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View Full Version : Never paid a babysitter before--is this a good offer?



kayte
10-21-2009, 03:04 PM
I need a sitter for 8 nights (Tuesday and Thursday for 4 weeks). She would come at 6 and I would be home by 9. DD goes to bed a 7:30.

Is it fair to offer to pay $25 a night, so $200 total for the 8 nights?

The sitter (in her very early 20's, still in college) is a younger sister of a mommy friend, so I don't want to offend her. I asked for a price and she said that I should come up with an offer.

daphne
10-21-2009, 03:10 PM
Personally, I would round up to $30/night (so $10/hr)

kayte
10-21-2009, 03:13 PM
Personally, I would round up to $30/night (so $10/hr)

Is that a good going rate - $10 an hour? That's kinda what I guess I need to know.

I asked a friend of mine and she says she pays $10 but she has three kids. Maybe it doesn't matter how many kids...

Thanks!

nrp
10-21-2009, 03:14 PM
I need a sitter for 8 nights (Tuesday and Thursday for 4 weeks). She would come at 6 and I would be home by 9. DD goes to bed a 7:30.

Is it fair to offer to pay $25 a night, so $200 total for the 8 nights?

The sitter (in her very early 20's, still in college) is a younger sister of a mommy friend, so I don't want to offend her. I asked for a price and she said that I should come up with an offer.

It really depends on your area, but I would think that sounds a tad low. For an adult babysitting for three hours, I would expect to pay at least $30 (or $10/hour).

ETA: Cross post! But glad I was in the ballpark!

sste
10-21-2009, 03:14 PM
I am in a major metro area and we pay $11 per hour for college sitters - - we used to pay $10 but just recently bumped it up to $11. I think $10 is fine. It also matters imo how far the person has to travel. If they have to travel more than five to ten minutes then I think its a hard sell to get anyone to come over for less than $30.

poppy
10-21-2009, 03:15 PM
That's a great rate (for you). Here they ask for $12 to 14 an hour, sometimes more, depending on experience and background.
I would def. pay at least $10 an hour.

infocrazy
10-21-2009, 03:19 PM
I pay my 22 yo sitter $10/hr. That said, on sittercity.com, they have a pay calculator for your area based on their info that could be a good starting point for you.

Yes, your DD is sleeping half the time, but it still involves bed time which at our house should sometime include hazard pay!

niccig
10-21-2009, 03:21 PM
Here's it's $10 an hour per child. It would be less for a high school student. We use a college grad. student. 2 kids is about $12, 3 kids $15. BUT, if the sitter is either a preschool or elementary school teacher, then the starting rate is $15.

athompson
10-21-2009, 03:24 PM
$10 per hour for one child
$12 per hour for two children
$14 per hour for three children

This seems to be the going rate here. Our sitter offers to fold laundry after our children go to bed. If you're interested in her doing something like this, I would present this as part of the offer in the beginning.

kdeunc
10-21-2009, 03:24 PM
I pay my college aged sitters (I only have a couple) $8 for 1 kid $9 for 2 and $10 for all three. In our house they definitely get rounded up if it includes bedtime - definitely hazard pay! :) I am in "fairly rural" North Carolina.

Jen841
10-21-2009, 03:43 PM
I pay $10 and up for those that transport themselves and @$8 an hour for those I have to pick up and drop off.

For one sitter we have $7 when they are awake and $5 hr when the are asleep. She was 15. I always rounded up.

kayte
10-21-2009, 03:44 PM
OKay... I replied asking if she would do it for $10/hour.

sunriseiz
10-21-2009, 03:49 PM
I think having something 'regular' counts too. When I was sitting (eons ago!), I would take a slightly lower price if I knew I could count on 4 nights of sitting. Maybe that's just me. :)

infomama
10-21-2009, 04:09 PM
I would pay her at least $10. I used this http://www.babysitting-rates.com/calculator.php once and it came up with a pretty reasonable rate for my area.

Corie
10-21-2009, 04:17 PM
Personally, I would round up to $30/night (so $10/hr)


I was going to say the same thing.

(I pay our babysitter $12 an hour for 2 kids ages 5 & 8.)

HannaAddict
10-22-2009, 03:20 AM
$15 to $20 an hour for one or two kids in our area, that is college aged girls. I would not pay someone less than $10 an hour. I would round up to $10 in your situation.

kbud
10-22-2009, 08:42 AM
Wow, things have changed. I think I used to get less than $5/hour when I was in HS! I guess my HS sitter is a steal at $4-5 an hour. I have a 5 and 2 year old. We did have my dd preschool teacher babysit and I paid her about $12/hour.

billysmommy
10-22-2009, 09:04 AM
We pay our sitter $12 an hour for 2 kids 6.5 and 3.5.