How much to pay for a babysitter?

[Babbly]

As the title says, how much would you pay a babysitter?

We have 1 DS who is 2, he'd be asleep when they arrive and almost never wakes during the night. We have two bouncy dogs but they wouldn't need anything doing (just to be around). We'd leave out snacks, access to wifi, Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ etc.

What would the going rate be?

This is asked regularly on MN, and is worth marking your place and getting popcorn, as it always turns into a bit of a bunfight between those of us that believe that is a great job for an older teen to sit and do nothing for an evening whilst being paid (so my dc would be more than happy to do that for £20 for the night - presuming 4 -5hours) to those who then suggest that clearly we don't love our dc as much as they do as they "wouldn't possibly consider leaving their child with a stranger" - I kid you not - or those who might, but only someone with 14 years of experience, a professional dbs, 16 written references, and is fully trained as a paediatric nurse.

@BackforGood

This is asked regularly on MN, and is worth marking your place and getting popcorn, as it always turns into a bit of a bunfight between those of us that believe that is a great job for an older teen to sit and do nothing for an evening whilst being paid (so my dc would be more than happy to do that for £20 for the night - presuming 4 -5hours) to those who then suggest that clearly we don't love our dc as much as they do as they "wouldn't possibly consider leaving their child with a stranger" - I kid you not - or those who might, but only someone with 14 years of experience, a professional dbs, 16 written references, and is fully trained as a paediatric nurse.

Uh oh - thanks for the heads up. I didn't think this was a remotely controversial post! £20 seems very cheap to me - when I babysat as a teen I charged £6 per hour which was obviously a long time ago. Maybe I was overpriced haha?

We pay £10/hour for a lady who works in the nursery we use. Two kids, generally in bed throughout.

I don’t think many would do that for £20 these days 😂 the local teen I saw advertising was charging £10 an hour, personally I wouldn’t use a baby sitter so I don’t know what the usual is.

My dd gets paid £30 for an evening (4-5 hours), the family has 2 dc aged 7 and 11.

It depends on your babysitter. Local teen is going to be different from someone from the nursery.

Dd charged £7ph before midnight and £10 after midnight as a teen babysitter.

So, if it is a service you don't use, why do you find it hilarious that someone would be fair and reasonable to parents with young children @Happycat1212 ?

My dds both have, and have had other jobs. My younger dd has just started working in a bar at University. She gets £6.56 an hour for non-stop, on her feet, having to deal with customers who have had too much to drink, and unfortunately who aren't always very nice. She definitely thinks a few hours sat on someone else's sofa - whilst able to carry on doing whatever she would be doing at home anyway, be that studying or facetiming her mates or watching a film or whatever - is easy money, and would happily do that regularly if she knew people in her University City.
The thing with babysitting, is that if you charge an arm and a leg (in most parts of the country) then all that happens is it becomes too expensive to the parents to ever be able to go out.
(When at home) my dd never has to advertise as people come to her by recommendation. As I say - easy money. Plus, even when they are awake, she actually loves looking after little people, so it isn't hard work like her other jobs.
The last two posters sound about right to me, if the sitter is getting themself to and from the job.

I pay £5 for my 16 yr old cousin (3 kids, playing with them or sleeping).

£10 an hour for older girl who picks them up from school, dinner and sometimes overnight.

I’m feeling well tight

This blog article might help you figure out how much to pay a babysitter - blog.safecircle.co.uk/2021/03/18/how-much-to-pay-a-babysitter/

Good luck and I hope you get some nights out again soon