Last time I paid around $5/hour

I pay $6/hr for my three children. Two are older and easy to watch and the baby goes to sleep soon after a sitter comes. I think $6 is enough! Don't get out often though.
Pay seems to really depend on your area. Maybe you could ask some moms in your town.

In S. Florida $8-$10 per hour for three kids. You can pay less ($6-$7) if you are willing to let a young teen (14-15) sit. I am not. I want an older (at least a Sr. in High School) sitter.

Mommabear

I use a 15 year old. She seems quite mature for her age and lives right next door.

Remember-you get what you pay for. it is probably cheaper where you live than where i am (s.florida), but be careful when choosing and dont settle for cheap-babysitters really dont get the money or the respect they deserve and its a shame!

WOW! You guys pay good! I pay my sitters what I got paid when I sat; $3.00 an hour! Or, sometimes we have a sitter come over after our son goes to bed at arounf 9:00 while we go out dancing. We usually don't gewt home until around 2 or 3 a.m. so we just pay $20 for the night. All our sitter say we pay well. We live in Alaska, should that make a difference?

I live in NY and my babysitter only wants $1 hour per child. I have 3 so that's what I pay an hour. She is 16. The most I ever received an hour per kid was $2.

$1 per hr per child?!!!! I've never heard of those kind of rates. I have 1 child & live in NY (Long Island) & the rate around here is $5-8 per hr for 1 child.

Michie

I'm near Boston, and we pay what Michie1 pays, $5 on the low end, $8 on the high. That's for one child - I presume the babysitters would want more for more kids.

$10/hour and I pay for the pizza. I live in Colorado and have two kids that are 8 & 9 years old. My baby-sitters range in age from 7th grade to college grad students. If the babysitter has to drive my kids to piano lessons or something, I pay more. I don't know anyone that pays less than $8/hour.

We rarely ever use a babysitter, but when we have it was $15.00/hour! I have a 2 1/2, and 4 1/2 year old. The woman is 33, and VERY responsible! The average for 1 child is $10.00/hour!

What would be a good weekly rate for say around 6 hours per day? Should I still charge $8 and hour? What if I need to pick up the child from school and such? I am a stay at home mom of 2 and I am about to be watching a little boy for 5 days a week at 6 hours a day. Any suggestions? I want to be fair to the parents AND myself in the process.

What would be a good monthly rate for 7 hours a day? I am a stay at home mom of 2 a 18 month and a 2 month old I am about to be watching a little 4 year old girl. Any suggestions? anything will help thanks

i am a senior at college and i wanted to do some babysitting this summer back in austin. i've gotten some full time offers but i haven't babysat in a year and i'm not sure about rates..what would should i charge for a 10yr old boy 9-6pm weekdays?

I too am a college senior in Austin, and I have never gotten less than $10/hour. Some of these $5-6/hour blow my mind. Then again, I'm not a teenager, and I met these parents through the afterschool program they are enrolled, and I am employed at.
Bob

What should I expect to be paid for babysitting? Sometimes I babysit for 3-5 hours. I am 12 1/2 years old and in seventh grade. If you have an idea please write back.

Well from looking at these posts, I guess it depends on the area you live in. What are your friends charging? $5-$7 an hour is norm the here, but it sounds like many places it is much, much higher. If you are babysitting for dinner and movie type things, you may just be able to ask your employers what they pay; they probably know the going rate too...just don't let them take advantage of you.

what should i (High school Sr.)charge my dentist secretary for babysitting a 13 yr old girl and a 9 year old boy. she said set the rate.. but i dont want to sound over the top. i usually jus take whatever! any suggestions?

I'm wondering why a 13 yr old girl and 9 yr old boy need a babysitter...Is there more to story?

I am a senior in high school and a lady wants me to babysit her 3 children and wants me to set the rate. I normally charge around $6 an hour but since there're 3 kids should I change it? Is $8 too much?

Jeez, I'm shocked that u guys pay so much. I live in Northern California & all the sitters I found(only adults, not teens) charged $3.00 an hour per child.I actually thought that was expensive b/c I personally can't even afford that(I only get $600 a month) But wow, $5 or $10 an hour? I would laugh at them if they tried 2 charge that much. So yeah,its definitly where u live!

I'm 16 years old and I'm a certified babysitter. I live in a pretty big city in Canada and I was wondering how much I should charge.

I pay $10.00 hour on Long island I have 4 children

I live in Los Angeles, and I am 24. I am a nanny for one child and I make $20/hr. I have been her nanny for three years. I started when i was 21 at $10/hr, then realized that ten dollars an hour was way too low for the amout of work i was doing (we are raising children here! not serving up fast food!) after about one year i asked for a five dollar raise, and since then i've gotten two more raises. her parents are pretty well off, so they can afford this.
when i babysit other kids, I charge $15-25/hr, depending on who I am working for, what they can afford, how many kids, and what the working circumstances are.
When I was a teenager I made around $10/hr.
My advice to babysitters/nannies looking for work: Don't accept any pay that doesnt feel good to you. If you want to get paid more, keep looking and find the people who will pay you more. When someone tells you "name your rate", you name it! tell them the highest rate you are comfortable asking for, and then you can always go down if they need to. Never say "i dont know what my rate is" This shows that you are inexperienced and naive, and they will try to pay you the lowest rate possible. Be confident in yourself and your worth, and know your value. Be professional. "I charge $18/hr, will that work for you?" and if they say no, then go down 1 or 2 dollars. Also have your lowest rate, but dont tell them what it is, until they try to pay you less, like maybe they say, how about 14/hr, then you could say, actually, the lowest i work for is 15/hr. if they wont pay you what you want, SOMEONE ELSE WILL!!!
My advice to parents: Find a good babysitter and pay her well. A low paid babysitter/nanny will not put the energy into her job that a well paid sitter does. These are your children, if you want someone who is qualified to take care of them for you while you are gone, you are going to have to pay the price. Taking care of someone elses child is a lot of work and responsibility!
bottom line for rates:
teenager- $10-15/hr,
experienced caretaker, $15-$25/hr.

Wow those are some good rates. I live in a small town in southern MN. I have one son who is now 2 1/2. I would generally give 3-4 dollars per hour. I feel pretty cheap after reading some of the others. My normal daycare hours while at work are only 2/hr. I feel pretty lucky about that.

I was just yelled at by my babysitters mom for not paying her enough. She came over at 7pm, my 6 yr old and 9 yr old were fed and bathed and watching a movie. we came home at 9:30 and I paid her $26.00. Also my 19yr old (college student) daughter was home at 8:30, so she was not alone.
We only use her 2-3 times a YEAR!
I should mention, the movie for my husband and I was $21.00 and I had to pay her (I gave her another $5 after her mom freaked)so I paid her $31. Hardly worth the nite out. I could've waited for my oldest to sit for FREE.

Your better off paying by job, not by hour. Honestly $2 an hour seems low, but not if your watching the child all night while they sleep. Your looking at $25 not to do much. But watching a few kids for three hours on a Friday you could have spent with friends, you at least need twenty-five bucks.... even if that is over 8 bucks an hour.

I'm a little older (22) but, one couple I watch for pays 15-20 an hour, but I serve as their one night nanny. I do crafts with the children, clean up the house, do the laundry, bathe the children, put them to bed.

If you can't get a sitter cheap, give them a larger work load. At least you'll get your moneys worth and it will be worth it to them to ALWAYS watch for you.

$1/hr...are you insane??!!! you want that person responsible for the health and safety of you child?

Looking for an update on this thread... How much do you pay now, in 2010?

We live in Long Island, NY, and my 2yo daughter's teacher at her daycare/preschool told me that she's available for babysitting. I thought, GREAT! Less separation issues, since they already know each other. We set up a time for this Saturday. Luckily, I asked her rate. She emailed back that she charges $40 an hour!!! No, I confirmed that it was NOT a typo. When I questioned the price, she quickly emailed back asking if $20/hr was ok. Frankly, that's still really steep to me!

By the way, I have 2 kids, age 2 and 4.5. This is for 5 hours of babysitting on a Saturday afternoon in my home, not for tutoring. She's a really nice young woman, but I'm having a hard time with these rates... Is this a shakedown, or am I out of touch for the NY area? I thought that $10-15 would be a more appropriate range. My husband said to forget it, that it's simply outrageous and way too far to negotiate from... What do you think?

I am from Orange County NY. $40 is outrageous. $20? Not so much. Have you looked at Care.com or sitters.com. I would look there to get an idea of what people are charging in your area. You might find someone too. We paid a colleger girl $12/hour over the summer, and placed an ad not too long ago for a part time sitter and light housekeeping. Granted this is a regular job, but still most applicants wanted between $15-$20/hour depending on their education. The ones that wanted less were either kids, or frankly weren't someone that we ended up calling in for an interview.

We did find someone for $15/hour

Sounds to me like the teacher makes $40/hour in her salaried position as a teacher and assumes that because she's qualified as a teacher, she deserves to be paid the same for babysitting. Do not pay that. Even $10/child would be steep, though may be more common in your area.

I would suggest looking up what your county rates are for daycare. Every county has people that can become certified as in-home daycare providers and there is a set fee for hourly, part-time, and full time based on the different ages of the children. This rate is usually HIGHER than what the average person should charge for watching your children on a regular basis because the county certified people have to go through trainings and their houses are checked for safety and all sorts of things.

For those of you that asked how much you should charge when you're starting to watch some kids in your home, this is a good starting place, and then adjust as necessary for how much training (or lack thereof) you have had.

Also would like to add that people often are willing to pay a little bit more for those babysitters that they call up a few days in advance and 'expect' to be available to come watch your kids while you go out to dinner for a few hours. Age of your kids, as well as the time that kids are being watched is a huge factor as well. If the babysitter is expected to serve your kids dinner (even if it is just pizza out of a box) and clean up, play games/toys/etc with them, get your kids ready for bed and in bed... versus the kids who are already asleep when the babysitter gets there and all they do is get paid to sit and watch tv... yeah, sure i'd be paying those two people different. Look at the county sites as a starting point (may need to call the county office for daycare pricing information) and go from there! hope that helps!

p.s. I used to be an in-home daycare provider... to those of you considering watching kids in your home, i would suggest looking into doing it through the county. you get county kids, and are paid through the county, so you don't have to worry about parents not paying on time, etc. you end up getting paid more that way too because you get paid for sick days if the kids are sick and don't come to daycare, and you get paid a full time rate for anything over 25 hours in a week.

So most of these rates seem crazy high. I could see paying 20to 40 dollars for daycare or what not but to have a babysitter come over after my kids are in bed to enjoy a girls night out with the girls being a single mom these rates are obsurd... I pay 5 to 10 dollars an hour to a few girls between the ages or 13 to 17 ( that I have met before or friends younger siblings) and even though its cheaper then 15 to 20 dollars if my 2 toddlers do wake up they get excellent care, and are very responsible girls so I have to disagree with quite a few of these comments. Im sure pay would be more if its somones full time job or an older person but these questions are being asked by high school kids not daycare providers, in my city if a babysitter said 15 - 25 dollars was thier rate they would not have a babysitting job....

WOW i am shocked actually at some of the rates on Here. I very rarely ever leave my kids but am faced with looking for a sitter 30 hrs weekly this upcoming summer so i can work. Day care for 2 boys 7 and 4 is very expensive so looking into a teen i know to watch them in my home. I also have a 14 year old boy around to help if needed. If i had to pay $20/hr i wouldnt even bother leaving my own darling kiddies to work...and i have a good job but still has to be worth sacrificing time with my fam... so even at 5 or 6 $/hr its costly and bonuses for extras.... If you wanna be an ECE teacher....OPEN a daycare!! But to babysit someones kids in their house...YEA OK!!!

You should only pay the amount of years of experience the babysitter has had. Usually somebody starts babysitting at the age of 11 or 12 then they should get $1 per hour per kid. If the sitter has been babysitting for 5 years than it should be $5 an hour per kid. Get the point?

I'm 25 I live in vegas. I normally would charge 10 a hour. I have several years of experience. I've been babysitting a now two year old for a year an a half for 280 a week. Now there's a 5 month old in the mix an I'm getting 350 a week. I work 9 an a half hours. To say the least the baby wants to not be laid down to even work on turning an starting to crawl. Last week I missed a day from getting sick from the in home household I work for, an I got paid 270. Overall I'm coming to the conclusion I'm not making enough an I'm settling when I could find a better job an better pay. Am I wrong? I watch the kids more then they get watched an taken care of after I leave....

I live in SW Florida and I just got offered a job babysitting for 50 hours a week, a 4 yo and a 6yo. I said that my hourly rate was $9 but I could negotiate down because it's so many hours. I have just finished college and have a lot of experience but I have been paid between $6 and $10 an hour depending on the family. Surprisingly the $6/hr was for two boys under 3yo and the $10/hr was one boy who was 4yo, so it really does vary.

I have made more money catsitting than babysitting, and clearly that's not fair. Make sure you charge what you think you're worth, babysitters! I think the rule of $1/hr for each year of experience is very low, but $2/hr per year of experience sounds fair. Once you get to $10/hr you might have to stop giving yourself pay rises unless you live somewhere like NYC or LA, but don't be afraid to ask what people normally pay, you'll be able to tell if it seems reasonable.

I live in a Missouri.I am getting ready to do a babysitting job where I will be working aobut 8 hours a day, for five days a week. They are two kids 10 and 6. I have been babysitting for over three years now. What should my daily/weely pay be?

Oh my gosh...I can't believe that people pay babysitters so much. I've been babysitting since I was 12 years old (6 years ago) and I've never asked for more than $10-15 total....ever. I mean parents have asked me about a stable rate but I've always felt guilty about ever saying '$5/hr' or something...that seemed so high. So i've never set one...but should I?

I mean, I'm in college now. I live in NC by the way.

These post seem to be ridiculous! I am a mother of a 4yr. Old girl. I am 26 years old and I am in the mental health field; working with children 3-17yrs old. I am a grad student also. However, I have also been babysitting on the side for 7yrs. Minimum wage is $7.50! I would not feel safe having someone watch my child for $1 an hour. That's is disrespectful. Babysitting is not as simple as people may think.
And like a previous blogger wrote..you get what you pay for. A good rate is $10-15 an hour. I live in West Palm Beach, Fla. This is average. $1 an hour! That's a joke. Would you work for that?

Schemiley, this thread began in 2001. $10-15 hour... those are nanny wages where I live so I guess it's all relative to a person's geographical location and socioeconomic status. Would you expect someone working at Wal Mart, making $10 an hour to pay $10-15? That's ridiculous.

The only reason I was checking on this is because I am considering a job that will require me to work every other weekend, 12 hour shifts. I make a decent hourly rate, as a nurse, 25+/hr on the weekends, but, to pay 15 of that to have a teenager eat my food and use up my electricity hardly seems worth it. I babysat a lot as a kid and at the high end I would charge 3/hr + 1 for each additional kid. If I was making what they're getting these days I may have skipped college altogether!

I live in northern Virginia and am a college student majoring in elementary education with more than 6 years of experience babysitting. I charge $9 an hour for one child and $1/hr extra for each additional child. My rates are actually pretty low and I do have a few families with three children who pay me $15/hour.

As many others said, you get what you pay for! And a good babysitter cares for your children. I get down and play with the kids and if it is a night job, after the kids go to sleep, I tidy up the toys and wash any dishes that we used during the time I was there.

Also, it does depend on where you live and the socioeconomic status of the area but for those who remember sitting for $1 or $2/hr, you have to remember that just like the price of milk and gas have gone up, so have babysitting rates. When I started sitting at 13 I made $3/hour for two children. Now I charge about $10/hr for two kids.

Bottom line: If you want an experienced sitter who is going to take good care of your children, you have to respect them by paying them well.

I can't agree with the above poster more. I am from Canada and charge $12/hour. I am a university graduate, in law school, and am completely dependable. I will be completely devoted to your child while I am there.

Yes, a 14 year old will be cheaper. But the parents who agree to my rates (and so far, all have) are paying more for having an adult, clear thinking and mature person look after the most precious people in their lives.

And those comparing it to daycare rates - it can't be compared. One-on-one care with a sitter or nanny is much better than you'll get with a 6:1 ratio at a daycare.

Hi! I am shocked at some of the low rates. I would never feel comfortable leaving my child with someone who charges 3 dollars an hour. Even for a young teenager that seems insane.

I understand trying to find low rates but you definately get what you pay for and seriously you must not value your role as parents if you think 3 dollars is adequate. Is that how much you would pay yourself?

I definately think that the area plays an important role in the Cost and most importantly the level of care. Las Vegas is minimum 10 per hour for one child and 5 per additional child. That is if you want a good level of care and by that i mean a decent human being taking care of your child. I mean you could pay less, especially if you need the money for gambling, drinks and shows. Makes sense ;)

I pay my babysitter $10 an hour (she stays for 2-3 hrs) on the weekends to look after my toddler. I live in Maryland. After reading some of the rates here, I think I am overpaying...maybe. My babysitter is a senior in high school and will be joining college next year. She has no prior babysitter experience except for her family members.

Cooks

You ask someone to take on the liability of taking care of your child, how much is that worth? What if your child becomes sick or hurt, are you comfortable with your $3 an hour childcare to take care of the problem?

I can only see those rates if the child is in a daycare where the costs are spread over many children but a private one on one child care is worth at least minimum wage even if the care taker is young.