Babysitting Costs

[Soap84]

I need some opinions. I have 2 kids - 8 months and almost 4yrs. We've had the same babysitter since our oldest was 18m and she works at our daughter's nursery. She's 21, qualified and lovely. We trust her and are very happy to have her babysitting for us.

Her fees have always been £12ph and we always get food in for her and pay for her taxi home (we're in North London). We've arranged for her to babysit both kids for the first time but she's said her fees are £12 per child, so £24ph!!! Obviously babysitting a baby is more responsibility and we're happy to pay her more than £12, but double is out of our budget. It would mean £150-£200 before we've even gone out!

She has historically charged £12 per child when it's kids from different families (so the cost doesn't fall on one family) but this is just too high a cost for us.

I'm panicking because we don't have any family nearby, so her babysitting has been a bit of a lifeline and I don't want to undervalue her. But we also can't afford that high a cost, except for very very special occasions.

AIBU? Should I talk to her about it? What is the going rate for 2 kids?

No. I don't use the bubble app.

Our current babysitter is a teacher.

We have two others we use occasionally, one is a nanny and the other is a TA.

Shes taking the piss

Babysitting/any income should be taxed but I can almost guarantee she won't be self employed and declare it so £12 for her age is fine the more I think about it

A little extra maybe as caring for a newborn but equally they may be asleep /need a bottle and that's it

Any professional childcarer knows that nannies /babysitters charge per family and not child

Massive cheeky

It's not her knowing her worth

As she isn't worth that !!

South East, 7ph for teenagers, £10 adults £15 for qualified nursery staff, thats for 2 children. Only time we were asked to pay extra was when friends were visiting (with a baby).

My colleague uses someone from the bubble app.
The app itself takes a big chunk off the first sit (I think 25%).
Colleague regularly uses a degree qualified and highly experienced childcare worker with a DBS. Many more qualified and experienced sitters on there as well she has said. Of course you get the teenagers but it's up to you whether you choose them or not.

We're in North West London and it's about 20-22 for that age. Sorry but that age is so much more work than older kids. I think 12 is quite low to begin with. We pay 20 for 2 kids 2yo and 8yo.

I haven’t read all the thread but 12 per child is ridiculous. I have 3 kids and we pay between 12 and 15 per hour in London

I recently started using MyKiddy Sitter and found it really useful for getting a rough idea of local babysitting rates. You can filter by area and sitter experience, which helped me compare what people typically charge. It gave me a better sense of what’s reasonable instead of just guessing or relying on mates' opinions. Definitely made me feel more confident about what to offer.