How Much Should I Pay My Babysitter for a 3-Hour Job?

[PamperedinAvon]

I have a former student of mine (now a senior) coming to babysit our will be 7 month old for about three hours while DH and I go to a Christmas dinner in a few weeks. How much do I pay her? She has to drive about 15 min. to our house. Her mom will be our daytime sitter when I go back to work. I've never done this--just looking for some input from you Mommy experts! TIA!

 

[DebbieJ]

I pay $5 an hour mostly for one almost 4 yo who is often in bed most of the time we have a sitter here.

Ooh, I have a sitter coming tomorrow night...maybe I'll find some paperwork she can sticker for me after DS is asleep.

 

[chefkristin]

I also pay $5.00/hour.

 

[chefsteph07]

Will the baby be asleep before the sitter gets there or is the sitter going to be responsible for changing diaper, feeding and putting to bed? I'd pay a little more to her for taking care of a baby...if the baby is already going to be asleep then yes, I agree w/ the $5 per hr. Babies are a bit more work, esp for a teenager! LOL

 

[momoftwins]

I have boy/girl twins who are 2 and I pay $10 per hour.

 

[missyciccolella]

I have 3 kids...6 yrs, 4 yrs, and 2 yrs. I pay $9-10 depending on the little one and napping/sleeping. Needless to say hubby & don't go out and "date" a lot. LOL

 

[jrstephens]

I would probably here $20 just to make it worth her while. This makes me so thankful that I have two sets of grandparents and others within minutes of me and do not have to pay a sitter for things like this.

 

[Chef Kearns]

I would pay about $5-7/hr. One baby and she will more than likely be sleeping or going down to sleep for most of the time the sitter will be there, that's not too much responsibility.

I have 4 kiddos and we just had to move back closer to our family for this very reason. It was hard enough finding a responsible person to watch 3, but 4!! So sometimes we divide and conquer. We'll send the boys with their uncle and the girls with my mother. That works. Sometimes my mom will take them all.

 

[daniellemorgan]

I pay my sitter $10 an hour.

 

[DebbieSAChef]

Free

I would pay about $5-7/hr. One baby and she will more than likely be sleeping or going down to sleep for most of the time the sitter will be there, that's not too much responsibility.

I have 4 kiddos and we just had to move back closer to our family for this very reason. It was hard enough finding a responsible person to watch 3, but 4!! So sometimes we divide and conquer. We'll send the boys with their uncle and the girls with my mother. That works. Sometimes my mom will take them all.

All our family is here so we get FREE daycare. It's great. We have five children and there is no way I could leave them with anyone other than family and friends. I am too protective when it comes to strangers. I know there are many wonderful babysitters out there but I thank the Lord I can stay home with my kiddos.

When I was on bedrest while pregnant with my 4 month old, the four kiddos were switched from both grandparents, to great grandparents (my grandparents), to pastor's wife, to other friend's from church. It was amazing and I really saw God's loving hand in it all!! And we also divided them up occasionally!

Debbie

 

[erinyourpclady]

Holy cow y'all! I pay $5 an hour!! I have 3 kids.....my 11 yr old is on his own but a sitter would be here for my 5 & 7 year old.

 

[cat]

WOW! 5-6 years ago (pre-children for me...I'm about to have my THIRD!), I used to babysit for two different families. Both had only one child and I got paid $7-$8/hour!!

Maybe because I live in New Jersey and minimum wage is $7.15. Don't know what it was 5-6 years ago when I babysat kids...

I haven't really had to pay for a babysitter yet with my kids because my MIL lives with us 6 months out of the year (retired early at 59) and my parents are only 30 minutes away, although they both still work. Otherwise, a lot of our church friends swap babysitting services...we watch their kids while they have a date night and vice versa...

 

[chefbritt]

I would probably here $20 just to make it worth her while.

I agree with this. $5 an hour for three hours is only $15. If it was me, $15 wouldn't really be worth my while. Of course, that may be the area I live in, where most people pay $10 or more. If $5 is common in your area, than go with it, but I would say $20 would be reasonable.

 

[lkprescott]

I'd give her $20 for the 3 hours. Especially since she's driving. In fact you might want to figure out how many miles she's go to and from your house and offer something for gas money... a couple bucks toward gas might be a nice gesture.Way back in the stone age, I'd get $20 for babysitting 2 kids from about 6 or 7pm, putting 'em to bed and then being relieved of duty about 2am or so... so it was really only a couple hours of actually doing stuff with the kids, then I'd watch TV and fall asleep on the couch... I'd get a ride both ways from them so transportation was on them. I think they always made it a lump sum agreed upon beforehand so then they wouldn't have to worry about how long they'd been out and how much money they'd need on hand, they just needed to save one $20 bill for me for the end of the night. Back then min. wage was about $4 an hour so it wasn't too far off the mark...Nowadays I rely on close friends and family for babysitting. I just have a real hard time trusting anyone else with my kids... but that's just me.