42 replies to this topic

[72o]

John Doe is a balla.

I can't see spending that kind of money for a babysitter. Of course, I have it easy since we have family members who watch ours for free. But still, I'd never be able to afford going out if it were costing me $20 an hour on top of what I was spending while I was out!

[_john_doe_]

There should be no cap on the price for your children when in the care of someone else.

[EDH Jen]

The babysitter is CPR certified, and has a lil brother or sister (for the experience part)....

What is considered to be "fair-pay" and what is GREAT-PAY!?????

Of course it depends on how many kids they are watching, and how old the kid is..... but still

What if the kid is 8, and good behavior?

I know the post is about babysitters and what to pay them...
My kids are now 16 and 9, and I've never needed a baby-sitter. Instead, I arranged for a play date for my kids, and left the door open to do the same for their friend's parents, which they always took me up on.

[FolsomAreaGansta]

$3 per hour, per child.

is a teen going to "be a better sitter" for $20/hour, or are they still going to be a teen?

a teen is a teen. If you are letting them watch your kid, you need to trust them, regardless of the payment..

[stacycam]

While I do think $20/hour is ridiculous, I also think $3/hour is as well. While more money does not make a better sitter, it does make a better sitter available to you. If a great sitter has the choice to babysit for $3-$6/hour versus $9-$10/hour, which job will she/he choose?

[CoachWeise]

I'm not sure when or if I'll need a sitter... Currently when I need a sitter I'm getting together with friends who also have a young child and whose mother lives with them and loves all of the kids --- so she'll also watch my 3-year old boy... However, there may come a time when I need a sitter so this discussion attracted my attention...

First, in response to the nay-sayers regarding CPR Certification... You make it sound like they aren't going to call 9-1-1 if they know CPR... Quite the opposite is true. Part of the CPR training (yes I am CPR and first aide certified and used to be an EMT) includes calling for help BEFORE starting any rescue efforts! The intent of a lay-person knowing CPR isn't necessarily to bring the victim back but rather to pump blood and oxygen throughout the body to give them a better chance at surviving when the professionals do get there. The training program I've been trained through recently changed agencies and while some agencies have always insisted on perfection new studies have found that even a little bit of care given by someone that is trained is better than no care at all... A new motto has come from that group, something along the lines of "Adequate care received is better than excellent care withheld" .... I would MUCH rather have someone certified in CPR/first aide than someone that isn't...

Second, I would also look at a sitters extra-curricular activities if they have any to help determine how responsible they are. Someone in student government, has a job, is in scouts (boy/girl), youth groups, etc is likely (there is always doubt and reason for concern though) to be more responsible than those that don't get involved in anything... If you don't know personally know your sitter I think this is something that merits consideration.

Lastly I would think that for me the pay would vary depending on the time(s) that I need a sitter for. I have a very active son but he's also really good about his bedtime and falls asleep quickly and easily. If I need a sitter during the day or during his active period I would probably pay more than if a sitter is needed during his sleeping time. The way I would handle that is by having an adequate base rate for his sleep time and then provide incentives/bonuses/whatever you want to call it, when I need a sitter for his more active times.

[TOOK-er]

$3 per hour, per child.

is a teen going to "be a better sitter" for $20/hour, or are they still going to be a teen?

a teen is a teen. If you are letting them watch your kid, you need to trust them, regardless of the payment..

i quite disagree... first off, three dollars an hour is less than half of what minimum wage pays, and second, are your kids really only worth $3.00/ hour? think of it in gas. 3 dollars is less than a tank of gas... if i have to drive to where i am going, i need to be paid more than what i would use for gas money. hey its your kid, but think about who you will get for three dollars. you will get the teens who don't really care about the kids. the "teenager" if you will. you have to think of this like a teenager. not all teens are teens, because we do not all end up doing drugs on the weekends, drinking, and having sex. for twenty dollars and hour we will be teens by age, but we will be adults by maturity.

[TOOK-er]

I'm not sure when or if I'll need a sitter... Currently when I need a sitter I'm getting together with friends who also have a young child and whose mother lives with them and loves all of the kids --- so she'll also watch my 3-year old boy... However, there may come a time when I need a sitter so this discussion attracted my attention...

First, in response to the nay-sayers regarding CPR Certification... You make it sound like they aren't going to call 9-1-1 if they know CPR... Quite the opposite is true. Part of the CPR training (yes I am CPR and first aide certified and used to be an EMT) includes calling for help BEFORE starting any rescue efforts! The intent of a lay-person knowing CPR isn't necessarily to bring the victim back but rather to pump blood and oxygen throughout the body to give them a better chance at surviving when the professionals do get there. The training program I've been trained through recently changed agencies and while some agencies have always insisted on perfection new studies have found that even a little bit of care given by someone that is trained is better than no care at all... A new motto has come from that group, something along the lines of "Adequate care received is better than excellent care withheld" .... I would MUCH rather have someone certified in CPR/first aide than someone that isn't...

Second, I would also look at a sitters extra-curricular activities if they have any to help determine how responsible they are. Someone in student government, has a job, is in scouts (boy/girl), youth groups, etc is likely (there is always doubt and reason for concern though) to be more responsible than those that don't get involved in anything... If you don't know personally know your sitter I think this is something that merits consideration.

Lastly I would think that for me the pay would vary depending on the time(s) that I need a sitter for. I have a very active son but he's also really good about his bedtime and falls asleep quickly and easily. If I need a sitter during the day or during his active period I would probably pay more than if a sitter is needed during his sleeping time. The way I would handle that is by having an adequate base rate for his sleep time and then provide incentives/bonuses/whatever you want to call it, when I need a sitter for his more active times.

you rock!!!!!!

[mg5ds]

New-York-Babysitters.com had an article about this. For a teenager babysitting 1 kid, it was $6.04/hour as the national average and $11.08/hour as the average for New York City.

[TOOK-er]

New-York-Babysitters.com had an article about this. For a teenager babysitting 1 kid, it was $6.04/hour as the national average and $11.08/hour as the average for New York City.

i don't know about the rest of us older kids, who get ourselves around to our jobs, but the price of gas is terrible, so i have to charge more, just to have enough gas in my car for it to run... not even a full tank... that only happens when it RAINS gasoline... so NEVER!!!! it is kind of depressing... oh well interesting fact though...

[Toadster]

Oh yeah, forget the part about CPR. Ever seen a grown adult in a crisis situation try to attempt CPR? Ineffective at best. Now throw a teenager in there, or better yet, a 12 year old. Not a chance. I don't care what you say.

I think CPR trains more than just restarting breating and heart failure, there's a lot more about opening airways and safety i.e. heimlich manuver, choking, etc...

I myself haven't ever had to do CPR, but have had to unlodge a hard candy from my son's throat... a teen that knows about safety is better armed to deal with issues than one who hasn't been trained (that's my positive spin on this subject)

sure each kid is different, but an educated guess is better than nothing...

I'd pay $7/hr and then $5/hr for every additional kid (if you have more than one)

[coffeelover23]

I have a little sister (17 years old) who regularly babysits, but is not CPR certified. She watches two 6-year-olds and charges 5 or 7 dollars I think. If she got her CPR certification though, I think I would tack on $5 to that for $10 or $12. That sounds reasonable to me, and I think that's what most sitters on sittercity go for. I agree that $20 is absurd for a teenage, non-professional babysitter. Also, let's say my sister is getting $3 per kid technically, and that's fine because it's not much more work than one would be, but I don't think the model scales. $3 for one kid is way too low, and $9 for 3 kids seems low too (plus, I don't think it's reasonable for one sitter to watch 3 kids anyway)

[CaptainThom]

How much is your childs life worth? I would pay depending on duties and age of your kid/ kids. If its a young kid i would pay way more because of everything the babysitter has to do and watch. If its for a 10-12 year old i would pay around 10$ an hour.