Babysitter question

Mysterious_wife · December 2013

This is the first time we've hired a true babysitter. We always have family or friends watch Allie.
I asked how much and she said whatever. She is a college student who works at the school. She will be here from 8:30-12ish. Allie will be sleeping. I will provide snacks and drinks. I told her to bring a book or laptop. We havd pleanty of movies she could watch. how much should i pay her?
I was thinking $50.

LittleLunarMouse · December 2013

I think that's extremely fair. I used to charge $10 an hour to babysit for the families of the kids at the preschool I worked at, which means I'm CPR and first aide certified and fingerprinted by the state (all things required to work with children). Just mentioning all that as a frame of reference

ClaireHuxtable · December 2013

I also think $50 is fair.

SmileyJay · December 2013

$50 sounds more than fair to me.

I think it depends on cost of living where you live. I used to babysit a lot in high school/college. If she is through a service, there will be an expected rate. If it is basically under the table (no taxes, no written agreement, etc.) then you don't even have to go by minimum wage. Most expect around $8 an hour, maybe $10 if they have certifications and experience like LittleLunarMouse. I live in a really low cost of living area (north Alabama) and for 1 day of 3 1/2 hours, would expect about $30. If you live in New York City, it may be more like $100 though.

Mysterious_wife · December 2013

I live in Atlanta.

maybe $75?

LittleLunarMouse · December 2013

Pay her $75 and you'll ensure yourself a repeat babysitter from now until forever, lol. Very generous!

jnnfrrose6 · December 2013

I'm in Atlanta, and we've been charged anywhere from $10-$15/hour.

Last sitter we had was a college student (friend of a friend) and she was the $10/hour sitter. We felt like we scored with her (especially since she started around 6 and DS goes to bed at 7). SIL is a former nanny and when she babysits she will charge $15/hour (not us, but her former clients). Our most regular sitter at this point charges $12/hour.

SmileyJay · December 2013

I used to live in Atlanta and was just there for Christmas the other day and don't consider it very high cost of living. I would say $50 is perfect then. That is over $14/hour and she doesn't have to pay taxes on it. I think pretty much anyone would be happy with that. If she feels it she deserves more, it will teach her to speak up next time someone asks for her rates.

Mysterious_wife · December 2013

Why is this complicated!? ~X(

Ok, so I will stick with $50. That makes it $12.5- $14.25 a hour depending on when we get back. I don't plan on being past 12:15.

SmileyJay · December 2013

Yeah, I think that is very very reasonable. I mean, how many college jobs do you know of where you go sit and watch a movie and possibly get to play with a cute kid for $14 an hour?

I would have demanded she told me her rates so I didn't overpay lol

thefarmchick · December 2013

This makes me grateful we live in the middle of no where. Our young babysitter charges $3 for all 3 of my children. She is 14 the granddaughter of our daycare provider and spends her free time helping at the daycare so they are always excited to see her and she is familiar with all of their quirks.
Our older babysitter charges $5/hr for all 3 kids. She is a family friend and can drive.

$50-$75 for 4 hours would ensure that I would never get to go out without my children we couldn't afford it.

Mysterious_wife · December 2013

Possibly cute? Psh.. My kid is damn cute!

I know what she makes. It's damn peanuts. She is a para pro. She loves Allie. She practically begged to watch her. It could be lack if money talking, though. Lol

FemShep · December 2013

We pay $15 an hour in the Boston area, and we usually round up. $50 sounds about right, and depending on when you get home, I might round up to $60. Have fun!

Mysterious_wife · December 2013

TheCraftyKoala said:
I used to live in Atlanta and was just there for Christmas the other day and don't consider it very high cost of living. I would say $50 is perfect then. That is over $14/hour and she doesn't have to pay taxes on it. I think pretty much anyone would be happy with that. If she feels it she deserves more, it will teach her to speak up next time someone asks for her rates.

The COL here is double from where I'm from. It isn't too bad if you have the income to cover it. There is no way we could live here on H's salary from Nashville. Our rent doubled.

24karat · December 2013

I'd stick with $50. That's more than fair, especially since she'll get to do homework, watch movies, etc for part of the time. In college when I lived in Seattle (granted, this is several years back now) I would babysit for this one family quite often. They paid me $30-$35 for the same amount of time and circumstances. The kids' bedtime was about an 1-1.5hrs into the job so the rest of the time I could spend doing my own thing. I could have charged more since I had professional certs, but I was okay with that amount and I liked the kids so it was fun for me.

Mysterious_wife · December 2013

My kid is 6. She has only stayed with family and very close friends. I can't say anything

jnnfrrose6 · December 2013

Nicb13 said:

This thread makes me jealous that I can't find anyone besides my unreliable mother to watch DS. Even if I found someone, a teenager for example, I'd use the excuse that she won't know DS's personality, how to feed him or put him down for a nap. I think I need to loosen the reigns a little and allow other people to watch DS because he's a very easy kid.
$50 is good. Go with that.

This is why we started with family and a very close friend. My friend is in grad school for pediatric speech therapy, so when she wasn't available last time, she sent out a message to the group of ladies she regularly studies with. I trust my friend's judgement, plus they are studying to work with kids, so I felt ok to leave DS with her. Other sitters that I've had to find on my own I have had come to meet us before actually scheduling anything to make sure I was comfortable with them and they were good with DS.

Mysterious_wife · December 2013

Kids freak out until the parent is out of sight. Then the are fine. They play off your emotions. *

*most kids

Jags8 · December 2013

Wow I think $50 for only 1 kid for 3.5 kids is extremely generous. And I babysat all through college, was a nanny for a while after college, and still babysit occasionally.

LunaGirl28 · December 2013

Man... these babysitters are making big bucks! Maybe I'm in the wrong profession ;-)

lifeonthehill · December 2013

Geez! I would have loved to gotten $50 bucks for one child! Up until about 6 months ago I babysat once a week for 3 families. I charged $8 an hour for the family with one and $12 for the family with three. I always added two dollars per additional child. The other family had 6 so I was making $18 an hour while the kids were awake and when the last one fell asleep I would take it back down to $8 since I really only had to care for the newborn at that point.

I also live in Maine though. Haha.

Wine&Cupcakes · December 2013

I was a nanny in nursing school and did a bit of babysitting on the side amongst their friends...I got $15/hr for two kids and $20/hr for 3...IMO, I would pay $15/hr but round up so if I were gone for 3.5 hours I would just pay $60...but, I also live in the NE where cost-of-living is ridiculously high.

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