OT: How much to pay a babysitter?

[arielsleepingbeauty]

We found a teacher at my daughter's preschool. She was 28 and was married. She charged $10.00 an hour but i found that to be worth it. She had her own car, had a college degree and I didn't have to worry about boyfriends sneaking over ot her having friends over without me knowing. She loved my girls and now she is no longer my babysitter, she is my best friend that will babysit if I need her to for free.

If it was for a high school girl I would probably expect to pay $5-$7.00 an hour. I don't trust too mnay people to take care of my daughters so to get someone i truly trusted $10.00 may have seemed like alot, but to me it was worth it.

 

[fromscratchmom]

Wow. Interesting thread. I always felt uncomfortable as a teen, when someone would ask me what I charge, because I wasn't sure what a fair price would be. Then as a parent I thought its my turn I can just ask them what they charge, but most of the teens from my church have always been the same as I was but more so. They won't venture to answer at all. So I try to pay what seems generous enough to me, 5-6 per hour. But recently I had to use someone I'd never used before. She was great and the kids were happy and all of that. But by that time I had given up asking and just wrote her a check at about 5.50/hr, but also rounded up a bit. She was sooo embarrassed and claimed it was way too much. As I've run into some of the teens from church wanting to sit for free before, I'm kind of set in a pattern of only letting them every now and then. So I told her, "nonsense, please take it." Then she got her mom to contact me later and ask me to let her give me a free evening of sitting. I truly didn't mean to embarrass her or upset her. Now I can see from this thread that everyone else is showing just as much variability in what they think is reasonable. Thanks to the OP for asking about this!

 

[jnordan]

Wow. We live in a suburb just north of Boston. High School sitters get $8-10 an hour, college students get $12/hr or more! It's crazy.

 

[lazydazy8]

We're in southern Maine... Jnordon is right!

My kids go to bed at 7pm (unless the sitter keeps them up a littler later ). The kids get themselves ready for bed (with some supervision of brushing)... I don't think I insult them by paying them what I think they're worth. Nothing in my life is more important to my than my family. The sitter's worth it!

I used to get paid anywhere from $3-$8 an hour growing up. It really depended on the family and on how long the parents were out. I used to be a bit disappointed when the parents would pay me less an hour when they were gone longer or when they wouldn't start paying me until they left the house. I felt I should be paid when I got there when they told me to.

Babysitters, you have a HUGE responsibility. You're worth the money and effort!