I'm looking into finding a back up sitter for sick & snow days this winter. I'm looking on care.com. The rates seems to be between $10-$25/hr. His daycare center is $50/day, which is $5/hr. What's reasonable? If I need a back up sitter for 10 hours and she charges $25/hr - that's more than I make in a day..........
We pay $12/hour for two kids, 3 and 1. The only time we use a babysitter is in the evenings past 7pm or so. DD2 goes to bed at 8pm and DD1 is down around 9pm so the babysitter gets to relax for the bulk of the time.
We pay $10/hour. 1 kid, 11 months old. Only use a sitter in the evening, very occasionally, and baby is asleep most of the time. If ths is a regular or more fixed part time thing (i.e. two days a week, etc), I think you could negotiate to more like $8/hour (for one kid).
I have never used emergency back-up care, but I would guess those rates may be a little higher than the average rates for an in-home sitter since they have to be available last minute.
When we had a nanny we paid $12/hr for one kid. $25/hr seems steep but that depends on COL, as someone else pointed out.
We are in MD, which I would say is MCOL.
ETA: I have been browsing on care.com for nannies since I am due with baby #2, and I did see one sitter who posted her rates as $40-$50/hr, which I know is completely outrageous. People can ask for whatever they want on there, but it doesn't make it reasonable for your area. If most are closer to the $10-$15 range, then that is probably the more reasonable rate.
We also usually leave money for pizza, and "round up" when considering the number of hours. We also consider the sitter's drive/travel time into the total number of hours.
MCOL area. We pay $12-14/hour. We pay very well for our area, but our sitters will both jump if we need them last minute. I think you get what you pay for.
I would never pay a sitter under minimum wage to watch my child.
My sitter is great. We pay $15 for a 4 hour chunk for one, and $25 for the two. Apparently my area has the highest childcare costs in the country, but she is a SAHM, so she charges significantly less. I wouldn't have been able to afford to work if we had to use a daycare in our area.
I pay $10 per hour. I live in the Midwest, so it's relatively lcol. I have had a darn hard time keeping a sitter, as we only need one very infrequently.
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We typically figure $10/hour but it usually ends up being more than that because the ATM only gives out $20s so we typically round up. 5 hours usually ends up being $60 pay. It's also pretty easy for her because we either put our daughter to sleep before she gets there or at most she just has to watch her for an hour before bed.
We typically figure $10/hour but it usually ends up being more than that because the ATM only gives out $20s so we typically round up. 5 hours usually ends up being $60 pay. It's also pretty easy for her because we either put our daughter to sleep before she gets there or at most she just has to watch her for an hour before bed.
Re: How much do you pay your occassional sitter?
L-low
M-medium
H-high
We pay $10/hour. 1 kid, 11 months old. Only use a sitter in the evening, very occasionally, and baby is asleep most of the time. If ths is a regular or more fixed part time thing (i.e. two days a week, etc), I think you could negotiate to more like $8/hour (for one kid).
I'm in a MCOLA.
I have never used emergency back-up care, but I would guess those rates may be a little higher than the average rates for an in-home sitter since they have to be available last minute.
When we had a nanny we paid $12/hr for one kid. $25/hr seems steep but that depends on COL, as someone else pointed out.
We are in MD, which I would say is MCOL.
ETA: I have been browsing on care.com for nannies since I am due with baby #2, and I did see one sitter who posted her rates as $40-$50/hr, which I know is completely outrageous. People can ask for whatever they want on there, but it doesn't make it reasonable for your area. If most are closer to the $10-$15 range, then that is probably the more reasonable rate.
$10/hour, 2 kids.
We also usually leave money for pizza, and "round up" when considering the number of hours. We also consider the sitter's drive/travel time into the total number of hours.
MCOL area. We pay $12-14/hour. We pay very well for our area, but our sitters will both jump if we need them last minute. I think you get what you pay for.
I would never pay a sitter under minimum wage to watch my child.
I pay $10-$12 for a regular babysitter who has experience.
For backup care I paid $12/hr PLUS a $30 finders fee for the nanny service we connected with.
Blythe Elizabeth is here March 27,2012