Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lanae Bays on January 13, 2011 at 2:29pm

I live in a suburb in northern CA. The only "paid babysitter" I use is my sister, and I pay her $10 per hour to watch 2 kids (her nephews). It is typically when I have plans after work during the week for about 4 hours. She will feed them dinner and put them in their pajamas. She also plays with them and reads to them.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Emmi L. on January 13, 2011 at 6:42pm

I love this question because I'm wondering the same thing. I'm getting ready to move, meaning I need to find a new babysitter but I have no idea how much to pay. Thanks for asking and thanks to everyone for the info.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nolie on January 13, 2011 at 6:56pm

It is my son's god mothers sister who watches my son usually. I pay her $20 each time she babysits. Sometimes it is an hour sometimes it is a couple of hours and twice she has watched him overnight. She sometimes cleans the kitchen and living room and other times she doesn't. I never ask her to, she just does it.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lesley P on January 14, 2011 at 8:56am

I live in a suburb of a big city.

I pay my teenage babysitter $7 an hour -- but with tip, it ends up around $8.She is great with my DD10, and our new puppy - and she always brings crafts & thinks of things to do.My pet peeve is:  she NEVER cleans up - but she is smart, fun & a great role model.

My cousin (in her 40's) babysits a few times a year, but she insists we don't pay. But I try to do something special for her at Christmas.

I did a quick search on wages:

in Canada, min student wage will be $9.60 by March 31 ; in the US it varies by state - I'd guess adv is $7.25.

 IMO -- babysitter should be paid less than min wage  .. they get cash, no tax.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Brianne De Leon on January 14, 2011 at 3:19pm

I live in north NJ about 20 minutes outside NYC.  We pay our sitter $10/hr, she is a highschool senior. She watches 2 kids and will make dinner if needed but we usually order in a pizza so she can eat. She does clean up after dinner and the toys. She plays with my kids the whole time and will put them to bed. They almost never watch TV unless I suggest they do so. We also had a college student 22 watch our kids over the summer 2 days a week. She was in school to be a elementary teacher and was cpr certified. We paid her $11.

 If you find a good sitter that is reliable and the kids love her, then you have to pay them well to keep them. Watching kids is not the easiest of job, especially the under 3 crowd.  My kids are the most important thing to me and their safety and happiness it what counts. These sitters are taking care of our kids and I think they should be paid well.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Portia M. on January 15, 2011 at 9:29am

Hi Leslie - I'm in North Carolina in the Piedmont Triad area  and the going rate for a babysitter is about $10 per hour. $1 is added per child. I think a teenager is just fine and many have their babysitting certifications from the Red Cross, which means they know CPR and basic first aid. I think if you have sitter who is watching your kids every day (say after school) and you expect her to do crafts and what not, you might want to add a bit more to her fee but I think the $10 range is reasonable. I agree with Brianna below that a good sitter is worth paying well so that you can keep her.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Angie Shafranek on January 15, 2011 at 10:56am

I'm lucky enough that we have good friend that watch our son.  They will not let us pay them, so in return I give them small gifts every now and again.  I live in CO and I have heard the going rate is about 10/hr.  That does depend on the age of the babysitter.  I prefer an older sitter just in case something happes they can take him to the hospital or get him the needed care.   I would expect my sitter to make dinner for the little one if they are coming around dinner time.  I would not expect them to clean my house or anything like that. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Emmi L. on January 16, 2011 at 6:06am

Portia! Thanks so much! i'm a little bit down the road from you and I'm really going to be looking for a babysitter so I was wondering how much to pay in this area! I'm in Fayetteville. Where are you?

Portia M. said:

Hi Leslie - I'm in North Carolina in the Piedmont Triad area  and the going rate for a babysitter is about $10 per hour. $1 is added per child. I think a teenager is just fine and many have their babysitting certifications from the Red Cross, which means they know CPR and basic first aid. I think if you have sitter who is watching your kids every day (say after school) and you expect her to do crafts and what not, you might want to add a bit more to her fee but I think the $10 range is reasonable. I agree with Brianna below that a good sitter is worth paying well so that you can keep her.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by mommyswishlist on January 17, 2011 at 2:50pm

We are in Dallas proper. We have had the same babysitter since she was in 9th grade. At first we paid her $5. When she turned 16 in high school and now (she is post-high school doing a service year before college) we paid her $7 per hour (one kid). She is CPR certified, and cleans up everything but the dishes. We also had a manny this past year who was a college senior getting his teaching degree he also taught preschool at our local mothers-day-out. We paid him $10 per hour plus gave him bags of groceries from our stockpile on occasion. He took kid out of the house and ran him at the park. (Awesome)

We also occasionally pay our 13-yr-old son $2.50 an hour to babysit for grocery store visits, dinner in the neighborhood, or short-time close-by events that we don't want to take him or the 4-yr-old to. I often pay him to keep 4-yr-old upstairs and play games with him so I can think straight. My neighbors also use my 13-yr-old for mom's helper type situations when we have group playdates at the park. We pay him to chase them around. (He is YMCA baby-sitting certified.)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Angie Atchley on January 17, 2011 at 3:07pm

We live in a mid-size town in MO and pay our 23 year old nanny (she does this for a living so she prefers the term nanny over babysitter) $9 per hour for 1-5 kids, and she does housework also. She's awesome!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JamericanSpice on January 17, 2011 at 6:01pm

I must be the cheapest babysitter around or this woman is taking me for granted. I get $75 a week for a 6:30am - 3:30pm (sometimes 7or 8am)

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CarolineSarah on January 18, 2011 at 6:41am

I pay $15/hour for watching two kids and a dog.  The college-age sitter picks my girls up from school, drives the kids to activities, and makes dinner.  Her pay includes gas. I live in Potomac, MD and this is the going rate.  When I use a mother's helper, then I pay $10/hour.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page