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I am VERY lucky in that I have never had to pay a sitter to watch my children. My parents and my inlaws are ALWAYS taking my children... I am blessed I know and NEVER take advantage or take that for granted. BUT, I find myself, for the first time in five years, needing a sitter. Now, even though I have to get a sitter, again, I am lucky as it is my 19 year old cousin coming to help me out. BUT I want to pay her as she is in college, has a car payment, and really needs the money. She is coming at 3:30 and we should be home tonight at around midnight... what is a good amount to pay her for this time. I know she WANTS to come and she loves my kids more like neices than her cousin's kids (that is how I am with her- she is more like my neice than cousin)... What would you pay a sitter for that amount of time? Thanks...
How many kiddos? We used to have a sitter that was around 22 yrs old. She was CPR certified, would watch 2 kids so we paid her $10/hour. I think I'd do less for 18 and under and normally sitters are not cpr certified.
How many kiddos? We used to have a sitter that was around 22 yrs old. She was CPR certified, would watch 2 kids so we paid her $10/hour. I think I'd do less for 18 and under and normally sitters are not cpr certified.
$10 and hour! Holy Cow! No wonder everyone is so jealous when they hear I have never had to pay a sitter! That would be $85! How can you afford to go out? My kids are 4 and 5... jeepers I am cheap... I was thinking $50 might be a good amount. Things sure have changed in the 15 years since I last babysat- I think I was getting paid $3.50/hr then adn I thought that was good money. Wow... I am in shock.
Geez, no wonder some people are professional babysitters
For my dh & I to go out to dinner & a movie, that would be like $50 to the sitter to watch a toddler? The evening would run us over $100 all said & done. No wonder we stay at home
8 bucks an hour if she can't drive. 10 bucks an hour if she can.
I'm sure how much you pay depends on where you live. But the PP are correct on their estimate for a major city. A good, reliable sitter over 18 can easily make $10-$12/hr in my area (DC metro) plus nice dinner/snacks. If you pay less than the going rate in your town, you run the risk of the sitter not being available the next time you need her. I realize in your situation, she is a relative so you know best how you want to handle the situation. Oh, and I hear you on sticker shock. I was trying to implement date nights outside the home once per month and I can't believe it is $10/hr even when your child is asleep.
I live in Western NY... not a large metro are at all... suburb of Rochester NY... I can see the $10 of DC or NYC... but probably not here... gosh that is a lot...
This one is a hard one because it does indeed vary so much from area to area and on many other factors. This post might be a little too late for this particular situation, but here's how I'd look at it.
So, let's start with your kids being 4 and 5. You need to consider what you expect her to do with them from 3:30 until bedtime. That's a long time to keep them entertained and I would think you don't want her to spend the majority of that time in front of the TV. So, you might expect her to engage them in an afternoon snack, some outdoor play, some games, some arts/crafts and maybe a walk around the neighborhood or to a playground.
Then it's dinner to be done...do you expect her to cook or do you have something ready or is she ordering out? Her cooking or prepping and cleaning up would earn her more money. Ordering out would be cash already paid for food.
For bedtime is she expected to have them bathed, storytime spent etc? Also, whatever time is bedtime is can make a difference in how much 'down' time she actually has where she isn't giving them one on one time.
If they are less demanding of her time one on one for a good portion of the 8.5 hours, then $50 might be just fine. (that's just under $6/hr-pretty inexpensive)
However, if the majority of that time is 'up' time, then she should get more than that depending on the other factors. She's working more than a full time day for you, assuming the responsibility of the safety of your children in addition to keeping them happy and occupied. So, I would pay accordingly.
PS. I am a profesional child care provider and during day hours I charge $5/hour for one child and $10/hour for one child during evening hours. So, my rate as a pro would be around $75 for one child, and I live in a low rate charging area.
I think it depends a lot on the age of the kids. When I was in Jr. High and High school I babysat quite a lot. I always charged more for kids under age 3 or 4.
Later on I worked as a child care provider for a private school and I was of course CPR certified and had college level child development courses and such. Parents would often approach me for sitter jobs outside of the school (weekends and school breaks), since their kids knew me. I still based my rates on the age of the child. An 8 year old is a lot less work than a 3 year old!
Now I am probably no help because I pay my own sitter, my 16 year old son, dirt cheap. He doesn't mind as it's more money than he'd get regardless and he's here in his own house... I don't have him do "late nights" but when he watches the 5 and 10 year old kids he will get $20 for an evening and he's thrilled with that. Part of my reasoning for that is because the 10 year old actually pays more attention to the 5 year old than my oldest does.
Of course now that he's looking for a "real job" I'm guessing he won't be so easily hired!
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He doesn't mind as it's more money than he'd get regardless and he's here in his own house... I don't have him do "late nights" but when he watches the 5 and 10 year old kids he will get $20 for an evening and he's thrilled with that. Part of my reasoning for that is because the 10 year old actually pays more attention to the 5 year old than my oldest does. 
