How much do you pay your occassional sitter?

brandyleighxx · November 2013

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..........

LoCarb · November 2013

It depends on your COLA. At a minimum $10 for one child. I pay $12 for 2 kiddos (MCOL) and on short notice more.

skyejo · November 2013

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.

jf198400 · November 2013

I am also in a MCOLA and also pay $12/hr for 2 kids.

brandyleighxx · November 2013

Sorry, cola? mcola? Don't visit this board too too often.

LoCarb · November 2013

COLA-Cost of Living Area
L-low
M-medium
H-high

Nechie122 · November 2013

We pay $13/hour for back-up care for one kid; we use an agency. Our regular sitters run anywhere from $8 (high school junior) to $15 (med student).

JJ_13 · November 2013

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.

shakinros · November 2013

We pay $15/hr. Ouch. HCOLA.

litzo27 · November 2013

About $12 an hour. Same for one or two kids (i.e. evening or if one is home sick).

*sparky* · November 2013

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.

Lynnja616 · November 2013

$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.

laurakaz13 · November 2013

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.

AppleGrapeMSTK · November 2013

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.

kat45 · November 2013

$17-$20 per hour depending on time of day.

Samiantha101 · November 2013

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.

katiegal · November 2013

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.

SunAndRain · November 2013

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.

SunAndRain · November 2013

katiegal said:

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 do the same.

mainesmichelle · November 2013

average pay is 12/hr for occasional babysitters, nannies make between 23-25k yr. We live in Atlanta Ga. GL.

pyronautica · November 2013

Some employers (corporate companies) have emergency childcare options. You have to call an 800 number usually.

Do you have any Boys & Girls Clubs in the area? The ones in our area are really nice and its usually like, $15 a day for each kid.

leah2b · November 2013

HCOL. 20 to 25 per hour. But I live in NYC/NJ area. Daycare here for 1 baby runs over 30 grand a year.

KL777 · November 2013

Our date night sitter is someone we already knew in another setting, before we were even looking for a sitter. She asked for $5 per hour.

Want a personalized experience?

How much do you pay your occassional sitter?

Re: How much do you pay your occassional sitter?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards