What do you pay your babysitter?

desdemona39 · September 2011

I understand the answer can vary by region, but what do you typically pay your babysitter?

I'm thinking I need extra help so I can get schoolwork done, and wanted to hire the 17yo kid of a family friend to watch LO for about 3hrs 1 afternoon/week while I'm home (I can't get anything done when I'm alone with DD!). Just to play with DD and change diapers, etc (I BF, so I'll be feeding her). What do you think is fair to offer her?

daisy889 · September 2011

i would pay 20$ if its only the one time a week.

croberts22 · September 2011

AshC311:

daisy889:
i would pay 20$ if its only the one time a week.

This. Or whatever minimum wage is in your area, I'd go with something around that.

I'd do a little more than that. MW is $7.25 where I am, I'd probably pay $25-30 for 3 hours.

RickeyandDani · September 2011

I have had 2 sitters who were both fine with my ability to pay. I pay based on how long she sits for and how often. IE: one time a week for 4 hours, I give her $40. However if she comes 3 times in a week I'll pay her $75. Basically she understands that I can't afford a "standard rate per hour".

Snapdragon750 · September 2011

I live in Indiana, and when I needed a sitter I paid her $15 an hour because that's what she asked for. She's grown woman with a salaried position at an early childhood center.

MrsSparklesMcGee · September 2011

Going rate around here is about $10/hour.

daisy889 · September 2011

MW here is 10.25, but i still would not pay more than 20$ for 3 hours. If it was a fulltime job it would be different. Since its only 3 hours 30$ would seem a bit much just to play with my kid imo. I know daily fulltime rates in their home is about 22-30$ a day (8hours) So 20$ seems good.

desdemona39 · September 2011

Ok, so I was thinking about $20-25 , because she's 17, it's only 1x/week, and I will be there the entire time. Minimum wage here is $7.25 (but there would be no taxes taken out). Glad to hear that seems fair- DH thinks I'm cheap, lol.

sarahjulypsu · September 2011

My husband's cousin watches dd in her home once/twice a week for two hours. I go to work two hours before he gets home. We pay her $6.00 an hour.

In our area I would pay a teenager around $6.00 an hour. You are going to be there with her and feeding LO. Also it's not like they have to pay taxes on it. After taxes minimum wage is near $6.00. I live in rural PA if that helps.

Ecy · September 2011

We used a paid babysitter for the first time last weekend. We paid her $8/hour.

SouthFloridaMommy · September 2011

I would probably pay $10 per hour. We pay $15-17 per hour for a sitter to watch our 2 kids. But I think this kinda thing really depends on where you live and if you live in a high COL area.

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