Going Rate for Babysitters

I agree with the posts that stated it depends on the experience, background.. any certifications and so forth. In my opinion, as a preschool teacher and part-time nanny, you should not be paying a jr high or high school person the same amount you would pay a college student or experienced childcare provider or teacher. My daughter babysits for a family downtown and she is a college student. They have 2 small children and they pay her between $9 and $10 per hour. She has a lot of babysitting experience too. An experienced nanny or teacher would earn between $12-$17 per hour depending on how many children and responsibilities and so forth.
I think you may have luck finding a sitter via your child's school.. moms may be home day care providers and looking for a another child to watch or your church bulletin or through recommendations from other moms. Word of mouth is always good too. Maybe someone in your neighborhood? I think $10 per hour is reasonable for a college student. gee. I used to work at Bath and body works part time and they only paid me $8.00 a hour to start. So $10 is very reasonable.
good luck in your search!

We have had some wonderful babysitters for the past 3 years. I felt that their rates were fairly reasonable. The going rate seemst to be around $35 per day. That is for one child. Some sitters offer a sibling discount. Compared to the cost of daycare, I feel that that is pretty reasonable. Some sitters offer extras like hands on educational experiences, which may be the reason for the outrageous cost; however, If you look around and talk to people I think you will find some good rates. You also have to consider whether or not the sitter is cpr certified or teacher certified and how many years of experience they have. All parents have different requirements for what they look for in a babysitter, so you really have to decide whats best for your children. Best of luck to you!

M.

I asked around alot... for a teenager it seems that one kid is around $5 an hr and 2 is $7-10. : )

Depends on a lot of things.

1. How many kids you have, and what age they are.
2. How old the babysitter is.
3. What kind of experience and level of sitting you need.

We have twins, now 4.5 yo. We had a great HS girl who started at 7/hr. We upped it $1 per year, but have frozen her at $10/hr now. We have her for the summer, (she's 21 now) and her older sister, who is 24, we also pay $10/hr.

If you want a NANNY, sure, you'll pay 13-15/hr. If you want a college grad, probably $10/hr+. If you want a jr high or HS girl, probably can get <$10/hr.

Good luck,
Richard

S.-

The cost for childcare is outrageous. When I first had my son, we interviewed a girl who was 14 (my husband worked with her Mom). I was horrified when her Mom looked me in the eye and told me that she wanted $13 per hour. After my reaction, her Mom tried to calm me down with "well, that's the going rate".

When did these "kids" get this idea that they were entitled to so much money? At what point did we start paying uneducated and in some cases those without drivers licenses so much money? And for goodness sakes, who can afford to pay this?

Needless to say, we didn't hire her...ever. I was more offended than anything. Eventually we did choose to do an in-home daycare where we paid $180 the first year and then $225 the following year. Once we had my daughter, we were up to $300 per week for her and $200 per week for my son. Again, outrageous but I will get off my soap box.

Additionally and more to your question, we had hired a nanny for the summer last year. We ended up paying her $300 per week for my daughter but she did house work too, which helped immensely. She had lots of energy so it worked out. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out for her as she earned $60 per day, which works out to about $6 per hour. When we would go out on special occasions we paid $9 per hour, to kind of make up for it. She was a college girl.

After being a Mom for 5 years now, I can tell you that I have learned a lot. The $3.50 that I made for 3 kids is no longer the case and these kids do have a sense of entitlement. You do need to ask around for referrals and should look into baby swapping with friends/ neighbors. This way you can help your friends and they can help you. In terms of pricing, here is what I learned:

1) High School kids
1 kid- $5-$8
2 kids- $7- $10

2) College and beyond
1 kid- $7-$10
2 kids- $9- $13

3) Nanny
$13 plus, depending on whether you use an agency or have a live-in.

For us, we have decided to have me stay-at-home and so we are no longer paying the outrageous cost of childcare weekly and so going out isn't too bad. Then again, we don't use sitters very much either.

Depending on where you live, I would be willing to help you...if you are interested in switching on/off.

Hope this helps. Welcome to Mommeyhood!
N.