Pay for Overnight Sitter

[footballmouse]

I'm looking to hire a sitter for my 2 kids, ages 13 & 15 during the hours of 10:30 pm - 7:30 am. I work at a hospital on 3rd shift. Anyone have any idea what the going rate for someone like this is? All they need to do is sleep there. Thinking of a college aged person.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Would that include getting them up for school? Or just temporary during the summer? We paid our sitter $300/week for day shift in summer but our kids were younger then. I know it varies with different regions of the country. By 15 we let them stay home alone since that was our sitter's age when she started with us but you know your kids best so do what works for you.

 

[kymom99]

I first thought they could stay alone too but that night thing scares me. My son is 15. I think he would be okay by himself without a sitter. Not sure how a younger sibling would affect things though.

 

[patsal]

Bigger kids, bigger problems, I would pay someone to be in the house!

They are pretty self sufficient at that age though so I think I would be thinking $30 per night or $150 per week unless they are doing housekeeping, getting breakfast ready and insuring kids are getting to school, then I would double that.

 

[SEA333]

I first thought they could stay alone too but that night thing scares me. My son is 15. I think he would be okay by himself without a sitter. Not sure how a younger sibling would affect things though.

$30-50/night? I'm not sure....I used to pay $150 week for a sitter to pick my kids up from school and watch them until 5pm - less than 2 hours- and take them to school...DH would meet her in her driveway and they would hop in her car. So, $15/hr. They were 4th and 2nd grade. I thought that was a lot, but was about the going rate for 2 kids in afterschool care around here. Just to sleep with no other responsibilities is really just about compensating a persons time and inconvenience. Will you have an actual bedroom for this person, or will he/she need to sleep on a sofa in the living room?

 

[aylarosie]

I would say 50.00 a night. Even without a lot of duties you have to make it worth it to come. I would expect no company and the person should keep the house neat.I would not leave siblings that age alone.Usually the younger resents it and will rebell.You are doing the right thing by paying someone to make sure they are safe.Good luck.

 

[LovesTimone]

I'm looking to hire a sitter for my 2 kids, ages 13 & 15 during the hours of 10:30 pm - 7:30 am. I work at a hospital on 3rd shift. Anyone have any idea what the going rate for someone like this is? All they need to do is sleep there. Thinking of a college aged person.

My girlfriend works 11p to 7a and when you add in the drive time from door to door she has her sitter from 10p to 8a. Her kiddos are 8, 11, 14. She pays her sitter 350.00 a week, and that with her sleeping and getting the kids up, breakfast, dressed and on the bus, during school year. My friend found her sitter at church, it was a lady who's husband had passed away. She has been with my friend for about 4 or 5 years. She really has become part of my friends family, like another grandmother. She even went to WDW with my Friend and her kids, for the first time. She is very flexible, which is important, as sometimes someone doesn't show up or is running late which holds my friend up from getting home. With a college kid, you would need to make sure that if you were running late that they could stay over, class schedules and such.

 

[puffkin]

It varies greatly too by area of the country.

I live in a moderate cost of living area. My kids need care from roughly 7:30-5 everyday. My DS2 is in a daycare center FT during the day and it roughly $50/day. When he was in a private home daycare it was $30/day. My DS8 is in summer camp FT and his is about $30 day. During the school year when he is just there for an hour before school and 1.5 hours after school it is about $10/day.

No way would I pay someone more than what full time caregivers are getting in this area for daytime (awake) work. In your situation especially if there is not really any care going on and they are just sleeping there as an adult presence I would probably pay $30/night so $150 for the week.

 

[marmalade]

It really depends on what daycare rates are in your area are. I live right outside of Buffalo, NY and I send my kids to day camp (Boys and Girls Club) at a rate of $60 a day for 2 kids, it is $240 for the week for both kids (mine only go 2 days). This is for the hours of 7:30-5:30 M-F or $3/hr per kid if they were there the entire day.

If I sent them to the local daycare, it would cost me $350 for the week for both kids. The daycare is a little bit more, but when these threads come up, I've seen people state they pay this for one kid and in my area it covers 2 kids.

Check around local child care centers and see what their rates are and start with that.

 

[averysmom]

I'm looking to hire a sitter for my 2 kids, ages 13 & 15 during the hours of 10:30 pm - 7:30 am. I work at a hospital on 3rd shift. Anyone have any idea what the going rate for someone like this is? All they need to do is sleep there. Thinking of a college aged person.

They are giving up their nights and evenings though, which is important to a college student- lol!

I think you'd have to pay them enough to make it worth it, Kwim? Even though it's an easy gig, they would be missing out on things. I think 50/night- 250/week- 1000/month sounds reasonable. Much less than that, and I don't know if they would stay for the long term.

An older, retired person might do it for cheaper... If you had a elderly neighbour?

 

[mombrontrent]

Your kids are 13 and 15 not 3 and 5. They don't need a sitter. Save your money. They will be sleeping most of the time anyways By the time I was 14 my parents were fine leaving me home alone or with my 11 year old brother for the weekend. I didn't burn down the house or have any parties

Seriously though why would you thin teens this age would need a sitter while they were sleeping unless you were truly worried they would hold parties or sneak a boyfriend/girlfriend over for the night? I have an almost 15 year old, a 12 year old and a 7 year old and they would be completely mortified to have a sitter come watch them.

 

[motherof2boys]

Your kids are 13 and 15 not 3 and 5. They don't need a sitter. Save your money. They will be sleeping most of the time anyways By the time I was 14 my parents were fine leaving me home alone or with my 11 year old brother for the weekend. I didn't burn down the house or have any parties

Seriously though why would you thin teens this age would need a sitter while they were sleeping unless you were truly worried they would hold parties or sneak a boyfriend/girlfriend over for the night? I have an almost 15 year old, a 12 year old and a 7 year old and they would be completely mortified to have a sitter come watch them.

My Boys are 15 & 12. They wouldn't have a party or sneak girls into the house. I still wouldn't leave them sleeping in the house alone. During the day, yeah of course. My reason is my 15 year old sleeps like the dead! The house could be on fire & he wouldn't move. Then it would be up to the 12 year old to drag his 6' 180lb brother outside. Not happening!

OP I don't have an answer for you. But I wish you luck. You know your kids so do what your comfortable with.

 

[danygirl]

One reason for the sitter is in case they become ill at night. Also 15 yo are up doing homework then.

With college kid if you are near a school you might be better off offering a room too not just pay. The savings on an apartment would be part of the package. And they can do laundry there

 

[SEA333]

Your kids are 13 and 15 not 3 and 5. They don't need a sitter. Save your money. They will be sleeping most of the time anyways By the time I was 14 my parents were fine leaving me home alone or with my 11 year old brother for the weekend. I didn't burn down the house or have any parties

Seriously though why would you thin teens this age would need a sitter while they were sleeping unless you were truly worried they would hold parties or sneak a boyfriend/girlfriend over for the night? I have an almost 15 year old, a 12 year old and a 7 year old and they would be completely mortified to have a sitter come watch them.

While I agree on the sitter part, and it always cracks me up when people come on here saying how MORTIFIED their kids would be with ordinary childhood experiences like a sitter, a stroller, or a kids meal, (especially the young one), there tends to be a different dynamic with kids at 3am just woken out of a deep sleep than there would be at say, one in the afternoon if something was to happen. My kids are 14, 10, and 8 1/2, and do not have a babysitter anymore (although the younger two would hardly be MORTIFIED if big brother was to be gone all day and i hired one), but since there is a reason kids live at home until they are a minimum of 18, it doesn't seem unusual for a parent of a 15 and 13 year old to want someone home at night. A night here or there, maybe, but 5 nights a week, every week? I'd want someone there, too. (Not to mention that it may border on being illegal, but I will admit that I won't be researching it, so if anyone else wants to, feel free to contradict or confirm

 

[kymom99]

I agree with the poster who said it would be hard to get someone to commit to 5 nights a week. You may find an older person who would do it, and if they had to miss a night here or there, it wouldn't be the end of the world. You also might make a deal with a college student where they needed to be there by like midnight to make sure the kids are settled in, and they could use your laundry while they are there. The kids should be able to get themselves up for school by their age.

I have a friend whose kids had to come home after school to an empty house. They were a little younger than yours, but old enough to be alone for a while. To keep peace and harmony, she offered them cash if they did everything they were told to do and she didn't hear of any fighting. She said it worked great!

 

[wishtdream]

Under those circumstances I would offer a room and board ( the sitter has to sleep somewhere anyway ) and a small stipend. There is no way I would leave a 15 year old in charge 5 nights a week on a regular basis.

 

[hpfan100]

OP you might want to look into a college student studying education or something similar. I did quite a bit of babysitting when in college and enjoyed it. I didn't have a steady 5 nights a week gig but when it was overnight stays my rate was 100 a night for 2 young ones.


I would ask around what your coworkers do as they may have some creative ideas. Also maybe a neighbor is a good option.

 

[disykat]

Under those circumstances I would offer a room and board ( the sitter has to sleep somewhere anyway ) and a small stipend. There is no way I would leave a 15 year old in charge 5 nights a week on a regular basis.

I agree. Do you have space to invite someone to live with you? I have an extra college aged kid living here this summer and had one last summer too. One has a job here for the summer but his parents moved. The other was having stress with her mother and both of them were very hapy with the invitation. Both have done some occasional pet sitting for us as part of the arrangement. You could just work out some sort of trade - they get room and board in exchange for being there during the nights. Even if they went on an occasional later night out, it wouldn't really matter with the age of your kids. They could be available by cell phone.

The only down side I could see is if you don't have an extra room, because they'd need a living space.

Talk to anyone who has college aged kids. They may know of someone who needs a place or is dying to get out of their parents house. A local community college would be a good place to try as well. You might be able to post in their job system and/or a housing system.

Think of the old tv series "Charles in Charge." That was a essentially what he was doing.

 

[footballmouse]

Thanks for the replies. They would sleep in my 13 yr old's room & bed. When I get home in the mornings I always find him in my bed anyway w/the dogs so he can just sleep there. The times would definately be 10:15-7:30. I'm only 15 minutes from work, I'm usually in bed & asleep by 7:30 am.

No other duties, just sleep and make sure they are in bed by 11:00 pm. They can get up on their own for school & I'm home in time to take them to school.

Everybody's kids are different. My 15 yr old would have people over that's why I don't want them by themselves. When I worked 1st shift it wasn't a problem for them to come home afterschool by themselves until I got there but the entire night alone isn't something I want to keep up. This has been our situation since midJune.

I also don't want them by themselves b/c I can see my ex-husband using this to get the kids taken away from me claiming I'm being irresponsible.

 

[bumbershoot]

I work at a hospital on 3rd shift.

I would probably ask around at the hospital. Surely there are other single parents around working 3rd shift.


Doesn't sound like the ex is fabulous, but...he IS an option if he lives closeby. Could be seen as giving him more visitation if the kids stayed overnight with him while you work, but on the other hand, everyone is just sleeping. That's all moot if he's rotten, of course.