£9ph to babysit?!!!!

[yummumto3girls]

We have used the same babysitter for the last 4 years. A girl who worked at my daughters nursery so we knew she was qualified and checked. Have always paid in region of £5ph and rounded it up to take account of travelling, so usually £25 - £30 a night from say 7 to 11. We don't often go out together and have no family to babysit so needs must. Have had 3rd DD 9 months ago (others are 9 and 6) and only been out once about a month ago when we knew DD was sleeping 7 to 7 so put baby to bed before we go out, other two washed in PJ's so all she had to do is entertain for an hour before putting to bed. Have just asked her to babysit this weekend and she has said she wants £9ph now she has the responsibility of a baby! Am I out of touch or is this just taking the piss?

I pay my cleaning lady £10 per hour! I don't expect to pay less than that to someone who I trust to look after my children!

No cat, that wasn't the arguement.

Presumably you know those that sit for free.

My arguement was for a decent rate of pay for an experienced qualified childminder who is responsible for 3 dcs inc a baby whilst the parents are out. To dispute £9 per hour for that responsibility is mean and insulting imo.

Fwiw, i've no axe to grind as we use family to sit as needed. I am also not a babysitter and never will be.

yummumto3girls - I feel the jump in fee is a bit much given that you have used this particular person for the past 4 years. A gradual increase over the years would have been fine. Most babysitters don't charge on a per-child basis, more a per-family basis - so whilst baby is more responsibility and is more likely to wake during the evening, I don't feel it justifies the £4 per hour increase.

However... consider what happens if you don't pay it. You lose that babysitter... who you and your older two children know well and who you trust.

Please try to avoid comparing fees with agencies, as it can be hard to calculate the full fee an agency charges. Often it is calculated over a 1 year period... with there being an annual membership fee (sometimes payable quarterly) plus per-time booking fees, plus the hourly rate which may have a minimum specified. An agency may be very expensive if you don't go out very often... they are though often lower cost if you go out a lot - such as over 14 times a year.
To compare you would need to do a chart like this.

If you feel the amount being requested is too much - then see if you can negotiate it, perhaps they would settle for £7 an hour?

probably what has happened is the babysitter was happy with £5/hour, still in "teenage" mode where she wasn't doing anything else and it was "money for nothing"

now however she is older, her colleagues are probably charging £8/£9ph, she is probably asked to babysit by a lot of the parents at nursery and so supply-demand, she has decided to up her rate.

take it or leave it.
it is a lot. but with a baby, i would accept it.

in a few years when they are older you can go for a neighbour's teenager at £5/£6ph, and if there is an emergency their mum is on hand anyway!

Sadly, cat, most people don't personally know trustworthy teens so if you've got to have a stranger then the safest option in many people's opinion is to have a professional do it and that costs money.

I know teens I'd leave a baby with and teens I wouldn't leave a cat with. I know people in their 20s I wouldn't leave a cat with!

This comes up every time on an MN babysitting thread - teens vs pros. If you know a trustworthy teen then use them, pay them at a rate appropriate to their ave and count yourself lucky. If you don't have a teen and need a professional then use them and pay them a rate which is appropriate for them, which 9 times out of 10 will be what they judge their time is worth.

We pay £8 p/h in London. I think it's fine and would look elsewhere for evening babysitting if someone wanted much more than that given the ages my kids are now and the fact that they are very reliably asleep when we go - and stay down. Sitters is like £6 p/h (plus their fees) but even all in we are paying a noticeable amount more than that. IF someone had been dealing with wide awake kids, etc. I would consider adding something on. For an infant though I would pay £10, sure.

You might get an AP for £5 p/h but I'd be surprised if you could get a sitter with any real exp for htat.

im a teenager
hire me

i pay my adult aged sitter £5/hr. She is CRB checked as well. She is a classroom assistant at my sons school and so knows him well.

I don't know any teens here in the UK.

The TA we use told me how much she charges when I asked if she was available. Seemed fine to me. Yes a teen could do the same job, but she is not a teen she is a qualified child care provider.

I can type really fast, as can many junior receptionists, if you hire me though even for a bog standard typist role you are going to be paying me the rate I think I am worth as otherwise I won't take the job.

Up to the employer whether it is worth paying more.

ViveLaFrak is right - what it comes down to is the babysitter decides what her time is worth to her, the parents have to decide if it's worth it to them. It's not a case of being unreasonable or taking the piss.

It is £25 per day for a dog kennel arund here

If she is qualified and looking after 3 children then that would be £3 oer hour per child and on top of that it is shift allowence as it is night time.

What night of the week is it that you wanted?

I would wnat a lot if I had a bf and wanted to be out instead

by the way I live in the Northamptonshire area and I know my sitter needs more work - especially now its the holidays, if anyone is interested!!

I agree with amidaiwish, the only thing here is that she used to be a young thing,for whom £20 was enough. now her colleagues are getting higher rates and she has nursery parents begging for her.
As I said, same happened to me. Its just the way it is.
Supply and Demand. basis of Economic theory, i tell you !!

£9ph - £11ph completely acceptable round here + nice treats in the fridge and sky if you want them to come back!

YABU. You asked her to babysit she told you how much. She isn't your friend, she is doing a job for you and that's how much it is worth to her to give up her evening to look after 3 children.
She will also have plenty of other parents wanting her if she works at a nursery so she may feel she has been selling herself a bit short.

Does make for an expensive night out but that's the way of it when you have children. It's not really her job to subsidise your night out by charging less.

I'm in London and have never paid more than £7 an hour that's either to Sitters or using my cleaner, same rate as I pay her during the day, or friends aupairs. Guess it's supply and demand but have yet to come across any babysitter asking for more than £7 an hour.

My rate is £8ph until 1am then £10ph after that and that's pretty cheap compared to what my friends charge, they too are never short of babysitting work.

Reason I charge the extra after 1am is I was sick of people taking the P, coming in at 3/4am then handing me £7ph, on top of that knowing full well I have a full-time job to go to at 8am the next morning .

It happened twice, never again.

Well, thankyou everyone for your replies. I can't believe what a range of responses there are - just glad I don't live in London and have to pay those rates (I am in Devon by the way). I accept that what I was paying was low but we always added more on so it was usually £25 -£30 for 7 - 11. Everytime we would ask her if that was ok and she would say it was fine (she was quite shy). That is why when she sent a text asking for £9 it came as a shock, she gave no explanation for the increase, we did not ask her rate and had presumed nothing had changed. It is more her approach that has wound us up.

Let me get this straight, although I should not have to say this, my children are the most precious things to me. My husband and I have been out together once in the last 9 months, it is a friends 40th and it would have been nice to go but if I don't have a sitter I can trust then yet again I will stay home alone!

I think those that think paying in excess of £10 live on a very different planet to alot of us. This money is cash in hand.

I am now in the situation where a friends teenage daughter's best friend who is 18 has offered. I know of her and friends mum said she is lovely and responsible . I really have a dilema now, I think I might give her ago for a couple of hours and get feedback of daughter. Middle DD (6) is at a sleepover so oldest DD who is nearly 10 will be home and baby in bed. Oldest DD very grown up and will be able to tell me if she is ok! God I hate this - perhaps I should give up on the idea of ever going out until all children have left home !!!

yummum, seeing as she has babysat for you for such a long time, and the fact there is now a new baby on the scene perhaps you should have considered asking her if she still charges the same rate?

I have done babysits where I know the family usually pays £15ph to their usual sitter, but,I would never dream of turning round to them and saying "oh yes, my rate is £15". Now that would be taking the P

Yes, but she might not be that bothered about babysitting. If you want lots of clients then you research local rates. If you aren't that fussed but would be happy to earn x amount in an evening then you might set your rate higher. We get loads of stupid quotes when we do work on our house because it's such a nightmare people see it and don't want the work- too much hassle. Same principle.

yummum- where in Devon? I can recommend a very good babysitter (teacher) who charges £5 an hour. She's about to move away but is around for some of the summer. CAT me if you want her contact details.

I used to get £5 an hour.

But that was 15 years ago.

I used to get £5 an hour.

But that was 15 years ago.

Maxine this thread is 8 years old.