cost of babysitters, i am really out of touch

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i know i am totally out of touch here. Tonight hubby & I are going out tonight for the first time since daughter was born 10 months ago. Found a trusted person to babysit who tells me going rate is £6 per hour. We don't live in london and knowing nothing about this I was quite pleased when she first told me this hourly rate thinking it sounded cheap. But as I am about to go to the cash point now to get money to pay her I realised that our anticipated hours out of the house (about 4) are likely to cost us the same if not slightly less than the two main meals at the pub we are going to and so there is quite a good chance that we pay more to the babysitter than we spend whilst out. I know I know that that is not the point and it is quality time and the chance to go out etc and maybe it is our own fault for not blowing the budget and going the whole hog in the 4 hours we are away but that is not really our style. I guess it will be a learning curve to me conclusion of which is don't go out make your own fun at home! (No family members living nearby before anyone says it!!)Right, let the abuse start if you think i am totally out of touch and that is just the way things work!!

Oh and in Belgium it's sort of expected that the babysitter puts the dcs to bed + that they sleep over as evenings out in Belgium, because that way there's no clock watching or worrying about having to drive the babysitter home (and so not being able to drink much). So this put to bed service all sounds a bit strange to me. Actually, when I lived in the US, it was also expected that the babysitter put the dcs to bed.

Milknosugar, where in north London are you? I desperately need to expand my 'bank' of babysitters as I have only one, plus another who never seems to be available. We're in N5.

I'm a babysitter in Cambridge. Charge £5 per hour, which I know is cheaper than a lot of people around here but am more than happy with that. Two out of the 5 families I babysit pay well over that (we tend to have a too-ing and fro-ing of money at pay time!) 22 years old and have 3 years full time childcare experience. Started babysitting 8 years ago on £10 for the evening (4-5hours!)

We often spend more on the babysitter than the night out. It is just part of life really.

Going rate in London is 8-10/hour.

D'oh.... £20-£30

I wouldn't pay a teen more than the minimum wage for babysitting. About £3.50 an hour. S'not really hard work, is it

We pay £7.50 an hour, don't go out much!

Surely min wage is more than 3.50 an hour though?

min wage for under 18 is £3.50ish an hour

dogofpoints it's responsible work though isn't it? If our babysitter screws up at her other job (checkout at the local Morrisons) then it's just money. The responsbility when she's in charge of my kids is much greater.

As for whether or not it's hard work - well that depends on the kids. If my youngest is teething, it's not exactly a bunch of laughs.

You have the trust the person natch. You wouldn't get any old teen in. But - and let's just be honest here - watching telly and mooching around getting snacks after packing children off to bed is not hard work.

And there's always a mobile number by the phone.

I normally pay one of my local teens a fiver an hour to babysit, but when none are available I use a lovely N London agency that charge £7 p/hr and do the ironing. Fantastic.

It's got to be cheaper than marriage counselling! (that you might need if you never get to go out with your OH and say 'oh actually yes, I do still fancy you, you're great' etc.)

Can i ask a question?
Only one poster mentioned tips and another one mentioned the word 'embarassement'.
Am i the only one who rounds up the total/tops up with a tip?

The way i see it is different than daytime childcare. Going out is not compulsory.I 'd rather go out less often than haggling like mad. When i go out i thank the waiter and tip. The same with the taxi driver. I don't say 'oh you are lucky, if you worked in tesco you wouldn't get this..'. So why not say 'thank you' and give a proper rate and a tip to the babysitter? If she 's lucky and the baby doesn't wake up, and she sits on the sofa eating that's great, good for her. After all if i had good time too i'm happy.

As mentioned above I babysit, I used to babysit two boys 5 and 8, parents both GP's. Babysitting would involve entertaining, getting them into pj's, brushing teeth, reading story, then popping upstairs for an hour- 90 mins telling them to go to sleep.

One night the parents came home, at that time I was charging £4 an hour, ended up that they worked out the owed me £18.50.

They had a twenty pound note, and a £5 note, they gave me the fiver along with £12 worth of change as they didn't have enough to add up to £18.50. I even offered to give them the £1-50 therfore meaning they could give me £20.

I have never been so cheesed off!Following time the boys spent the evening swearing and running outside to pee in the garden. Told the parents I would no longer be avaliable after that!!

Claire ! What mean buggers!

Just because you pay a baby sitter/local teen more than the minimun wage doesn't mean they will be any better/more focused in a real emergency.

How much would you pay for a childcare professional? (ie a staff member from a nursery?) I asked at my daughter's nursery (in Liverpool) and the manager said she does it and would charge £10/hr. So we've never done it! But now reading the posts here, maybe I should ask one of the girls - maybe they would charge less.

Indeed!! They called back a few months later asking if I'd come back (I didn't!)

babysitting is responsible work. Think back to when you had your pfb and you wouldn't even leave them with anyone (I nearly had an anxiety attack while having a nursing bra fitted with dh sitting with dd outside the cubicle in John Lewis!). My child is the most precious thing in my world and i need to completely feel confident with the person I leave her with.

I set up my directory so people with disabled children could get hold of people who could sit for their chidlren, wit the confidence of knowing they had sepcific experience.

When I start babysitting for a family I go round first to meet mum/dad taking id, passport, utility bill and crb. I produce refs if they want and I talk about routines, what they expect and what I want. Then I meet the children and then they decide if they want me to look after their little ones.

Teens can be great - I've used teens myself and they are great for older ones but i wouldnt want to stress them out caring for little ones.

I wish there was an answer to this age old conundrum but we do all need to go out!

the answer is having friends and family who will do it

scampadoodle im in n19 but will travel

whereabouts are you?

milk

x

I've just had a thought, how about those with kids doing babysitting themselves - ok, you mught have to drag your little on ewith you but what a great way to earn some extra cash and then, save up to blow it all on a fab night for yourself sometime? worth considering no?

family who BABYSIT??

don't make me laugh , pigs will fly first

and usually friends have something on........

I agree OP, having a night out when you have to pay for a babysitter makes it really expensive, we go out about twice a year because of that

'I set up my directory so people with disabled children could get hold of people who could sit for their chidlren, wit the confidence of knowing they had sepcific experience.

I wish there was an answer to this age old conundrum but we do all need to go out! '

That would be a good idea here! We were offered 'Time for you' from social services but none of their sitters were trained for emergency epilepsy meds or could feed a quad or tube feed. Which was a bit daft as the service is aimed at those with disabled children (its free)
So we get a takeaway once a month. I eat at the table, dh eats with dd screaming over his shoulder (she hates being ignored). I'd love to go out one day!