JaniceO Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 We want to go to a winery and for dinner with another couple on Saturday. We would like to find one sitter for all 6 kids (ages 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 3). What should we offer? The 11 and 10 year old won't require much (if any) work at all, as they are self sufficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 We want to go to a winery and for dinner with another couple on Saturday. We would like to find one sitter for all 6 kids (ages 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 3). What should we offer? The 11 and 10 year old won't require much (if any) work at all, as they are self sufficient. Well, here that would cost about $50-75. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 EACH family should pay for their kids - here my girls would ask 2 - 3$ per hour per kid. Looks like at least $12 per hour. Don't be cheap - you may need that sitter again.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Frankweiler Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Just to give you an idea....We're in SC. I have a regular sitter on Mondays and I pay her $12/hour for 4 kids (ages 9,7,5, & 2.) Using that math, you're looking at $18/hour. But, we LOVE her and she's worth her weight in gold, so I don't mind paying her that much. A good sitter is hard to find! I also agree that the parents should pay for their own kids. IMO, you still pay for the older kids since she'd still be responsible for watching them. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 We pay our sitters minimum wage, do not take out taxes, and usually round up to the nearest dollar at the end of the evening. We have 3 children who are well worth minimum wage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 (edited) I'd probably pay the sitter about $15 an hour (I live in NY, maybe that influences what I'm saying). I wouldn't get anyone to do it for minimum wage. I would say $15 would be a bargain, but given that most of the kids probably don't need much hands on care that is a fair price. Yes, prices do depend on area....I live in a very rural area where jobs for teens are few and far between. Also, here in the Midwest tipped employees are not paid minimum wage, so many of the older teen girls who find waitressing jobs are happy to get a minimum wage job. Add that to Indiana's 10% unemployment rate, which makes it very difficult for younger workers to find jobs, and well.... In my instance, for 5 hours it would work out to just over $32, but we would give $40 because we pay cash and aren't going to count out singles and change....we'd just give two twenties. When I work, it is a whole different arrangement. I pay $150 for one day, which is about 14 hours by the time I get home from work, but I don't hire teenagers (anymore) for this. ETA: If I had more than 3 kids, or my kids were younger and needed diaper changing, etc. I'd probably have to pay more. Edited April 21, 2009 by MeanestMomInMidwest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I would probably pay $75.00 or so. I haven't paid a sitter in a while though, because I use big brothers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Holy cow!! I babysat in the wrong generation!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Holy cow!! I babysat in the wrong generation!!!!!!! I was thinking the same thing. I made $2.00 an hour sitting for 4 boys and ususally had to bring my younger brother with me. I am glad that I have never had to pay for babysitting. We always found another set of parents to swap out sitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 woah! holy cow on prices. I pay around $4 an hour for all 5 of my kids. There is no way I'd pay $2-3 an hour, per kid. That's paying them nearly what my dh, with a college degree, makes. No way. $20-$30 for a few hours work is plenty for a 14, 15 yo girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2GirlsTX Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 But the poster is in Italy, I have no idea what the pay is like in Italy. Here in DFW that would cost about $12 to $15 an hour IF I could find someone willing to sit that many kids at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I missed that. I'd babysit for free if I got to do it in Italy :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaik76 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 woah! holy cow on prices. I pay around $4 an hour for all 5 of my kids. There is no way I'd pay $2-3 an hour, per kid. That's paying them nearly what my dh, with a college degree, makes. No way. $20-$30 for a few hours work is plenty for a 14, 15 yo girl. I disagree with this. A 14 year old's work is just as valuable as an adult's. One of my prime complaints with babysitting, etc. is that people truly don't value it. Why would you want to be cheap with people you are entrusting the lives of your children with? I have to say, I wouldn't allow a child of mine to babysite five children for the amount of money you would be offering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I would have each set of parents pay the sitter what they would pay for sitting normally - assuming it would add up to at least $12 an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkgumby Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Holy cow!! I babysat in the wrong generation!!!!!!! No doubt. I used to get $2 an hour for lots of little kids who needed bottles and diaper changes, and was expected to clean the house while I was at it. :glare: For my two boys (7 and 8) I usually pay between $7 - $8 an hour, to teenagers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 $60- This is the going rate, $2 per kid per hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 $10,000,000. That's about what it would take to convince me to watch 6 kids at once! :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 (edited) I would pay $10-12 per hour if they were all one family, since the olders would probably be more help, than work themselves. The ages of the kids is also a big factor. The majority of the kids will probably need little work....unless you know differently. Some kids are just harder than others. :0) BUT!!!! If they are from two different families... I would look for a team of sitters, and pay them each $7 per hour because, if the kids are not used to being together, they will probably get a bit wild and the olders with be off doing their own thing, and not helping with the youngers...especially if the youngers are not their sibs. 6 kids is a lot to handle if someone isn't used to it. Edited April 21, 2009 by Tap, tap, tap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxxxxxx Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I used to make $1 per kid per hour in the 80's. We used to pay $5 per hour/ 3 kids in the late 90's til about 2005. Now my daughters babysit......this is what they get paid from the 3 families that they babysit for the most. $2 hour / 2 grade school aged kids. $5 hour / 4 kids ages 2 - 9, high maintance family $5 hour / 2 very well-behaved grade school aged boys I will tell you that the last family (who pays very well in my daughters eyes) will always get them to say "yes", sometimes even when they have to change plans so that they can babysit. My oldest who is almost 15 will not even babysit for the first family anymore because it isn't hardly worth her time at $2/hour. My thought is that if you like the babysitter......pay them a little more so that they want to work for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 (edited) I pay a sitter about $5 an hour for my 3 kids. And they're SLEEPING at the time, lmao! What really burns my butt though, is that I used to be a licenced dayhome provider. Folks have no problem paying a teen $5 an hour...but maaaaaaaaan, if *I* had charged that, all holy hades would have broken loose! And I had the kids for 10=12 hrs a day, 2 snacks, lunch, provided a preschool program, outings to the park...all for what worked out to be $2.62 an hour :lol: Edited April 21, 2009 by Impish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 She gets paid $8/hour to be a mother's helper for two young children. For actual babysitting, she would get $10/hour for two young children. I would not personally allow her to take responsibility for so many kids, even if she were a little bit older. I would expect two babysitters to each be paid about $12-13/hour to watch the entire group of six. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I think I'm going to have to move near my parents so I never have to hire a babysitter! When I started babysitting at age 11 in 1992, I usually made $1.00-2.00 per hour per kid. By the time I graduated high school in 2000, my top paying job was still only about $2.50-$3.00 per hr. per kid. My best job ever was New Year's Eve when I was 17. I watched 8 kids from 3 families for 5 hours at $3 per kid. Oh yeah, $120! As a former babysitting teen, I would think minimum wage would be acceptable for up to 3-4 kids, with more for extras. However, this doesn't seem to be the case in many places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I was thinking the same thing. I made $2.00 an hour sitting for 4 boys and ususally had to bring my younger brother with me. I am glad that I have never had to pay for babysitting. We always found another set of parents to swap out sitting. I babysat back in the days when I was thrilled to get 75 cents an hour, and I was required to fix the kids dinner, clean up the kitchen, put them to bed before the parents got hom. One weekend I babysat for these 2 kids, from after school on Friday until Sunday evening. Got $20 for the entire weekend. Times have changed... Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosy Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 For my 4, I pay $5/hr. + $5-10 per session. So for 6 hours I'd be paying $40. Adding in kids from another family I would add at least $20. You're better off getting 2 sitters if it's that long though, esp with 2 different families. Our regular sitter watched our kids with kids from another family (5 total) at their house and two of the kids ate a package of laxatives while she was making lunch.:scared: You don't want her to feel like she can't leave the room to use the bathroom or help one of the kids with something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalanceSeeker Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I can't get over what sitters make these days, and I think we're doing them a disservice. I can't bring myself to pay a teenager almost what I make after taxes as an RN who spent 5 years at a university. Sorry, but this money is too easy for them. Just my opinion, though. Christa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frelle Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I pay 12 an hour for all 4 kids. If there were 6 kids, esp from two families, I would have a sitter and her friend and not just one sitter. I like the idea of the parents paying separately too. So I would pay a sitter 12 an hour for my four, and my friend might pay 8 and hour for her 2. So that's 20 an hour split two ways for however many hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frelle Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I think it depends on your kids about it being too easy. WHen mine get babysat, they have to keep Jack out of the street and our of anything in the house he might get into... have to split up fights between Grace and Lily and deal with meltdowns, and have to keep Felicity from hurting Jack when no one is looking. It can be easy sometimes, but mostly its work with my four. I dont have 2 children that are 5 and 7 that will play board games or dance with a 14 year old and who will put themselves to sleep at night. I wouldnt pay 10 bucks an hour for that either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto4greatkids Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Certainly you pay more for a "one-time"event than for an ongoing relationship. (several times a week.) Also, it depends on whether the sitter is a "professional" or a teenager from church that you are "breaking in." For my young sitters, I start them off more in minimum wage range and then move them up. With someone new, I do try to set the price up front and ask them if they are Ok with it. Better to talk about it on the front end than have your sitter disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I'm with the person who said that both families need to pay her individually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkpan Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 We have 6dc, and we usually pay our sitter $12 hr, and I do think that we get off rather cheaply ( I do always round up to next 10 or so, though). For 2 families, we would need to pay at LEAST $15 an hr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Prices are going to vary greatly between areas. I've babysat a lot in the last few years..as an example Family with three kids (4,5,11 when I started) paid me $100/week M-F all day (I went to their house) in the summer... Year and a half later, they gave me a raise to $150 for the same.. Another family - $3/hour for a 9 year old girl in the summer. (my house) Another family - 15-20/day (depended if Mom got home early) for another 9 year old girl in the summer (my house) Another family - $15/day for a 5 year old boy (my house) Those were typical wages for where I lived - the $3/hour one was specific because she was a single mom and her childcare was paid for through a subsidy program thing... It would have been INSANE for any of those people to pay me rates like some of the rates in this thread -- they'd have been paying me most, all, or even MORE than their PAYCHEQUES! :001_huh: Now, where we moved to.. diff story. I know people who are making several thousand dollars a month babysitting - because families pay around $50/day for one kid! If you take in four kids M-F, that's $1000/week! (four individual kids, diff families.. sometimes if you have two kids from one family, you'll get a deal at $70/80 per day) .....but the cost of living is crazy here. Rents are the highest in our country, according to something I read recently. Wages are high as well, but everything costs more - including sitters. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 We want to go to a winery and for dinner with another couple on Saturday. We would like to find one sitter for all 6 kids (ages 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 3). What should we offer? The 11 and 10 year old won't require much (if any) work at all, as they are self sufficient. What to pay a sitter for watching 6 kids for 5 hours?:svengo: How 'bout a bottle of that wine you'll be sampling at the winery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I'm assuming the babysitter will be college age or older adult. I wouldn't hire a typical teenager to handle this many kids. Then, I would give a flat rate for coming (probably $5/hr), and tack on $2/hr for each kid (particularly the younger kids - perhaps just $1 each for the olders, esp. if they're likely to help out). So, it would come to $15-17/hr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caitlinsmom Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 We have a fantastic couple of girls that we use. They have teamed up and watched 11 kids (3 families) for us. We each paid them our normal going rate ($5 per hour from us). I have no idea how they made out in the end as we all paid individually. These girls are seriously the best though because often they will call us and ask to babysit......for free. They love the kids so they like to play with them. I think the price you pay depends on the girl. We would gladly pay more but this is what they have asked us to pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaniceO Posted April 22, 2009 Author Share Posted April 22, 2009 Sorry I didn't check back in sooner. My husband just got back yesterday and we had a busy evening. The children are all used to being together and get along really well. The littler ones will be watching movies, playing board games while the older ones play video games. We came up with $90. Now that I've read some responses, that may be kind of high? We wanted to pay her well. I'm not really worried about that many children, because of their ages. The kids shouldn't be any problems. My only concern is that my friend wants to do it at her house and she has a pool (it is covered right now, but the cover is full of water). I worry about my 3 year old falling in. It's probably just me being overly concerned though as I've barely been away from her since she's been born. I don't have a normal fee that I normally pay, as it has been YEARS since I've hired a sitter. My husband and I don't get out much without the children because it does cost so much (4 of the 6 children are mine). When we do, we're used to having friends watch them for free (or tradeoffs). Last time we paid a sitter, it was my best friends daughter and she wouldn't allow me to pay her much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUV2EDU Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 We want to go to a winery and for dinner with another couple on Saturday. We would like to find one sitter for all 6 kids (ages 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 3). What should we offer? The 11 and 10 year old won't require much (if any) work at all, as they are self sufficient. An arm and a leg. LOL:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 We usually pay $2/hr per kid. Can the oldest child of the 6 help babysit also. I was babysitting at the age of 10. The teen babysitter can be in charge of the youngest 3 and let the 11 year old be in charge of the other 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Sorry I didn't check back in sooner. My husband just got back yesterday and we had a busy evening. The children are all used to being together and get along really well. The littler ones will be watching movies, playing board games while the older ones play video games. We came up with $90. Now that I've read some responses, that may be kind of high? We wanted to pay her well. I'm not really worried about that many children, because of their ages. The kids shouldn't be any problems. My only concern is that my friend wants to do it at her house and she has a pool (it is covered right now, but the cover is full of water). I worry about my 3 year old falling in. It's probably just me being overly concerned though as I've barely been away from her since she's been born. I don't have a normal fee that I normally pay, as it has been YEARS since I've hired a sitter. My husband and I don't get out much without the children because it does cost so much (4 of the 6 children are mine). When we do, we're used to having friends watch them for free (or tradeoffs). Last time we paid a sitter, it was my best friends daughter and she wouldn't allow me to pay her much. Since four of the kids are yours, I think the sitting should be at YOUR house. The pool also is a very good reason to use your house! Let the other couple know that you just won't enjoy yourself if you are fretting about the three-yr-old and the pool. Offer to rent a couple films the kids have not seen and have a cool snack as an extra lure (are the cool video games etc. at the other house???) If you come up with the sitter, too, then you can call the shots. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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