What Do You Pay Your Babysitter?

My daughter is 17 and has been babsitting since she was 12. Pay depended on the activity and affordability. Her standard is $20 for a night out & $30 for overnight so I think if you are having someone just keep the kids occupied while you are home $10 should be good

In our area mother's helpers make about $5 an hour, and babysitter's $10 per hour.

You'll find that the norms vary a lot geographically. One thing to take into account is that the 2011 Washington minimum wage is $8.67. Those amounts in our area are below & just above minimum wage. If min wage in one area is $4... it makes sense they'd pay $2 or $5.

I've yet to have a middle school girl babysit... but as a middle schooler I babysat 4-5 nights a week (had more than 10 families that used me regularly. At the time (80's in california) I got between 10-20 per night averaging from 4pm-11pm. MY biggest problem was that every family had different food rules. Some said "help yourself" but didn't mean it, others DID mean it, others had allergies so you couldn't bring your own food, others expected you to bring your own food. It's irritating when something as basic as "bored + hungry" (after the kids are in bed) is something that you have to guess on. The other problem I had was late bedtimes and bathtimes. Kids are rarely in bed on time when they're being babysat, but at least they go to bed eventually in most cases. In cases where they're up until the parents get back, you stumble home absolutely exhausted. Lastly, buzzed fathers driving me home always gave me the creeps. Not sexually... but because I was NEVER supposed to get in a car with someone who had been drinking, but 9 times out of 10 I could smell it on them / they were all friendly (again not in a creepy way). But as both ADULTS, and as my EMPLOYERS... it made me feel very very awkward. I didn't feel like I could turn them down and call my mom (I was young and they were authority figures, and sitting around waiting, blah blah blah)... so I usually tried to arrange for them to call 10 minutes before coming home so I could call my mom to come pick me up.

Even though you're still there, she is taking time out of her day to care for your kids. So I would say at least minimum wage, which is $8.25. I pay about $10 an hour for evening babysitters. If you want them to come back and babysit over and over, you need to pay them well. It always worked for me.

Updated

It depends on your area. Around here, no sitter is less than $10/hour.

That said, if she is a mom's helper, you could go a bit less ($7) since you are there.

My 16 yr old babysits and she averages $14/hour cash. She sits for 3 families within walking distance. Typical hours are 5:30 or 6 until 1am or so.

When we were hiring sitters for our date nights, we guaranteed $40 cash, even if we had to cancel for some reason, then we added from that point on. Our weekly date nights were $60-$80/week.

Keep in mid that you get what you pay for. Good sitters get the good jobs and keep them.

Maybe $30-40 for the day if its just on occassion, less if its more frequent. $20 for the 4 hour evening seems fair.

It still amazes me how much some people pay a very young girl to babysit! These girls are going to be bummed when they get "real" jobs and are making less (min wage) than when they babysat, lol.

Anyway...

I have a 14 y/o girl who comes over quite a bit. Sometimes she comes over just to "hang out" because she's bored at home. I don't pay her when she chooses to come over, but I also don't expect her to do anything other than what she came over for...to play with the kids and just chill out. When I ask her to come over though, I usually pay her a flat $25. Whether it is an afternoon of errands or so I can be in the garage sorting girl scout cookies, or a date night with the hubby. This last Saturday, I had her here for double duty. She came in the morning and stayed all the way until midnight. I had to pick up and sort cookies during the day and hubby and I went out that evening. I payed her double for that since she was here for two "shifts." I also make sure there is plenty of food/snacks/drinks here for her and the kids and I don't expect her to do anything with the house other than clean up after herself and the kids while she's here.

I don't think I'm underpaying her in the least considering she calls me regularly to ask if I need a sitter :)

We pay $15 an hour...I have three kids 5, 3, 1, You get what you pay for...I wouldn't pay anything less than that.

I was thinking maybe $15 when you're home. $20 from 4-8 when your not. Or $30 for the whole time. I have found that teens at that age (middle school) are happy to make anything.

I've heard the amount per hour should be what grade they are in, maybe round up on the total. $10/hour is a lot esp if you don't even get to go out! I think the 4-8p depends on whether she has to put them to bed, 2 year olds aren't always easy at that time.

I have a one year old and almost 3 year old and my babysitters are sisters and they are 12 and 15. They charge $2 an hour per kid if they come to my house. If I take my kids to their house it is $1.50 per hour. Thats with me out of the house. My husband makes decent money but I only make 7.25 so if I paid what some of these other parents are paying I would be in the negative!!! My babysitters have taken a ton of safe sitter classes and are certified in both child and adult cpr. I think if you check around (maybe have to alot) you can find someone very resonable!

For a "mother's helper", I would pay $5 per hour b/c you are home and she's really the activities director for the day.

I think middle school (regardless of maturity) is too young to be home with three children under the age of 7, especially if she needs to feed them and get them ready for bed. I babysat a lot in middle and high school (college and grad school too- it's a great way to earn money), and took care of 2 children at night but they were older and my parents were home (always) and lived two blocks away.

IF her parents are home and accessible AND she doesn't have to cook AND you don't care if the kids are running around when you get home- then give it a try, but keep your cell phone on and be prepared to go home if needed.

somewhere in the $5 to $8 range when your home and doing the cooking etc. probably about $10 when your gone.

Hi L.! We pay our sitter $10/hour, but usually we try to arrange it so she doesn't have to do dinner (and the clean up that comes with it) She does needs to get the girls in bed, but it's not hard since they're 9 and 7. Funny, our "main" sitter is now in high school, but we started using her in 7th grade. I asked her mom how much we should pay her and she said "Don't give her too much!!" I think your other poster who said "she'll be happy to make anything" is right - at least for a middle schooler. Now that my sitter is in high school I pay her a more (plus she's been helping us for 3 years now and we all love her!) As far as a mother's helper, I think $5/hour would be fair. I remember when my kids were 2 1/2 and 8 months I had a sitter come three mornings a week (it was summer) because I was training for a triathlon. I was in and out of the house - running in the neighborhood, then home for a bit, then a bike ride, etc. I talked to her up front and said that I could afford to pay a $30 flat rate. Sometimes she was there for 2 hours, sometimes 5. I think it all worked out fairly and she must have too because she came to my house all summer!!

Dear L.,
A lot of the responses are good. But My hubby and I agreed. Why not ask her and her parents what to pay her? And when is this happeneing? Suring the summer or os she a homeshcooler doing it soon cuz kids are in school until June, just curious. I defniately agree with not overpaying BUT you do want to keep her happy. That way she may be available to you years to come :)
As for the the nighttime babysitter maybe someone older who can get your kids to bed at a decent time and go throught their nighttime routines etc.
Pammy

We have our 14yr old neighbor sit from time to time. We give her $10/hr for the 2 kids.