Rate for Babysitters

After reading all the other responses i see that i charge way too little, joking. I am a stay at home mother of one and expecting. I charge parents $20 a day for a baby and $10 a day for toddler after school is $5 a day. I don't work because my husband and i sat down and figured out how much i would be making and what would be left after paying for childcare. We decided i would be working just to pay the babysitter. I understand that children are priceless but i can't see paying someone most of my paycheck when according to me with my child no one is a better babysitter than myself. There is no reason for those of us who are lucky enough to not work to rob working mothers of their paychecks. Babysitting my be a lot of work, but it's the most rewarding job other than being a mother or teaching.

Last weekend was our first babysitter! She was wonderful and we payed her $10hr. for our two kids. She is a college student and earned her money!! She fed, gave baths, and cleaned up the kitchen as well as played with them and read books before bed. Its worth every penny if you find a great babysitter!

Hi C. I am a mother of a beautiful 21 month old and my husband and i are expecting our second child this september But i wanted to give you my "advice" on how much to pay your care giver...I was a sitter for a few years when i was younger just as a side job but i Regularly babysat a set of twins my daughters age last year before my husbands job moved us to mississippi! It really depends on the person You can find a great at home mom who is just looking for a little extra cash Like I was I only charged The mother of the twins 100 dollars a week! So its all about looking around If you feel comfortable leaving your child at someone elses home Also an At home mother may be a bette rbet jsut becuase she understands the cost of daycare so she will most likely be cheaper!!! hoep that helps you out!

It varies from city to city. In Atlanta, we paid anywhere from $6 per hour for the high school kid down the street to $10 per hour for a college student with nanny experience. Here in South Carolina, we've been surprised that the most expensive sitter has been around $7 per hour. Ask neighbors, friends, family, etc how much they pay. I have found that high school kids charge a LOT less but they also don't interact with the child quite as much.

The rate if you are home at the same time as the sitter should be the same as if you were away. Just try to stay out of her way and not to "help" too much. :-)

OK most of you must live in very high incom areas , were talking about babbysitters not nanny's, but ask local daycare, they basiclly set the prices, around middle tn ( not sure abour nashville) inhome babysitters (thoughs that due about 3 to 5 kids) my exsperiance is 60 to 125 a week and part time range of 1 to 3 dollars an hour per child, and I have to ask you who pays 10 dollars an hours most jobs around here don't pay that much, we could stay home and make money. Remember most babysitter are stay at home moms who are making extra cash and they have a child of there own...

I was paying $7.00 dlls for a babysitter but i wasn't at home.
K.

The gals here must be making serious money if they can afford to pay 14 year old girls $10 an hour. I'm 27 years old and I'm not making much more then that. I'm an Emergency Veterinary Tech and I work very hard for every dollar I earn. And I was once a babysitter and I know the work involved is not worth $10 an hour. Yes, they are watching the most important people in our lives...but they are still kids themselves. How do you teach a kid the value of a dollar when they are making more then a 16 year old that works at Target, or a 22 year old that works at Barnes & Noble? Paying them $10 an hour is not going to guarantee a better babysitter then if you paid them $6 an hour. And remember, that is tax-free pay. I doubt very much that people here are having them fill out a W2 and pay taxes out of that (even though they are making more then enough money that by law, they should be paying taxes).

Now in the case of a trained and skilled Nanny that is teaching your children things and taking them to the zoo and the children's museum, I can understand paying that much. But not a babysitter. I will stay home with my son and husband rather then pay that kind of money to a child. And not because of the money, but because the idea of paying a child that much money is doing a disservice to them as well as to the mothers out there that need babysitters, but can't afford to pay them more then they themselves are making. This is an unfair inflation started by people that make large sums of money and can afford to make bids on babysitters. Consider where that puts people in less advantaged situations?

So with that said, if they are not college age and CPR trained, and come with at least three glowing references, etc...the most I would pay is $6 an hour, plus $1-$2 more for each additional child (and I would pay more for infants). At that rate, they are making the median amount that 16 to 18 year olds are making. For $10 an hour, I expect to have a person that could almost pass as a governess (a full time job at $10 an hour equals out to about 20k a year). A high school age kid doesn't have a mortgage/rent, utility bill, credit card debt...this is pure spending cash and a ton of it.

Anyway, this is just my opinion. I only charged $20 a night (eight hours worth of babysitting) to watch three young boys and I still felt guilty for taking so much money from someone that was struggling to get by. And even though I was making less then other babysitters, it didn't change the quality of my work.

I live in Midtown and my husband and I pay $7/hr for high school kids during the day; $8/hr for college kids (CPR & 1st Aid trained) during the day; and $10/hr for prime weekend nighttime. During the day I'm home for some portion of the time the sitter is here. I have 3 kids, but this is what I paid when I had just 2. I tip extra if the kids were troublesome.

I have taken on babysitting and I charge 15 dollars per day a minimum of $60 per week because the cost of daycare is so outrageous. It all depends on your area I would say.

F.

Hey C....

That's a hard one....I have paid 7 to 8.00 hour or a flat fee for the day or night. If I have extra to give one week or time...I will tip..

I was paying 10.00 am hour (which I think is SO worth) it's my child...but that was hard to keep up with. Not in my budget. Hope this helps
R.

THINK OF WHAT DUTIES SHE IS DOING...IS SHE FEEDING HIM DINNER, BATHING, PUTTING TO BED? I WOULD SUGGEST...ALSO LOOK AT AGE...FROM $7-$11 HOUR. IF SHE IS BABYSITTING ALL DAY EVERYDAY IF UR WORKING, JUST SET A CERTIAN WEEKLY RATE, ALSO JUST ASK HER. :) GOOD LUCK!

I am reading these rates because I will soon be starting a job and I dont know how I am going to afford this. If I were to pay 10 dollars an hour for my kids how am I going to be able to pay my bills!

I see midtown mentioned here. It is nice to see a close face. I have three lovely children. One will be 14 in a few months. Now off to brood about what I am going to do.

When I cant get friends or family to watch my children, which usually works out, we trade on and off of watching the kids, I normally pay $7 an hour. I too am a divorced mother, who struggles to get by, My children are the most important people in my life, but I don't make $10 an hour, would love too, working on it, but at this time I don't. Would love to babysit, and make $10 of tax free money an hour. My youngest child was a special needs child for his first 3 yrs of life, now Thanks to GOD he is doing much better, but due to his illnesses I have special training, that other babysitters wouldn't have.
I agree with one of the comments below, that it is an injustice to those teenagers to make more than their friends are making at McDonalds or Target. Babysitting is not hard, in most cases, such as mine, If I hire a babysitter, my children are sleeping by the time she gets here, I have had the talk with my children to let them know that she is coming over, and that they will be safe.
Good Luck to you! I wish you the very best.
Maybe we should become babysitters!! We have the experience :)

I have a 9 month old daughter I pay her babysitter 10dollars a day I know that is low but she i my preachers daughter and that is what she sat as her price as a babysitter when I was a teenager I just babysat for low income moms and I never charged them more than 30 dollars a night and that was only based on how many children they had and how much of a handful there children were (I never liked disrespectful children). But I babysat for this one lady every weekend she had 4 children 3 boys 1 girl and they were 8-12 2 with ADD and I still enjoyed it (it was fun sometimes) so I only charged her 20 dollars a night I did it for my own pleasure so I wish you good luck in finding a great babysitter I know how it is I am now a low income mom and its hard to find a babysitter who understands that you don't have the money.

My babysitter said that average is about $10-12 per hour.
She tends to charge more if there are multiple children or if she doesn't like the family. (she is brutally honest!)

I am not sure about if you are there working, but would be inclined to say the same.

The normal rate is anywhere from 7 to 10 an hour but for one child and you being there I would stay on the lower scale. Also, you would not need to pay a teenager who is not paying for gas as much as you would a cooage student who is.It amazes me how some poeple dont even want to pay minimum wage for taking care of their most prized posesion. As someone who has done a lot of babysitting ( for a living) That is what I would suggest.

We pay $10/hour, whether we're here or not. The person is still putting in the same amount of time and work, so I wouldn't change the rate. We were lucky that the lady we found only charges $10/hour - most in our area charge between $12 and $16 an hour.

For a teenager for evening/weekend hours, the rate would be lower. I have a 14 year old niece who I'd probably pay $6/hour. I'd pay a highschooler about $8/hour. But then again, I'd only expect them to "babysit" and not necessarily be required to "teach" them anything (as I would a daytime nanny).

Hope this helps some!

Here in a military town i pay between 10-40 bucks for a cpl of hrs but i have 5 kids. If i had 1 it would be a flat 50 bucks a week. Bills are insane and so is gas. A high school teenager can walk usually to your home and you can drive them back when they are finished plus usually most people say "make yourself at home" which then means eats my chip and drink my coke...so your feeding the babysitter too. It really depends on the area and your siutation. But thats just me

I'm a new family home daycare provider and I have learned that such pay (atleast for providers) is based on where one lives. For instance, I'm in a rural town in Georgia, so I cannot charge what providers in much larger areas charge. What would you be expecting in a babysitter? Just someone who will feed, change, and watch the baby, or someone to cater to the child's developmental needs? As for age of the caregiver, if the person provides what you are looking then (I think) pay should be based on quality care-not age, after all, you are seeking someone to guard and protect your most precious jewel!

I was paying $10 an hour for a college student, which I found out is pretty much the going rate. She actually only stayed with him for about 30 minutes and he was asleep the rest of time so it still may be the same even though you are at home. If she would actually be watching the baby while you work.

It really depends on where you are located. I have heard everything from $85 weekly to $175 weekly. It really depends on the hours etc. For full time weekly I would say $125 would be great especially if you are there. Otherwise I would say $150. If you are going to only need her a few hours then anywhere from $8-12 hourly. Hope this helps!

We pay $10/hr for our sitters.