Babysitting Rates - McKinleyville,CA

Our daughter is 15 now but when we used sitters, we guaranteed $40 for the night, no matter what, meaning if we cancelled or whatever, she got $40.

Then we paid $10/hr. Our date nights weekly ran $60-$80 depending upon our return home.

Our daughter does not sit very often because of her schedule but she has never been paid less than $10/hr. Just las week she watched 3 girls for about 2 hrs and got $25.

ALWAYS PAY CASH.....and pay well to keep your good sitters.

I think you need to pay at least minimum wage for sitters, if not more. I cringe when I hear about people paying 3 to 4 dollars an hour for sitters. Please keep in mind that sitters are doing you a favor.

On that note, I would say at least 8 dollars an hour, if not more. If it is all day Saturday I would pay even more (as much as 10 or 12 dollars) than that because the sitter is giving up part of the weekend to watch your kids.

As for being late, I would say not acceptable. However, if you are going to be late, you should call and let the sitter know. It's disrespectful of the sitter to promise to be home at one time and then be late. Then pay 8 to 10 dollars extra. When I babysat, I had a couple who aways said they be home at a certain time and were always late. I finally tried to charge them extra. When they refused to pay me, I quit. They finally gave in and promised to pay me appropriately (because they couldn't get other sitters), gave me back pay, and were never late again.

It is really important to pay your sitters well and treat them kindly, if you the good ones to keep coming back. Trust me, it's really worth it. I only sat for families once that paid me poorly. Those who paid me well and treated me respectfully were the ones that I was loyal to and I saved my weekends for.

Good luck!

Our sitter gets $5 an hour for 2 kids, with $5 to start, so 2 hours is $15, 3 would be $20 ect.... It is not ok to be late, and if it truly can not be avoided you must call so she can call her parents (if she is a teen). All day on Saturday would be a flat rate you agree on before hand, probably around $50.

I have 3 children 5 and younger. I pay $7 for 1 child, $8 for 2 children, and $9 if the sitter has all 3. I pay $1 less per child if I have to go and pick the sitter up. This is in Ohio and I was told by my sitters that I pay REALLY good, so I will be curious to hear from others. I pay the same regardless of the time of day or day of the week.

If I think I will be late, even by a 15 minutes, I call and make sure the sitter is okay with it. My sitters are very busy with school, sports, 4-H, etc. and I want to always make sure I am not imposing on their personal time because after all, they are doing me a favor.

We pay our sitters $10/hr, regardless of the situation or time.