 15, I had 5 families I sat for.

We had a teenager that took care of us during the summer while my parents worked.

It definately depends on the people involved and the maturity/experience of the sitter. I have no problem hiring a dependable teenager but I do have them come at least twice while I am home before I would leave them with my child.

 

[VSL]

That's just the way it is over here.

Also, we have full school uniforms and stuff, and I guess it's just a difference in culture (just like tipping and stuff is different over here in the UK - but that's another thread!).

I don't know whether to be insulted or not about the whole 'I'm glad you didn't live in our neighbourhood' thing... what are you saying?