please only people that are already parents!?

Question

How much do you pay a babysitter per hour?I have two familys that each have one child. and they pay me $5-9 dollars an hour (depending on the situation--time of day, mood of children, and if i eat there and if they need to be fed/bathed) to babysit their kids.Both of them are are 5 year old boys, and both of those children are two of the most well-behaved children i have ever met. Now i have another family that i babysit, with two girls(2 and 5) and they pay me about 4-6 dollars an hour. (also depending on situation) and these little girls are not so sweet. they are crazy, hyper, always bratty and mean to each other, dont listen, and many-a-times have locked me out while they are inside laughing and giggling. Some times they are good but they are very cute and i am very forgiving and i love kids. :) i am very happy with the pay from all of the families. and i was wondering if what i told you is about how much you pay people to babysit your children. i would really like some responses:D

also, yes i love little kids. i am thirteen years old and i love babysitting. i have been waiting since i was nine untill my parents would let me babysit. i was so excited to do it. and i am such a great sitter. not to brag myself, but most of the parents in my town that i know would choose me over most of the adults. and little kids just seem to love me. lol

Answer 1

My kids babysit and normally make $6 an hour in a small-ish upstate NY city. If they provide transportation, cook, clean, or spend the night or weekend, they make more (up to $8). Once when a couple went on a work trip for five days in the summer, my daughter made over $400! Both children are well behaved and have a regular routine for bed, etc.

My friends daughter had the same dilemma as you with two bratty kids. She did what Rachel in another post suggested...she was sorry, but she was just too busy to take the job. Those parents go through babysitters like crazy.

If you don't have enough work to keep you busy, just have some friends spread the word. Word-of-mouth is the best way, you don't want to end up in a home where you don't really know the people or their values.

You sound like a wonderful, caring sitter. You will have customers fighting over you. If a client doesn't pay an acceptable rate or the kids are unruly, don't feel you need to take those jobs.

Good luck & keep up the good work!

Answer 2

I'm in Canada too :P

I have two girls - I pay well because here in a small town babysitters are hard to come by! $5/hour if it is regular hours [ie evening], over night I pay $60. [that would be from 6pm - 8 am the next morning]. I also throw in pizza money. And yes my kids are nutty active kids :D BUT I usually choose older babysitters [17-18] only because I've had bad experiences with some younger ones ... and I am a paranoid mom!!

HOWEVER certain holidays you can pretty much name your price. Someone offered ME $175 for New Years eve - New Years Day. Two kids under 2, almost 48 hours. I said no because I was sick but WOW! Long weekends, local special events... if the kids and parents know you, love you -- they will usually either tell their friends - or clam up and use you ALL the time so no one else finds out about you!

Also, keep in mind the parents financial situation. If their 3 year old daughter is an angel, you get there at bedtime, and they are home before she gets up [and you watch tv for 7 hours] consider charging less. The parents will remember and use you more often/tell their friends!

Answer 3

if you have many babysitting jobs then you can pick and choose who you use. Just tell the bratty kids parents that you are really busy and your sorry but you will not be able to take care of their kids anymore. The older they get the worse they will be.

I don't have to pay a babysitter as the rare times I go out my parents have them or they sleep at a friends. Wow babysitting is cheap in Canada. In Australia the average at night is $10 p/h. For the day. I charge $30 a day which is from about 8am-5pm. So I suppose thats about $3 per hour but if it was 2 hours only I would be charging $10. It is just not worth your time especially if kids are locking you out of the house and making life miserable. Hope this helps

Answer 4

Don't be afraid to talk to the parents and explain the situation. You are being underpaid to put up with that. I have paid $8 per hour before for my 8 year old. She is very well behaved and independant. The parents probably know that the kids are not little angels all the time. They may be able to punish the kids if they misbehave when you are there. You may also have to tell the family to find someone else if the parents act like they have the best kids and they never act up. The main reason kids take advantage of the babysitter is that they don't think that there will be consequences. The parents should be willing to lay down the law and set rules before they leave. Good luck

Answer 5

I know you want only mothers but as a babysitter, I get payed 10 dollars an hour(or more) for all of the familys I babysit no matter how good/bad the children are. I live in new york and that is the going rate however I guess it matters on the area you live in.

Answer 6

For the two boys it sounds fair but I think you should be getting paid more for the two girls but if you are happy with what you are getting paid and like what you are doing than thats great!! I have a 6 month old and depending when (what time) I have someone watching her I pay in between $3 and $7 per hour. She likes to sleep in the afternoon so I am not going to pay someone a lot just to watch her sleep.

Answer 7

Well, I have one child that is an angel and 7 years old. I pay $3 an hour for her no matter what the circumstances. Now if for some reason it is under 2 or 3 hours, I will pay $10 to make it worth their while. That is in Alberta, Canada. Some parents will pay $5 an hour...but in general here, you get 2.50- 3.50 per hour. For going out int he evening some parents pay up to 5. That is for one child. For two children generally you pay $5 per hour.

Answer 8

Genrally, I pay twenty bucks every 2 hours (depending on situation) and I tip from 5 to 50 dollars for a wonderful job. When I was young I knew it was a real pain, so I help babysitter's out.

Answer 9

Wow! Think you can do it for me on Friday night? I'll pay you 12 dollars an hour.lol =p Well yeah like you said i pay people to baby sit my children depending on the time, day, mood, meal, bath all sort of that stuff.I usually pay 5-10 dollars an hour.I think that the people with the girls should pay you a little more, you are of cource watching them for an hour or more.With kids that behave well, the price is depending on mainly the mood.

Answer 10

I paid by the night, not by the hour. Usually, the sitting started at 7 PM and lasted until 2 AM. I provided snacks and drinks. The sitter would spend the night and get breakfast at McDonalds.

Snacks and Drinks: $2
Breakfast $1
Cash $20

Now roughly $2.85 per hour (cash part only) doesn't sound like much, but those were 1980 dollars.