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Babysitter rate

lilmejolilmejo member
in Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months

I'm just trying to get an idea of what you pay your babysitters, not nanny's or daily childcare, but say for date night, maybe a 15 or 16 year old. Growing up when I babysat I was always paid 10.00 an hr and this was ten years ago, I would think with inflation that babysitters would get paid between $12-15 an hour now. When I mentioned this to a friend when she asked how much to pay her sitter for 3 kids, she said $3.00 an hour and that a friend of her's pays her babysitter $3.00 an hour and then $2.00 an hour for additional kids.This seems so low to me, but maybe I'm wrong. Any input would be helpful. Thanks!

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Re: Babysitter rate

  • BeebopandBuddyBeebopandBuddy member
    We had a girl from the daycare come and she charged us $10 an hour for our daughter.
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  • dor79dor79
    We may overpay but we usually only have my SD or one of our nieces babysit, so I usually work out a flat rate for the evening....we usually give them about $30 for their time (regardless of how short or how long we are away).  We leave money for pizza and make sure our pantry is stocked. 
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  • Anne MommyAnne Mommy member
    It depends on what we are doing. For a typical date night, we settle with a flat amount (usually $30). When I was in college, I got $100-$150 for New Year's Eve. It was much better to babysit than to go out!
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  • dairygirl19dairygirl19 member

    I pay $5.00 an hour here. More if it's a special event, my sitter came on short notice etc.

    That's the higher end of avg. around here but this is also the Sticks Midwest. ;)

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  • fancefppfancefpp member
    I'm in MA and we pay $15 an hour for a sitter. A HS student might be less but I'm not sure.
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  • XCrissCrossXXCrissCrossX member
    I think a "nightly" rate for a babysitter in high school is the most reasonable. $20-$30 seems more reasonable for a night than 3 for an hour. I wouldn't want to babysit for $12 total dollars if I babysat for 4 hours.
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  • MrsNoleMrsNole member
    I pay my sitters around $8 - $10 an hour.
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  • FlashMeyerFlashMeyer member

    we pay $10/hr (suburban Chicago).

    LO goes to bed early so most of the time the babysitter is watching TV while we are out and about.

    I still think it's the easiest job out there.

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  • cwhitloccwhitloc member
    I pay the high school sitter $10/hr, but she's just watching the baby monitor the whole night (no diaper changes or anything).  When i had a daycare worker come for a saturday afternoon, i paid $15/hr since she's older/CPR trained and can change cloth diapers.  Plus my DD loves her, so I feel totally comfortable with her being there. 
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  • NewFamily09NewFamily09 member
    $12-15 seems really high.  That's probably what I made as a teacher, with a college degree.  Luckily, we always trade babysitting with friends, so we've never had to pay anyone, but if we did, I'd probably offer around $7-8, since we have 2 kids.  Or a flat rate of 20-25 for a night.
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  • babesbabsbabesbabs member
    I'm in so cal and I usually hear 10 an hr.
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  • NatsboysNatsboys
    Wow. Would have never done babysitting for 3 an hour or 30 a night. I used to get paid anywhere from 10 an hr to 15 an hr. I don't pay less than 10 an hour here in NJ. maybe it's different in other states?
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  • laurakaz13laurakaz13 member

    We live in NC and pay $12-14/hour.  Our sitters are college educated, with lots of experience though.  It's worth it to us.  I think $3/hour is insulting. 

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  • belladonna11307belladonna11307 member

    I've wondered about this too.  When I babysat in highschool I charged $5/hour, but I know others in my area charged $10/hour.  I figured at the time minimum wage was $5.50 and I spent most of the night sitting on the couch watching tv, and I had no training, so that felt fair to me at the time.  

    I like the idea of the flat rate, so if we ever find someone I might talk to them about that.  We've been lucky so far and family has watched LO for us the few times we've gone out and they won't take money from us even when we try.

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  • FrannieLewFrannieLew member
    We're in Northern NJ, just outside NYC, and I had a babysitter in my house tonight for the first time...she asked for $9 an hour which I thought was really low.  I expected to hear $10 - $15 dollars an hour.  For 2 and a half hours, we sent her home w $30 dollars.
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  • MrsGoodkatMrsGoodkat member
    I wouldn't pay less that minimum wage which is $8-something here. I'd pay $10/hour to a HS sitter or if someone's here during hours where DS is in bed.
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