What would you pay a 14 year old babysitter?

[dakcp2001]

I think to start off pay 7 or 8, but let me tell you, once you find a good sitter, pay them WELL. I used to babysit a lot, and the ones who paid me well (& just in general TREATED me well) def got me first. There were a lot of times everyone would want me for the same night (weekends & holidays) and guess who got me.

Keep in mind that this 14 year old will be around for a few more years, so if she is good, you are investing in having someone who will be around and your kids will know. College kids usually come & go in my area.

 

[krcit]

I think it depends on the sitter, the situation, and the experience. My daughter is 15 and has been babysitting since 13. She is Red Cross certified as a SafeSitter as well as CPR/First Aid/Ped First Aid trained. Those cost $$ which was an investment in her business. She charges $8/hr for one child and $11/hr for two or more. She rarely has a weekend un-booked and is actually spending next weekend doing a weekend sitting job (Fri night - Sun morning) for one of her regular families. That weekend is a flat $250 and includes some cleaning, the kids laundry, and cooking for the kids. This weekend job will make her next WDW payment in full (GS trip going to WDW May '11) so she is thrilled about the opportunity. The best part... the two children she is babysitting are incredibly well behaved and she has been sitting for them for two years already so she is already comfortable in the home and with the kids routine.

I'm curious. Is your dd spending the nights watching the kids? My dd is 15 also. She has one family that used her very sporadically and she gets $8 an hour for 2 kids 8 and 10. I am trying to get her to find more jobs. On my street alone we have 3 families with toddlers. I am going to look into the RedCross thing and the CPR.....so smart to have that

 

[SDFgirl]

Keep in mind that this 14 year old will be around for a few more years, so if she is good, you are investing in having someone who will be around and your kids will know. College kids usually come & go in my area.

That's a really good point! Thanks.

 

[Duckkie]

Yes, she will spend the night there. This will be the second time she has done this and I'm comfortable with it.
Finding jobs... This has been a breeze for Meg. She did the freebie Vistaprint business cards and post cards and has put them on the bulletin board at the grocery store, the laundromat, dropped off some at the local pre-schools and church daycare centers. She also listed a Craigslist ad at the beginning of the school year and it got her 4-5 regular families too.

The Red Cross program is awesome and I highly recommend it!

I'm curious. Is your dd spending the nights watching the kids? My dd is 15 also. She has one family that used her very sporadically and she gets $8 an hour for 2 kids 8 and 10. I am trying to get her to find more jobs. On my street alone we have 3 families with toddlers. I am going to look into the RedCross thing and the CPR.....so smart to have that

 

[laurie31]

My DD is almost 14, and $7/hour is what she gets. She has taken the Safe Sitter class as well.

I paid my own sitter $10/hour. Yes, she was a college student. She fed my kids, drove them to activities, etc. My DD cannot drive and I prefer her not to cook in an unfamiliar kitchen while also being responsible for watching children. That's a skill for an older sitter. Thus the reason I paid mine more.

Also, my college student sitter didn't need to be picked up and taken home, the way a young teen does.

It's not about economizing; when I needed someone to just watch the kids, hiring a responsible 14 year old was not cutting corners, it's an acceptable and safe choice. But if you need someone to feed them and drive them to music lessons, you are going to have to pay more. That's only fair.


In fact, when all the extracurricular activites start back in the fall, I will still have to hire someone to drive my kids. They are old enough to babysit other kids, they don't need a sitter themselves, but they certainly can't drive. I will probably pay $10-15/hour just for someone to pick them up and bring them home.

 

[krcit]

Yes, she will spend the night there. This will be the second time she has done this and I'm comfortable with it.
Finding jobs... This has been a breeze for Meg. She did the freebie Vistaprint business cards and post cards and has put them on the bulletin board at the grocery store, the laundromat, dropped off some at the local pre-schools and church daycare centers. She also listed a Craigslist ad at the beginning of the school year and it got her 4-5 regular families too.

The Red Cross program is awesome and I highly recommend it!

Thanks Duckkie! I am trying to get her to put an ad in our elementary school newsletter in the fall. That way the families will be local and I would probably know them.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

$7 seems MORE than fair. I would say that $5 an hour would be quite generous for watching one child.

 

[mhsjax]

Okay. When I hire a college aged babysitter, she has probably been sitting for years. She will have experience with lots of different types of situations, is probably more able to handle less-than-ideal situations, and is more mature. She just has more know-how. I'll pay a "premium" (so to speak) for that kind of knowledge/expertise.

She ALSO has a lot of other opportunities available to her, she could work at a lot of different places, so a $10 per hour rate is competitive.

A 14 year old has less experience and is less mature. She may not know instinctively how to react in certain situations. It's a trade off for me. I feel confident that she can play with my kids for 3 or 4 hours in the middle of the day. But, I wouldn't do any late nights with a 14-year-old. Also, the younger sitter does not have other opportunities available, she can't get a job at McDonalds, so I would think she'd be happy with a lesser rate of pay (because something is better than nothing).

Hope that makes sense. I really don't see why this is confusing. In every job I've ever had, I got paid less than more experienced workers doing the same job, until I gained more experience. That includes babysitting. I started out earning $2 per hour and the last job I had (5 or 6 years ago) paid $10 per hour.

I understand your thought process, but how about this one. The college student will get to a point where she is too busy and frankly probably won't want to baby sit anymore, however if you like the 14 year old, she will be available later on, and you may want to pay her more so she will pick you over another job.

We always make sure that our babysitter preferred us, and they would always make themselves available for us. They wouldn't cancel other babysitting plans, but I have had them cancel the "fun" plans because they wanted to make sure that we kept them as our baby sitters.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Yes, she will spend the night there. This will be the second time she has done this and I'm comfortable with it.
Finding jobs... This has been a breeze for Meg. She did the freebie Vistaprint business cards and post cards and has put them on the bulletin board at the grocery store, the laundromat, dropped off some at the local pre-schools and church daycare centers. She also listed a Craigslist ad at the beginning of the school year and it got her 4-5 regular families too.

The Red Cross program is awesome and I highly recommend it!

As an American Red Cross instructor for this course, I always tell my students NEVER to post on Craigslist, at grocery stores, etc. We live in a whole different world nowadays. It is never a good idea to advertise to strangers-you never know what will turn up. To a pedophile, simply putting down your name, your age, telephone number, etc. can cause many problems. Craigslist is one of the scariest sites ever!

 

[dimimi]

Okay. When I hire a college aged babysitter, she has probably been sitting for years. She will have experience with lots of different types of situations, is probably more able to handle less-than-ideal situations, and is more mature. She just has more know-how. I'll pay a "premium" (so to speak) for that kind of knowledge/expertise.

She ALSO has a lot of other opportunities available to her, she could work at a lot of different places, so a $10 per hour rate is competitive.

A 14 year old has less experience and is less mature. She may not know instinctively how to react in certain situations. It's a trade off for me. I feel confident that she can play with my kids for 3 or 4 hours in the middle of the day. But, I wouldn't do any late nights with a 14-year-old. Also, the younger sitter does not have other opportunities available, she can't get a job at McDonalds, so I would think she'd be happy with a lesser rate of pay (because something is better than nothing).

Hope that makes sense. I really don't see why this is confusing. In every job I've ever had, I got paid less than more experienced workers doing the same job, until I gained more experience. That includes babysitting. I started out earning $2 per hour and the last job I had (5 or 6 years ago) paid $10 per hour.

My neice is 14/15 and gets $10 per hour. She even gets this when the parent is home and she is acting as a mother's helper. She also gets this when the parents are gone for the evening and she feeds/baths/and puts the kids to bed.

Yes, I think it's funny that she makes more than my 16 year old that is a lifeguard and had to pay over $100 to be trained. He makes $8.50 per hour.

I guess you have to see what the going rate is in your neighborhood. If the girl needs to be driven home and picked up, I would say $8 is fair. You could ask the girl, it's competive now to find a good sitter. If you really like her, the extra $ per hour will be worth it to keep her happy.

 

[AKL_Megs]

When I was 13 I babysat for three families... Usually the whole dusk till midnight thing, feed them, put them to bed, watch TV. I charged $4 an hour, but never walked away with less than two twenties or a fifty at he end of the night.

So what is that, $8-$10 an hour give or take?

 

[Duckkie]

While I would normally agree with this statement for my child I don't in our situation. Advertising on a military installation affords some protection otherwise not there in the real world.

The one time we used CL we used me as the contact (my number, my email, my name) until we met with the families and felt safe.

My daughter has NEVER shown up for an interview with a new family without me going with her as well as driving her to her jobs.

Just as she knows not to answer a door while working at a house or not to answer the phone unless the caller id shows me or the family she is sitting for. We spent A LOT of time going over safety before she began doing this at 13.

No, I am not a helicopter mom I just want to make darn sure my kiddo is safe.

As an American Red Cross instructor for this course, I always tell my students NEVER to post on Craigslist, at grocery stores, etc. We live in a whole different world nowadays. It is never a good idea to advertise to strangers-you never know what will turn up. To a pedophile, simply putting down your name, your age, telephone number, etc. can cause many problems. Craigslist is one of the scariest sites ever!

 

[kaytieeldr]

I guess you have to see what the going rate is in your neighborhood. If the girl needs to be driven home and picked up, I would say $8 is fair. You could ask the girl, it's competive now to find a good sitter. If you really like her, the extra $ per hour will be worth it to keep her happy.

That is excellent advice! Several years ago, my niece and a friend were babysitting for the kids next door - five kids, in the afternoon, and they were getting $10 an hour each. The friend's parents lived on the other side of the 'babysat' family, so parents were available wherever you turned in case of emergency. Both sitters were under fourteen.

 

[Trish Bessette]

My DD was getting $10 an hour at age 14 for watching 3 kids. I couldn't imagine paying any less for 3 kids.

 

[scrapquitler]

My 13 (almost 14) year old daughter is Red Cross Certified in Babysitting, and I pay her $5.00 per hour to babysit her younger (7 yo) brother. I have no idea what she could get on the open market in my neighborhood, but she is thrilled with what I pay her, and so am I. Honestly, it works out well for me, because if she didn't make babysitting money like this, I'd just be giving it to her anyway!