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Babysitting pay
  • MommyLovesMiles
    Posts: 34Member
    We are going to have our 14 year old neighbor watch out 8 month old 2 days a week all summer. And one stint of 10 work days in a row. What should we pay her? We will be paying $30 a day when he goes to daycare in October, we currently pay my hisband's Aunt $20 a day.

    While we are discussing it, how much do you pay to watch your kids for a couple hours to go on a date? This is all new to me, I'm a first time Mommy. Thanks a bunch!
  • Luvlyssa
    Posts: 3,338Member
    where do you live? that matters too:)
    Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.
  • stinkersmommystinkersmommy
    Posts: 1,387Member
    First what is min. wage in your area ? That is always a good place to start also factor in her age and what baby will be doing ie if lil bit will be sleeping or if feeding and playtime
    Glitter Words
    [Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]
  • BellaBefanaBellaBefana
    Posts: 8,707Member
    $20-30/day is a bargain!!  I pay $10/hour!  that's what the teens expect...
    Bite me, cupcake!
  • AnonUser28
    Posts: 2,083Guest
    When I was a babysitter I got $5 an hour, that was years and years ago though... I don't know now, I never get a sitter. I wouldn't have done it for any less than $30 for an eight hour day at 14.
  • Charlotte_SometimesCharlotte_Sometimes
    Posts: 1,756Member
    Depends on where you live though.  My 14 year old would do it for $20 a day.  Probably not thrilled for that rate but yeah. ;)

    This is why I never had a sitter aside from family/friends for free, lol.  Never could have afforded it!   I am so old, when I babysat as a teen it was about $2 or $3 an hour!!  :D

    "But a lesson must be lived in order to be learned" Ani DiFranco, Manhole
    "Screw you guys! I'm going home." Eric Cartman
  • Charlotte_SometimesCharlotte_Sometimes
    Posts: 1,756Member
    @BellaBefana

    Where are you?  Need a sitter?  I'd love $10 an hour, lol!
    "But a lesson must be lived in order to be learned" Ani DiFranco, Manhole
    "Screw you guys! I'm going home." Eric Cartman
  • [Deleted User]
    Posts: 2,528
    We paid our 16 year old summer sitter $50 a week. Her mom and her agreed that was a good rate for 1 youngin'. $100/week when we had our 2nd. Compared to some of these rates, I sound like a cheap skate, but most day cares around here charge about $100-$125 a week per kid. I would never pay a teen what I would pay a licensed daycare.
    Get me a damn beer.
  • jezebeldelilahjezebeldelilah
    Posts: 337Member
    I just recently researched daycare. I live in the country and it is 30 a day part time or 20 a day full time. Id think 30 for a ten hour day is fair.
  • loveitloveit
    Posts: 1,738Member
    Firstly, please do not leave an 8 month old with a 14 year old all day. That is A LOT of responsibility for a young girl. Even if she is responsible for 14, at that age the brain is not fully formed to make good decisions. It just takes one ill thought out moment to put a child of that age in danger. Also, she cannot even drive yet, what if there was an emergency? That said I pay my sitters $12 per hour but they are all at least 20 and can drive.
  • irishlassirishlass
    Posts: 6,785Member
    When I babysat I got minimum 5pounds an hour. Usually rounded up. I never left a house with less than 20quid in my pocket for an evenings work. Usually included playing with kids, sometimes feeding them dinner. Sometimes bathtime, putting to bed and clearing up after them. I was a good babysitter, I did the dishes and tidied the toys lol
    I would probaby go for 40-50bucks per week, for each 2 day week. And ask her to keep the kids toys tidied and stuff too.
    "Be who you are and say what you feel. Because those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter." - Dr. Seuss
  • Peace
    Posts: 2,243Member
    Will this be for 8 hours? And will her mom or another neighbor definitely be home while she's babysitting? A full day makes me nervous too @loveit.
    I spent a week with two 14 yr olds last summer. I'm close to one, but it was surprising just how immature they are when you spent a large amount of time with them. I guess I forgot just how young 14 really is. And how much older they seem when you're only with them for a few hours.
    I babysat a lot at 14, but I don't think I could have lasted 8 hrs with a tiny toddler.

    The 10 days really sounds like a lot.
    That daycare rate sounds like a steal! That's really good.
    $20 for 8 hours is $2.50 an hour...
    You may want to discuss it with her & maybe her mom.
    Good luck!
  • momsaidnomomsaidno
    Posts: 1,801Member
    i watch a 11 month old for 30.00 a day 8am-6pm and i have my sil son who is 4 month old for 25.00 a day 730am-5pm. thirty is good. but 20/25 is decent.

  • sleevienickssleevienicks
    Posts: 44Member
    Hey :) I've only ever posted one other time on here but I saw this and thought I'd throw my two cents in!

    Not sure where you live, but we pay our sitter $10/hr and that's just for occasional nights out. We negotiate a different rate if we're going to be doing an overnight stay or something like that. 

    I wasn't sure how much to pay our sitter either, so what I did was I went to Sittercity and just did a search for sitters/nannies in my area and then looked at an average of how much they were expecting to be paid per hour. I used to teach preschool and also work at a daycare, so I didn't want to rip anyone off - I know taking care of a kid is really freaking hard work. The average for my area seemed to be about $10-$12/hr so when we interviewed sitters we just said we were paying $10/hr. 

    It may be a great idea for you to look on a site like Sittercity and find an adult that would be willing to care for your baby. 14 is so young, really! For an occasional night out it would be fine - because I babysat at that age. I don't think I could have handled it all day long though. Just so you know, we found a wonderful sitter on that site with her own child the same age as our daughter and we did a background check on her and everything. She has been so awesome!! She's even taking care of our kitty while we're out of town. I think it might be a good idea for you to give it a try and you can get like a 30 day free trial (I think). Just please don't leave your sweet baby with a 14 year old all day. It really is a lot to ask another child to handle - no matter what you're paying her. 

    I hope you don't take offense to any of that! I'm a first-time mom myself and worry about so much stuff going wrong. Good luck with making the best decision for your family :)
  • irishlassirishlass
    Posts: 6,785Member
    Oh, also, yeah, 14yo looking after an 8month old baby consistently every week? I babysat every weekend for a while, one night a week and I started to get bored with the girl after about 2months. Its a lot of time, and she won't love the baby like a brother, or have the responsibility of an adult. Its a pretty tricky situation!
    "Be who you are and say what you feel. Because those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter." - Dr. Seuss
  • Kikibro11
    Posts: 5Member
    I watch a 7 month old 2 days a week & get paid crap. But do it as a favor for a friend, not for the $. Having said that, how do you put an amount of $ on the welfare of your infant? More importantly 14 is too young for all day! I have a 13 yr old daughter who is smart, responsible, and capable. She babysits for other parents in our neighborhood. But no way would I allow her to watch an infant all day... I don't care if you offered her $20 an hour... She is still too young! Would you ask a teen mom to watch your infant all day & expect them to be properly taken care of? We all hear the teen mom horror stories so why would you seek a teenager to care for YOUR baby?
    I understand the need to find affordable child care, but if you search around you will probably find a willing & understanding adult who can help you out.
  • DemandaDemanda
    Posts: 4,621Member
    I don't think we'd let our girl (13) do it for less than $30 a day. That's a pretty long day, especially for a kid that age and a baby is a lot of work. I looked after babies at that age, I grew up with them all around me, it's quite a big job for a 14 yo. I remember I got $20 a day one summer, but that was 1991 (there was also a toddler)
    I paid my babysitters $9 an hour (which I think is too much)

    Where do you live? I'll do it for free, I have baby fever!
    "The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off." ~ Gloria SteinemPhotobucket
  • irishlassirishlass
    Posts: 6,785Member
    @kikibro11 I am a 'teen mom' I have watched many infants all day. Are you insinuating that they weren't properly taken care of?
    While I think it depends on the person, 14 is young by anyones standards. A teenager who was a mother? Yes, I expect an infant would be much safer in their care than a 'regular' teenager.
    "Be who you are and say what you feel. Because those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter." - Dr. Seuss
  • MaryPoppins25
    Posts: 1,686Member
    We pay $10 an hour but we get sisters so it's two for the price of one! If it was just one coming we'd still pay the $10/hour tho...
  • scholarmom4
    Posts: 568Member
    I think it goes by what is average in your area and how good/reliable of a sitter she is. Is there there on time, always happy to help, does she do extra's? Like clean up for you or load the dishwasher? I saw that if you have a great/reliable sitter try to pay her more than what is just a fair or base wage. Good sitters are hard to come by esp if she is helpful and your baby loves her!
  • scholarmom4
    Posts: 568Member
    I used to work as a nanny and i know what a hard job it can be and sometimes it is not always valued and people can try to lowball you. That is why when I have a great sitter that I love, I tend to try to pay a little extra and do things like a bonus at Christmas. :)
  • BellaBefanaBellaBefana
    Posts: 8,707Member
    Geez, most of you all have it great!!!!  I was paying $200/week ($250 when she was an infant) for a center.  Then if I had to go out of town, even a day trip, I would pay $70-80 ABOVE that, overnight, another minimum $100.

    It got much better when I went to an in-home day care, it went down to $135/week, but still 70-100/day if I had to go out of town.  I looked in to nannies, and here, they start @$12/hour, but most can't/won't do overnights or extended hours, which I need.  I would pay my daycare provider's dtr $10/hour, but that's just what they charge here...I always got paid really well to babysit, but it wasn't over minimum wage!  I'm not even sure it WAS minimum wage.  But I got treated well, because I only sat for one family and was trusted enough to leave their kids with for weekends, etc.  I was also 16-18 at the time...
    Bite me, cupcake!
  • AnonUser35
    Posts: 543Guest
    We pay out babysitter $200 per week for our 2 DD (2yo & 7mth old). That is for 9 hrs a day while I work. She is an older lady that watches them in her house, and has since our oldest was 4 mths old.
  • avettlover
    Posts: 2Member
    We pay our sitter $10/hr.  She's 22.  Most of the time our daughter is sleeping, but occasionally she does the bedtime routine.  Daycare is $250/wk for our 3 y/o and we live in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  Agree that 14 is too young for an entire day with an 8mo old.
  • crazybroad
    Posts: 91Member
    I did in home daycare forever. i charge $25/30 per day. as for date night sitting, i charge 8-10 an hour or if i have the kids overnight its $60.  as for a 14 year old being to your to watch an 8 month old, i think it totally depends on the girl.  i mean if you trust her enough to watch your kid at all then she will probably be perfectly fine. plus watching a baby is a million times easier than watching a toddler.  your best best is to discuss all the pricing, rules and expectations with her and her family. 
  • nessamommynessamommy
    Posts: 671Member
    When I go to work or school we use an in-home certified child care provider and we pay $45/ day.  When dh and I go out, the kids are already in bed (so we don't usually go out until 8ish), and we use dh's 18yo cousin. She gets $20-30 for usually about 3-4 hours.
    If life gives you lemons, squirt lemon juice in life's eye!
  • AnonUser33
    Posts: 743Guest

    Man if I charged what you ladies pay I could be rich by now. I babysat 2 boys, 18mo and 4yrs for an average of 40-60 hours a week and some weeks I had them up to 90 hours for $125 per week. I supplied everything except diapers (not by choice but no matter how many times I told the parents to bring food, wipes, butt medicine or tylenol they "forgot" and those lil boys could not go without. I did it for 5 months as a favor for a friend. NEVER AGAIN.

    I have an almost 15 year old daughter and unless I was super close (like within a block or two) so I could help out if she needed me I would not allow her to babysit an 8 month old for more than a few hours at a time. Crazy since I started babysitting at the age of 10 and babysitting fulltime by myself at 15. 5 or 6 days a week. I got paid $2 an hour. When they had their second baby a year later I never got a raise. Those kids I still love like my own though. I took care of them because I LOVED it and I loved them.

  • kmetz44kmetz44
    Posts: 2,563Member
    Wow....I have n amazing sitter and e pay $7 for 2 kids!!!!! When we leave trophy with her we pay $10!  That is the average rate around here..(Wisconsin)
    Im pretty extraordinary in an ordinary way
  • AnonUser30
    Posts: 1,916Guest
    We pay $10-15 an hour. For 1 5 year old. That's occasional date night baby sitting. I have an 18 and over rule. And remember you can't compare what you pay someone to come in and watch your child one on one to a center where there is 1 person to 4-5 babies and help right there.
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