I have three boys (6, 3.5, and 2) and we are using a non-family babysitter for the first time EVER next week so DH and I can go to my older son's open house. Two 13 year old girls from our neighborhood are going to watch them for an hour or two in the evening after dinner. What should I pay them??? I have never done this before and both girls are just starting out in their babysitting adventures so I am not sure if they have a rate in mind.
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Where do you live? I’m in the Chicago suburbs. I’d prob pay each of them $10/hour 🤷♀️
We pay a 16 yo neighbor $15/hr to just hang out when the kids are sleeping.
(Nanny rates here for 3 kids are $25/hr cash for reference) -
@LadyDi: I’d ask them! Most people won’t name a sky high price. I live just outside Manhattan and babysitting rates are sky high, and if anyone asks the local group what to pay a sitter it’s always super top of the range replies (like $20-25, and buy them dinner and an Uber home).
But when I’ve had younger girls over the years (I had a HS girl years ago, then 2 local college girls more recently), I always ask and they’ll be like “I’m hoping for $12”. Or something like that.
I had a girl occasionally sitting for me last year that is a local masters student in analytics—she told me $10 for 2 kids! Lol. I was like…I’ll pay you $15. This was for daytime sitting where she was taking my kids places, not just night sitting where they were asleep.
So ask!The same college girl texted me just this week asking if I need help this school year, and said my kids are so sweet and easy she wanted to ask me first before looking easy. I think my second can be a hellion, but my point is…the college student doesn’t seem eager to find a better paying sitting job, so it can’t hurt to ask their expectations and go from there.
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@ChitownRo: I’d agree with this. We haven’t had a sitter in forever but used to pay $15/hr for mostly sleeping time (3 kids). If it’s between 1-2 hours I’d round up to $20 for both to earn future loyalty
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We've done the number of dollars per hour based on the grade they were in, but sometimes less than 10 feels low.
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@Chuckles: That's a great rule of thumb!
Thanks all! Unfortunately we received word today that the open house is postponed to rising covid cases so we won't need sitters after all. I am so sad and so covid-fatigued right now. I was really looking forward to his open house.
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@LadyDi: Keep the sitters and go do something fun. It would probably be a good break for everyone.
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@Corduroy: Thank you for suggesting this, I think that's exactly what we're going to do!
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