[SJBundy]

Seeking advice on how much we should pay a babysitter. ... We have an 18-year-old girl coming over to watch our son on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3-5:30 p.m. We're paying her $45 a week, which averages out to $6 an hour for 7.5 hours. ... What is the going rate for a sitter to watch a child 2.5 hours in the afternoon? Do you pay them for weeks you don't use them, such as when you take vacation? ... We just don't know. ... Any input is appreciated.

[WesieMom]

I would just pay her for when she is there with the children. I baby sit from home and this is my rule of thumb, 1-3 hours $5.00 3-5 hours $10.00 & anything over 5 hours $15.00. That is just what we do. Interested to see what others do.
Good luck,
Lisa

[Laurie5401]

What a coincidence! I just logged on to ask the very same question. I'm just wondering what the going rate is for babysitters these days (per hour), like on the weekend for a few hours. Thanks for starting this thread.

Laurie

[SJBundy]

Well, to be honest, I think the $45 we're paying for watching our son Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 2.5 hours in the afternoon is probably too much. But, like I say, we didn't really know what to pay. ... Perhaps through this thread, we'll have a better idea of what we need to pay the next time. ... We really don't want to come across as being cheap here. We really like the girl who is watching our son, and we feel like she's doing a good job. But, again, she only watches our son 7.5 hours a week, and that's in the afternoon, which is a pretty plum assignment. ... Anyway, we just would like to know what the going rate is.

[mommywannabee]

I can tell you what my niece makes for babysitting for others (I don't have any kids yet)...she makes between $8.00 and $10.00 an hour pending on who she's babysitting for.

[Summerbaby06]

I pay my 17 year old babysitter $10 an hour to watch my 3 kids; she comes every day for 4 hours; I am usually home, but i get laundry, dishes done etc...We recently went away overnight and paid her $200.

[buckeye1]

I think this depends a lot on where you're located. Here we use a baby sitting service. Hourly rates for the services' sitters are $8 for 1-2 kids, $9 for 3-4 kids, and $10 for 5-6 kids. The sitters are all 18+, which I think also makes a difference in the equation. When our 13-year-old niece watches our kids, she gets paid more like $6/hour.

PS - We used to have another sitter (not thru the service) that watched our daughter a few times a week for a year. We did agree to pay her when we went on vacation and on holidays... but we only gave her 1/2 the regular pay.

[mama8]

I think babysitting fees really vary by area - it is best to check what others are paying and also ask her what she expects.

You are asking someone to make a commitment 3 days a week - she is limited on what she can do before and after. Good babysitters that you like and trust are hard to come by - I honestly don't think you can over pay them. You will also pay more to have someone come to you rather than you go to them.

I think the current going rate is between $7-10, depending on where you live and how many children he/she is watching AND what you expect them to do. It is reasonable to ask her to fold a load of clothes or pick up the kitchen while a baby is sleeping and it also teaches good habits for young sitters! (Just my .02 of course!)

Donna

[WesieMom]

I wanna be Summberbaby06's sitter..laughing!

LISA~

[DPline]

There was a thread about this a couple months back

OT: What is the going rate for babysitters?

We pay our sitter $8/hour for three kids.

[DoraDora]

We live just outside a major metropolitan area and pay at least $10/hour, more for somebody we want to hold on to.

[saranbr]

We pay our sitter (she's a bit younger--15) $7/hr and just for the hours she works. I have a variable work schedule so she generally sits for us one full day/wk and a morning about everyother week.

[MNStarr]

Wow babysitters are pretty cheap here. We pay our $4 an hour and said that was too much, usually she gets $2 an hour per kid. Either way this is what we pay. I can't imagine paying $10 or more, but I guess if thats the going rate what can you do.

[annaguat]

My girls make $6 an hour and they are under paid for the area. If you have shorter time frames the child care is needed and it is in your home it will be higher $ then if you bring your child some where. Also my girls do house keeping if the children are sleeping. Anna

[Summerbaby06]

I honestly think what I pay ($10) an hour is quite generous; however, my kids are a TON of work. They are 3 1/2, 2 and 9 months and soon we will be bringing our 2 year old home from Guatemala...I want to keep good help around so I have to make it enticing for her to come back to work here each summer. Soon she'll go off to college, and I'll have to start looking all over for good help. But I would probably pay a younger teenager $6-7 an hour...