What to pay babysitter with these conditions?

[Mermaid02]

$50. And I agree, dinner is not compensation.

I agree as well dinner isn't compensation and either is transportion to your house.

Transportation and Dinner are NOT compensation. If you want a sitter to provide their own transportation- get an older sitter with a car.

$40- $50 would be fair. 2 kids (especially the 2 year old) is a lot of work. If the kids like the sitter- and you want to use her again, make it worth her time. I GOOD babysitter is worth her/his weight in GOLD! Pay well and they will most likely MAKE themselves available the next time they call!

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

BTW-- We have a babysitter coming Sunday night... I'll be paying her $12/hour , but I have three kids and she'll have to give all of the kids dinner and get them ready for bed. I'll provide pizza or whatever for her to eat, since it'll be dinner time.

 

[mjkacmom]

I pay my teen sitter $5 an hour. I usually don't have to have a sitter (one of the perks of having a 15 yr old ) but when I do I ask the daughter of a neighbor.

She lives 4 houses down the block, so no one has to pick up/drop off unless the weather is nasty, in which case I will drive her here and back. Sometimes my kids go to her house instead of her coming here.

She never has to cook when she is here... either I will cook something and she just has to serve, or I order pizza. When the kids go to her house, they eat with her family - something which her parents invite them to do and is completely Ok with everyone.

She doesn't have to do any cleaning either, but she usually throws the dishes in the dishwasher and tidies up after baths, cause she is just that kind of kiddo.

She supervises bathing and PJ's, and spends the rest of the time playing with the kids, doing crafts, or reading them stories. My kids love their sitter, and have been known to ask DH and I to go out more often so Katie can come over.

You are underpaying her! She bathes them, does crafts?! I've paid sitters $10 an hour, and have put the kids to bed before she arrived! I pay dd13 $5 an hour (and tip up) only because she lives here, and would be here anyway. I've had sitters who've left my house an absolute disaster, and paid $10 an hour.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Some babysitters drive, some don't...you have a choice to hire the ones that don't- or not...I certainly am not going to "nickel and dime" a teen who either A) cannot drive yet or B) doesn't have access to a car...

I simply find folks who can provide transport.

I can compare it to real employment, b/c the teen could as just as easily walk to the grocery store for a gig as I had to do when I was without transport.

Everyone has a choice and I pay extra to make the choice I make.

Not certain why folks have their panties in a bunch over it and feel it okay to attack my POV as a result.

If I have to drive the sitter, I likely won't hire them. Again--my choice and a choice I have not had trouble making when I needed a sitter for fun reasons or for an emergency situation.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You are underpaying her! She bathes them, does crafts?! I've paid sitters $10 an hour, and have put the kids to bed before she arrived! I pay dd13 $5 an hour (and tip up) only because she lives here, and would be here anyway. I've had sitters who've left my house an absolute disaster, and paid $10 an hour.

I think in different areas, there are just different babysitting expectations.

Hence why you feel this poster is underpaying her sitters and why I'm getting pounced on b/c my hiring requirement is transportation.

My DH still cringes when we pay $10 an hour.

 

[allison443]

How much would you pay a 16 year old to babysit your 2 and 6 year old?

Approximately 5 hours, you'll be picking her up and bringing her home, and providing her with dinner.

Like a lot of others have said, I would pay $10 an hour. If the going rate is less or more in your area, I would pay the going rate. I wouldn't "deduct" anything for the dinner or transportation-that seems kind of silly to me. What are you going to do, divide the cost of the dinner between her and your kids and deduct her share, or measure the mileage and deduct your gas cost?

Now the other poster Lisa mentioned if her dh is not around, she doesn't want to drive the sitter home because she'd have to take the kids out of bed. That is totally understandable, but that's why she is upfront about the sitter providing her own transportation.

OP a good sitter is very valuable! Having someone you trust and your kids like is so great!

 

[mjkacmom]

I simply find folks who can provide transport.

I can compare it to real employment, b/c the teen could as just as easily walk to the grocery store for a gig as I had to do when I was without transport.

Everyone has a choice and I pay extra to make the choice I make.

Not certain why folks have their panties in a bunch over it and feel it okay to attack my POV as a result.

If I have to drive the sitter, I likely won't hire them. Again--my choice and a choice I have not had trouble making when I needed a sitter for fun reasons or for an emergency situation.

I understand your situation, but it is not the norm. I used to babysit as a teen, and I was always driven home (my parents used to drop me off). I've had at least a dozen sitters for my kids, and although they've usually been dropped off, I've always taken them home. I don't expect a parent to be prepared to pick up his/her child at some unspecified time at night.

 

[Abbie]

The other thing I would do is cut short my evening so that I will be able to drive the person home and as a grown woman, I don't like to have a curfew that is earlier than my sitters. Sure it is self-imposed. But it is all so that I can get the sitter home safely. Stinks to be home by 9 or so on a weekend night.

I don't get this part. How far away do your sitters live that you would need to be home by 9 to get them home safely??

My girls were in constant demand when they lived home. (And even though they are now 24 and 20, they still have one family they will sit for if they can work it out with their schedules!) When they were younger we would have no problem taking them to their sitting jobs but as another poster pointed out, there was no way I was getting up at midnight or one or two a.m. to pick them up! And never, ever, were their wages "docked" because they needed a ride home, I've never even heard someone suggest that. In fact, they were usually paid MORE because they were kept out late.

As someone else noted, a good sitter is worth her/his weight in gold and you'll do whatever you can to keep them coming. Playing games with their wages isn't a good way to hold onto a good sitter.

ETA: Maybe I'm misunderstanding and you would start with the basic going rate, then ADD to that if they provide their own transportation?

 

[java]

My dd makes $10 an hour for 2 children. And then often gets a "bonus" on top of that. She is one of the preferred sitters and everyone wants to be her favorite house so they'll get her on the busy nights. But generally $10 an hour is what she gets(She got a touch more for a baby and a 3 year old- more like $12 an hour)

 

[Sorsha]

You are underpaying her! She bathes them, does crafts?! I've paid sitters $10 an hour, and have put the kids to bed before she arrived! I pay dd13 $5 an hour (and tip up) only because she lives here, and would be here anyway. I've had sitters who've left my house an absolute disaster, and paid $10 an hour.

Nope, I'm not!

That's standard for this area.

And she does the things she does because she likes to do it and because she is a gem, not because of any expectation of mine. My only expectation is that when I come home, the house is still standing and no one is bloody.

Heck, some days, that's all *I* get accomplished.

 

[Green Tea]

$50 at least and I don't live in an expensive area. If it is apopular Christmas party night or NYE, a little more.

I don't think you can figure in that you are providing transportation or dinner. I kind of think that is like an office providing paper and pencils. It is just part of the job.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't get this part. How far away do your sitters live that you would need to be home by 9 to get them home safely??

****

ETA: Maybe I'm misunderstanding and you would start with the basic going rate, then ADD to that if they provide their own transportation?

I pay $10 for a sitter now that I request transport. I used to only pay $7 or $8. This will more than amply cover the gas costs if she drives herself or if her parents opt to charge her for it.

And yes--I am ADDing for transport as opposed to deducting for not transporting.

As for getting home early--I hate driving at night and don't like driving much past 9pm anyway. But I'm okay until about 10pm. Coming home by 9pm gives me an hour to wrap things up with the sitter, get her home and get myself home without worry. It's just nice to come home at 10 or 10:30 so that we can squeeze in a movie.

We have pre-arranged to have a sitter stay over if we needed a later curfew so that neither her parents nor we would get stuck driving her home so late.

I've derailed the topic enough and have a doctor's appt to get to.

Good luck with the sitters everyone!

 

[SC Minnie]

DD15 just babysat 2 kids this past weekend- 3 and 8- for 4 hours. She was paid $10/hour. They told her upfront they wouldn't be home until around 11pm. I dropped her off but they brought her home.

When DD babysits for people her 'curfew' is not an issue for us. If the ppl aren't getting home until after midnight then that's what it is. They usually tell her upfront if it is going to be later than say 10pm or so.

 

[ilovejack02]

DD gets $6 here to watch 3 kids for several hours at a time-- and the youngest can be a handful. Actually all 3 can be at times. She has had to call me and I threaten to come over unless they listen to her and do what she says! (and yes the parents know and fully endorse my threats and any follow through!)

Your sweet girl needs to up her price lol!

I pay $7 an hour for one. My friends that have two pay 10 and for three it is $12. Seems to be the going rate for teenagers.. Ive never been quoted a price though.. I just pay what I pay as do most moms I know.


Full time nannies here start at $11-12 an hour for 1.

 

[ilovejack02]

wow! I need to go hug my SIL.

She charges us $20/day for me to go to class.

That is kind of standard for more of a daycare situation, if it is daily. When I worked 7 yrs ago I paid 15 a day .. 75.00 a week for a sitter at her house. She also watch another child .
Last I talked to her a year ago I think she is up to about 22 a day.


As for PP .. I also do not believe transportation or dinner is compensation. These sitters are honestly doing me a favor. If I had to hire a real nanny it would twice the cost!

 

[clutter]

This shows how old I am. I got 50 cents an hour when I was a teenager.

I split the difference in age, I guess. I got $.75/hour.

I agree with the $10/hour, minimum. Maybe even $12. Dinner is not compensation.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

OP Here.

Thanks for the input, everyone. We do have a babysitter lined up, and I thought the night out would cost us around $50 for the sitter. Thanks for confirming that. This is the first time either of my kids are being left with a babysitter. So I'm pretty nervous. I'm driving the sitter because her drivers license curfew is 10:00 pm, and like Lisa said, I'm not going to be out all night, but I don't want to be home by 9:30 so the kid can be home before curfew. My choice. I'm not thrilled with having to take her home (about 15 minutes away) but I'll deal with it. I like this girl and feel that I can trust her with my kids. I'm not going to deduct money from her because I want to stay out later then her curfew allows, but I totally understand those that do.

About the food, I asked simply because other moms in my area said that they deduct if they have to feed the sitter. I thought this was crazy, I don't think the kid will eat you out of house and home. But to each their own. When I go to pick the sitter up I'll probably just drive through and get my kids and her a meal. The kids will be bathed, so she won't have to do that. I just expect happy kids and a standing house when I get home.