Hellobee Boards

@banana: We usually keep it pretty casual at first! Like we'd head over to the playground after daycare, and invite a daycare friend to join us. After a few impromptu playdates a lot those lines, it would feel pretty natural to invite them to a weekend playdate!

Well, I think it depends on the experience of the sitter. The going rate for young mom with kids and babysitting experience is $15/hr. I like her, she's trusted, and so I pay that rate. I'd never left LO with anyone other than family so even though I put LO to bed the first time she babysat, I still paid her $15/hr.

For a HS kid who's not putting LO to bed, I'd pay $10/hr. I have no idea what minimum wage is here.

I feel like minimum wage is just the minimum you should pay someone who is staying in your house with your baby, if that is the sitter's going rate.

@Mrs. Pen: what about for hours when you're sleeping? if you had them for a long weekend or a vacation week while the parents were away, would you expect to be paid the full rate round the clock for the duration of their trip, even while you slept? i do a lower rate then, because while sometimes i get woken up, for the most part i sleep and i feel a little crazy asking to be paid my full rate when both the children & myself are asleep for 11hrs. i usually go down to $10/hr for those hours & my reg rate for the other 13hrs of the day, but only if it's an extended trip.

for evenings, i get paid my full rate. if someone tried to negotiate me down, i just wouldn't wouldn't be available to them and feel pretty insulted that they thought so little of my time. but i'm an adult and i make a living as a nanny, so it's not just pocket change to me. i think minimum wage for a teenager is very fair.

@mrs. bird: for one job I was salary, so it was flat rate all the time. Another job where I was hourly we negotiated a flat rate for the weekend.

I do think overnights vs just evenings are separate scenarios to negotiate.

I don't think I could pay anyone minimum wage around here to watch my kiddo unless it was a high schooler. We try to have friends watch her, who volunteer too, but we haven't done something regularly. If that was the case, I would try to line up friends, and some responsible high schoolers to keep my peace of mind. Even then, I think $10/hr would be standard.