Babysitting Pay

Hi A.,

We pay based on what the person does while they are with our kids, not when they are doing it. We pay 10/hr to my nieces (one a Senior in HS and one a Sophomore in College). They are "sitters" in that they take great care of the kids but do not perform any household tasks such as cleaning/laundry.

Our nanny is paid a higher rate b/c she is a professional nanny and does much more than just "sit" with our kids - she does many educational type activities/outings/group activities in addition to house keeping/laundry. She even walks our dog and helps groom him...she takes great care of our kids and home and in turn we take good care of her with pay and perks. I hope this helps!

N.

My teensage daughters charge $6.oo an hour.I do not feel it is right for them to charge more, because the parents need to be able to afford to go out.

Wow, sounds like I'm lucky. I pay teenagers $5.00 an hour for only one child. They don't do any cleaning or picking up or anything like that. They play with dd and sometimes put her to bed if I'm going to be too late at night. Rate is the same no matter weekend/ weekday or time.

We pay our sitter $10/hour, but frequently we give her some extra (maybe up to $12/hour - though she just told us that was too much) because we like her and want her to stick around. Once we have 2 kids we'll pay her more. We pay the same whether it's day or night. Have only used her on weekends, so I can't comment about that. I think it depends somewhat on whether you're in the city or burbs (?) and the age of your sitter (ours is out of college).

This probably varies some from town to town, but I find the biggest difference in rates you'll see is not weekday vs. weekend, but based on experience. I can pay a teenager $8 an hour, but some highly referred sitters charge $15 an hour! Usually the rate is about $10 an hour, even if your babe is sleeping all evening. So you may want to think about the kind of sitting you want, then find someone to fit the bill. A warm body to hold down the couch while the son is asleep? Go for the neighborhood kid who wants a peaceful place to do homework and won't charge much. Need someone to caretake your son during the day, when he needs play and attention and nutrition? I'd pay the extra for someone experienced in his age group.