How Much to Pay a Babysitter

The Price of Parenting, How Much Do You Pay Your Babysitter?

April 29, 2010

The going rate for an adult babysitter in my neighborhood is $25 an hour if you have two or three kids. Though there are online caregiver calculators to do the math for mom, some parents prefer to do some research at the playground or inquire among friends to figure out a competitive rate. If they are attempting to steal someone else's sitter, the stakes are higher. Other factors like driving children, doing light housework or tending to tots overnight may up the ante as well. How much do you shell out (per hour) for a babysitter? And, how often do you hire help?

5 Comments

3 years 2 weeks

Coming at you from the other side of the fence, as a sitter, I live in a rural area, with a small town (in Georgia). If I watch one child, my rate is usually $10 an hour, and while sitters in cities are getting more than that some of the parents around here balk at the small double digit. Let me digress: I am 21 years old, have 7 years of childcare experience, including infants & daycare, and I am CPR & first-aid trained. My job is to interact with your child, stimulate their mind, feed, possibly bathe and do a nighttime routine. I'm essentially playing mom for the time I'm there. By all means, if you want to hire the 13 year old down the street for $5/hr, do so, but realize you get what you pay for.

MissSushi 3 years 2 weeks

and this is why i have 0 social life. I just can't afford that on top of the cost of whatever we will be doing. My mother would watch them but she lives 2 hours away.

jenni5 3 years 2 weeks

$25 an hour? Thank god for grandmas!

dannysf 3 years 2 weeks

Can I just say I LOVE that you used a picture from The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. One of my favorites!

3 years 2 weeks

The last time we had a paid sitter was ages ago, mostly because we don't ever get out without our kids. A couple times a year we get to go out and have a great aunt or some grandparents watch them, but we don't have anyone close to us to help, so that's only when they've made a special trip to help. At the time we paid $5/hour, but that's for a 14 year old and the kids were already in bed.

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