What's the going rate for a babysitter?

Sarah - posted on 03/03/2011

I still baby sit every so often. I charge $10 per hour flat rate. I don't care if you have 1 child or 8. It's $10 per hour no matter what. Some people may see $10 an hour as a lot BUT you are paying someone to take care of your most precious one and you want them to be not only good at it but you want them to truly enjoy taking care of your child so $10 per hour is absolutly worth it. Plus...wouldn't you pay almost any amount of money to have someone you can trust absolutly to take care of your baby? I have one family that pays me from $17-25 per hour even with my daughter coming with me because it means so much to them to be able to leave their children with someone they can trust in any situation.
CPR and first aid is a must as well as at least 2 non family references.

Lauren - posted on 08/03/2009

I was a certified sitter. I was paid $8.25hr and it went up .25 for each child. CPR certified is a definate yes! References 2-3 and do inquire. Tips were always welcome but not always given. I think it depends on how old the children are and how much the sitter does with them. If they really liked the sitter (if they are awake when you come home) take that into consideration and keep them as a top sitter.

Also I got paid $9hr for groups.

Tanya - posted on 08/03/2009

What if you ask some teen age kids in your area how much they charge. If you don't want to seem strange just put a sign up at a library or on the corner of the street "Looking for Sitter to watch 17 month old if interested call 000-0000" When they do ask how much they charge and if they've done babysitting (and have referances) I wouldn't require CPR training if they have it maybe worth the extra few dollars they would charge.

Michelle - posted on 08/03/2009

that's your choice, but it's not always an easy job, depending on the child/children. It was the families choice to pay that much and they came up with that based on my daily earnings at the daycare. I was with them all day and all night. As for me, it's not normally an all day thing only a couple of hours, and I choose not to be cheap with care for my child.

Erin - posted on 08/03/2009

I paid my daycare provider $5/hr since my son was only there 2-5 hrs @ a time. $35/dy if there 6+hrs. WA state pays $2.16/hr for first child ~ sitters that usually work w/the state often have a $20/dy rate. I think $10/hr is outrageous! Minimum wage is $8.55 in WA and would not pay a family member or kid plus that to watch my son! I do think the state's rates are rediculously low!

Girlio - posted on 08/03/2009

Yes, it is Canadian. I suspect that it would just be the equiv. down there, but not too sure. Depends I suppose on what min. wage is in the USA. Here min wage is $9.10/hour so sitters get a little less cuz it's cash and isn't claimed for income tax.

Lesa - posted on 08/03/2009

Thanks for the responses. One question: Meg, is that $8.00/hr Canadian? Would it be different in the US?

Hope - posted on 08/03/2009

We used to live in Phoenix, AZ and most of the sitters there that we used charged us like $8-10 an hour, and at that time we only had one child. Now we live in Northern Iowa and have 3 kids, ages 6, 2, and 9months. All the girls we have had babysit now just say pay us whatever, which is really hard to interperate. We went out last week and discussed it, we paid her $5 per kid, per hour, because mostly of the baby. I have heard in this area anywhere from $3 per kid per hour to as little as $1.50 per kid per hour, which to me sounds a little cheap, for what all they do, even if it is just to play with the kids and put them to bed. We also make sure depending on the babysitter we use that we know their favorite drink and have that stocked in the fridge and snacks for the kids and sitter. If she is feeding them dinner, we usually find out what kind of pizza or something else they like and have that delivered or there for dinner. That is just how we do it though. As a side note, when I was in 8th and 9th grade, I was making like $2 - 3 an hour for 2 kids and I'm 32 now, so I guess inflation hasn't hit babysitting too hard depending on where you live.

Michelle - posted on 07/30/2009

I always got 10 dollars an hour when I baby-sat. I would have gotten more but I was usually only playing with the children for a bit and then putting them to bed. I was also there daycare teacher though.

As for my own daughter we pay 10 dollars an hour for a sitter and that's a family member. She's only 7 months old right now though. As for refrences you could ask for a couple (2-3). I don't require my sitters to be CPR trained right now (only my sister or my hubby's sister watches her, or grandma and grandpa), but if it was full day care or a "stranger" then I would.

I also recommend going with your gut feeling!! If something doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't.

Good luck!

Girlio - posted on 07/30/2009

We have 2 children aged 5 & 8. I also coach a lot of teenagers/babysitters so I asked them what the going rate was for sitters in Calgary, Alberta Canada. I was told it is $8.00/hour for the first child and $1.00/hour for each additional child. We pay that +/- depending on what they do with the kids, i.e. if we put the kids to bed before a sitter then they get a little less than if they have to feed kids and put to bed. Also if they just sit and watch a movie with our kids or if they play with them also affects what rate we pay and what the house looks like when we get home, if it is a disaster then what did they do after the kids went to bed?



As for CPR etc. Yes we ask to see their "Babysitter's Course" Certificate (First Aid is part of that course) and we ask for references and DO call them. I also make sure that I meet their parent(s) before hand and have them over to meet the kids and go over expectations/responsibilities prior to the day/night they could be sitting for.