how much to pay babysitter

A

AmyB

New Member
I have 3 girls, ages 2, 4, & 7. Up until now have never had to pay for a babysitter. My in-laws have watched the girls for us on the one day a week that my husband and I both work. The in-laws have moved to Delaware :doh:
They say they will still come to watch the girls, but we know they don't want to make the drive every week. So, I have actually found someone to take the job. She works at the pre-school/daycare where my 4 y.o. goes. She has never been a babysitter before. She makes $8/hr at the school. How much should we pay her? She would have to be at our house by 5am. The girls get up around 7am. My 7 y.o. is pretty self-sufficient. She just needs to get dressed, have breakfast, and be on the school bus by 8:30. So, that will leave her with the 2 & 4 y.o.'s. They will need lunch and the 2 y.o. goes down for nap shortly after lunch. My husband will get home by 3:30. So, what do you all think? My husband thinks that because we will pay her in cash, leaving the IRS out of it, that we should go with $6/hr. What do babysitters make these days?
 
struggler44

struggler44

A Salute to all on Watch
AmyB said:
I have 3 girls, ages 2, 4, & 7. Up until now have never had to pay for a babysitter. My in-laws have watched the girls for us on the one day a week that my husband and I both work. The in-laws have moved to Delaware :doh:
They say they will still come to watch the girls, but we know they don't want to make the drive every week. So, I have actually found someone to take the job. She works at the pre-school/daycare where my 4 y.o. goes. She has never been a babysitter before. She makes $8/hr at the school. How much should we pay her? She would have to be at our house by 5am. The girls get up around 7am. My 7 y.o. is pretty self-sufficient. She just needs to get dressed, have breakfast, and be on the school bus by 8:30. So, that will leave her with the 2 & 4 y.o.'s. They will need lunch and the 2 y.o. goes down for nap shortly after lunch. My husband will get home by 3:30. So, what do you all think? My husband thinks that because we will pay her in cash, leaving the IRS out of it, that we should go with $6/hr. What do babysitters make these days?
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Seems fair to me.......if you both agree
 
Puddleducker

Puddleducker

Member
AmyB said:
I have 3 girls, ages 2, 4, & 7. Up until now have never had to pay for a babysitter. My in-laws have watched the girls for us on the one day a week that my husband and I both work. The in-laws have moved to Delaware :doh:
They say they will still come to watch the girls, but we know they don't want to make the drive every week. So, I have actually found someone to take the job. She works at the pre-school/daycare where my 4 y.o. goes. She has never been a babysitter before. She makes $8/hr at the school. How much should we pay her? She would have to be at our house by 5am. The girls get up around 7am. My 7 y.o. is pretty self-sufficient. She just needs to get dressed, have breakfast, and be on the school bus by 8:30. So, that will leave her with the 2 & 4 y.o.'s. They will need lunch and the 2 y.o. goes down for nap shortly after lunch. My husband will get home by 3:30. So, what do you all think? My husband thinks that because we will pay her in cash, leaving the IRS out of it, that we should go with $6/hr. What do babysitters make these days?
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You are getting quite a bang for your buck for $6 per hour. I paid $10 per hour to have an adult come and watch my son and that was 10 years ago. It was through a service and the hours varied each week due to changing work schedules. The service was insured and we were able to choose the person.

You would be spending at least 2 times that much for regular daycare and wouldn't be able to drop 3 kids off that early either. an extra dollar or two might keep your sitter from moving on for better pay. (If it is in your budget)
Good luck.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
Seems a tad low. Closer to 8 an hour, I think. I do have to ask, does she have any training? WE refused to allow our teen daughter to sit until she had a Red CRoss first aid course and a sitter course, and a CPR course.
 
F

FED_UP

Well-Known Member
AmyB said:
I have 3 girls, ages 2, 4, & 7. Up until now have never had to pay for a babysitter. My in-laws have watched the girls for us on the one day a week that my husband and I both work. The in-laws have moved to Delaware :doh:
They say they will still come to watch the girls, but we know they don't want to make the drive every week. So, I have actually found someone to take the job. She works at the pre-school/daycare where my 4 y.o. goes. She has never been a babysitter before. She makes $8/hr at the school. How much should we pay her? She would have to be at our house by 5am. The girls get up around 7am. My 7 y.o. is pretty self-sufficient. She just needs to get dressed, have breakfast, and be on the school bus by 8:30. So, that will leave her with the 2 & 4 y.o.'s. They will need lunch and the 2 y.o. goes down for nap shortly after lunch. My husband will get home by 3:30. So, what do you all think? My husband thinks that because we will pay her in cash, leaving the IRS out of it, that we should go with $6/hr. What do babysitters make these days?
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That is pretty early, and its past a normal 8 hour work day, at least minimum wage for MD. A little compromise maybe, let her work for 6 bucks if she agrees, but after 2-3 weeks and she seems reliabe, agree to pay her minimum wage 7.25.
 
D

daylily

no longer CalvertNewbie
I wouldn't pay her less than $8/hr. I think that $6/hr for 3 kids with such an early start time is really low. Of course, if she agrees to less there's nothing wrong with that.
 
Lilypad

Lilypad

Well-Known Member
BTW-how old is this person? Just curious. I'd really check into this person's background; that is a lot of responcibilty-IMHO-for someone who has never babysat before. Just saying.
 
SoMDGirl42

SoMDGirl42

Well-Known Member
I pay a teen $5 an hour to watch one 6 year old in the evening when I need to go out without her.

Currently I pay a daycare 85 a week to watch her 4-5 days a week from 3:15 to 4:45 (that's pm not am). :cds:

$6 sounds really cheap to me for 3 kids at 5 am.

If she accepts it, then hey, you got cheap care.
 
G

GRN96WS6

Member
$6/hr is very cheap I'd imagine I think around $8-10 would be more along the lines of what would be considered normal. It would be one thing if all the kids were older and self sufficient but a 2&4 year old need care still and that requires more time and someone with experience.
 
pelers

pelers

Active Member
Depends on the situation. If my sitter comes over to watch the baby after he's already in bed and I'm only gone for a few hours at class I usually take her out for ice cream or coffee. If he woke up and needed some attention I'd probably offer money or take her out for lunch or dinner.

If I asked her to watch him all evening (including dinner, bedtime, etc) because the hubby and I wanted a date night, I'd probably offer up somewhere between $30-50 for the evening depending on how long we would be gone and how late we'd be coming back.

For OP's situation I'd probably offer the same rate as the daycare gets. Figure out the hourly per child and go based on that.
 
Wenchy

Wenchy

Hot Flash
sockgirl77 said:
In Manhatten I've never been charged anything close to that. Daycares do not even charge that much.
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Yes. She takes "Wolfie" (got to love the name) to the pier/ parks etc and also tutors him.

In MD she was paid $10/hr to watch two kids AND tidy up the house. This was 9 years ago.
 
sockgirl77

sockgirl77

Well-Known Member
Wenchy said:
Yes. She takes "Wolfie" (got to love the name) to the pier/ parks etc and also tutors him.

In MD she was paid $10/hr to watch two kids AND tidy up the house. This was 9 years ago.
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I pay the kids' babysitter $8 per hour after school now. She watches the 2 of them for an hour after they get off of the bus. She's wonderful and $8 per hour is a steal!
 
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