Ok, I've got to learn to "let go" and go on a date with my DH. I've been tutoring this 15 year old girl and she keeps offering to babysit. She is TOTALLY trustworthy and is really warm with Connor.
I would probably take DH to a matinee movie so she wouldn't have to put him to bed, etc. (We've got a real good routine of bath, feeding, reading, then bedtime. But, I don't want her to have to do all of that.)
So, she would be watching him for about 4 hours on a weekend day. I have NO idea what we should pay her. Any ideas? (We live in Maryland if that helps?)

By Mommmie on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 09:55 am:

The going rate around here is $10/hour.

By Boxzgrl on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 09:56 am:

Most people I know around here and in other areas generally do $5/hr for the young babysitters. So if it's for about 4 hours i'd pay $20. Maybe i'm just cheap but the girl is only 15 so I don't see why she would *need* a larger pay.

By Debbie on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 10:02 am:

Wow Mommmie, that is expensive. We used to have a 14 yr. old babysit. I asked her what she charged and she said $6.00 an hour. I thought that was fair. If we were gone 4 hours, I would give her $25.00. Have you asked the girl what she charges? If she isn't sure what to charge then I would offer $5-7.00 and hour.

By Emily7 on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 10:02 am:

WOW! I only got paid $2.50hr for 2 kids when I babysat. I always have a family member watch the kids so I don't pay, my mom wouldn't except it. I would talk to the girl & ask her what she thinks is a fair price, what she normally gets paid.

By Amecmom on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 10:11 am:

Adults get paid $10 to $15 per hour depending on experience. I would just ask her what she charges. You may get a discount.
Teens usually get $6 to $8 an hour around here.

Emily (lol!) Just think of inflation!
Ame

By Annie2 on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 10:57 am:

My (almost) 14 year old gets paid $5. an hour when watching a family which has two kids; ages 9 and 6. She is expected upon to clean up any messes she makes while feeding the kids and to supervise the kids to clean up their toys they pull out while under her care....and of course to play with the children.

I would ask what she normally charges. If she doesn't have a going rate then I agree that I would pay her $5-7./hour...with the expectation to dote all time to baby. She'll only be watching one child but his small age plays a factor. You can always give her a bonus upon a job well done or start to pay her more per hour if she continues to sit and you are pleased with her level of attention and care.

Go for it and have a great time!

By Melanie on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 10:59 am:

Given the time frame you will be gone, I think the $5-$7 wage is fair. If it were evening and she were doing the full bedtime routine, I would go with the $10/hour.

By Kernkate on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 11:05 am:

Around here when teens babysit they get $5 and hour.
Thats what I give my babsitter. And she seems to be pleased with it,she is 15.
Boy when I use to babysit we were lucky to get $2 and hour. Tell I am getting old?

By Kate on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 11:50 am:

OH my gosh!! I'm glad I never use babysitters!! How on earth does anyone afford to pay a babysitter and then actually go out on top of that?? Yikes!

I don't agree with paying her less just because she is fifteen. In my opinion she deserves whatever the going rate is regardless of age.

By Mrsheidi on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 12:56 pm:

Thanks, everyone. I'll ask her how much she charges and hopefully it will be in that $5-7 range. I DO think age matters because she lives at home and doesn't have to pay for a car, gas, bills, etc. JMHO But, I think that's a good rate regardless! I would be ecstatic to earn that much an hour doing something I love, especially at that age! I've also been giving her some free tutoring here and there so I think she'll be easy on me too...

By Kaye on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 01:49 pm:

WE pay 5 an hour for one child, 6 for 2 and 7 for 3 kids. I think alot depends on houw much trouble it is going to bed, like food, bedtime, etc, I always pay a bit more. Another idea is we used to put the kids to bed then go catch a late show. I would tell the kids in case they woke up, but it was nice when they just camped on the couch for a few hours.

By Jann on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 03:18 pm:

WOW! $10?? My kids get paid $5/hour for one and somewhere between $6-8 for two or more.

By Boxzgrl on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 05:07 pm:

Kate, you have to remember the going rate for adults usually includes a required CPR certification as well a CE credits and such. I don't think a 15 year old would have the knowledge of a college educated adult.

By Marcia on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 05:26 pm:

I pay $5/hr for kids who babysit my 3 girls, but they get almost $11 if they have all 5. Luckily that is subsidized.
People who provide daycare certainly don't make anywhere near what we even pay kids to sit. I used to charge $25/day, and those kids were here all day.

By Mommmie on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 05:35 pm:

The $10/hour is just for the one-time babysitting type thinks, not regular child care. In that case it's $25-35/day.

By Conni on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 05:37 pm:

I have paid $5-$6 hr for girls that were CPR certified and had taken the Red Cross Babysitting course. (for some reason that was important to me-- they also had good references from Mom's I knew) The girl that I paid $6 an hr -- that was for 2 kids.

My 12yo has taken the Red Cross Babysitting course. He doesnt babysit for other people but he knows CPR. He learned alot of good info in that course.

Good luck and have fun!

By Imamommyx4 on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 06:24 pm:

I pay my babysitter $5 /hr and she fusses at me for paying her too much.