£5 an hour to babysit!!!!!!

[FlusteredFairy1]

I am gobsmacked that a mum (not mb) thought she could get me to babysit at £5 an hour. I often do it cheaply (not that cheap though) with meal included for 2 local mums. But £5 was taking the proverbial. I am not greedy and charge £6.50 - £8.50 depending on location. I get loads just from these two as they can go out more often. I love nannying which is full on and babysitting is sitting usually !!!!! So therefore smaller fee. Any thoughts?

If she's new to the world of babysitting then a round sum figure of £5 would be an understandable start point?

Just say no and move on.

She's not new. She told me she texted all the babysitters she knew after I quoted £7.50 an hour and got a better deal. She has 3 children - 10,8 and 4.
I have said no and shall stick to my 2 mums.

Thanks for your thoughts Pedlar.

I think parents often see it as easy money, after all the babysitter is doing what they themselves would be doing, if the kids are in bed. They don't seem to realise actually, we have to get there, get home after. We're in someone else's house so can't do what we'd be doing. We have to cancel plans, or turn down things. Worse is when you get there to be told they'll only be two hours, or they just randomly get home early and you end up with less than you thought you'd get and still have a disrupted evening! Or parents who work it out to the 15 minute.

The problem with baby sitting is that there are plenty of lovely young teens prepared to do it for peanuts. A young sixteen year old who has started a nursery nurse course might be content £4 per hour. Depending on the age of your children such an arrangement could be fine.

I have about 5 babysitters I can call on - 3 teenagers at £5ph who are naturally my first port of call (especially if it's a late one as they never mind the hours & like the extra cash) but if they can't sit I have 2 CM's who charge £7ph.
I know a few nannies who could sit for me but I can't afford/ever justify their £9-10ph rate when I can get someone far cheaper & as my DC are 5 & 8 and usually in bed by 8pm I don't feel they need expertise!

Oh gosh then she's a cheeky mare!

Depends what sort of babysitting it is tbh. Id do it for £5ph if it involved turning up at 7pm, putting them to bed and nine and watching tv til midnight.

Daytime - having to feed and entertain them - more.

I don't think she's necessarily cheeky offering £5ph but suspect she's bunching all babysitters together & not realising you do childcare for a living so are inevitably going to charge more than a teenager wanting some pocket money.

Eta she has older children so presumably thinks no real input needed but IME they can be the hardest work & you definitely don't get a nice quiet evening to yourself!!

I have 3 young teens who do sit for me for £5/ hour. We buy them in treats, have DVDs. Dh always walks them home, we round up to the nearest hour and we tip if we are late.

I don't really see what you are getting excited about. You asked for £7.50 and she offered £5, which you are perfectly at liberty to decline. It would be different if it was MB or you felt somehow pressured to accept. The comparisons she has apparently done may or may not be genuine (but I would have thought she would have accepted one of them if she had really had a lot of better offers). I get loads of enquiries from people telling me how much they have decided to pay and I just say that this is not what I charge. They are usually still looking weeks later.

So what if you don't get a nice quiet evening to yourself. That's what you are being paid for. And I think £5.00 per is perfectly reasonable.

To me I think:

£5 babysitter = local teen, ok to sit in house with children 4+ who often are already in bed or go to bed easily. Few hrs max

£8 babysitter = nursery nurse, can look after most ages, put to bed, can help settle, Maybe feed food left for them

£10-15 babysitter = nanny. Suitable all ages if experienced. Can leave tiny baby if needed, overnight, can settle babies and children not as used to being left. Can make dinner and start early / finish late if needed. Should know all current guidelines for milk feeding/ weaning/ safe baby sleep, and have up to date first aid etc

For myself I would leave mine with £5 teen if just poping locally to friends/ bar around corner etc. however if I was planning an evening out the other side of town I would be happier paying £10+ For experienced nanny for peace of mind that they would know what to do in emergency without panicking etc.

Sounds like easy money to me. I babysat as a teen, plush house, kids were in bed and rarely woke. I was given full access to the biscuit/chocoltae tin and fridge. I would sit and eat treats for four hours while watching TV and be paid £20 for it.

I don't think £5ph (out of which there is likely to be fuel cost + travelling time) is unreasonable but it also isn't enough to be working all evening so hoping for a few hours watching tv isn't unreasonable either.

I expect to pay £5 an hour for a babysitter. That's just for an unqualified teenager though.

We paid £4 per hour, but we arranged for a lift/ taxi for the teen afterwards.

If you think about it a £5 teen is no different to an au pair looking after kids.

My usual rate of pay for my day job is £30/hour. If I did babysitting I wouldn't expect that because it's not the same job. The rate of pay goes with the job, not the person. Although most often the person will choose the work they do to maximise their earning potential.

£5/hour to do your own thing in someone else's house is a fair rate for a teenager. The mother just needs to work out whether she needs a nanny for the evening or a teenaged babysitter.

God I used to babysit for £5 a night when I was a teenager! (Late 90's).

I'm with artandco. It depends on age of children and what is needed, but she has pretty much summed it up, and I would charge the latter as I am a qualified nanny with newborn experience (only if looking after babies though). I would also be willing to pay these amounts if my children needed a babysitter.

5 pounds is unreasonable. If she offers this amount in future either just say a polite no or say that you´d be happy to do it for your usual rate of x.

I wouldn't pay anyone more than 5 per hour to sit and watch my TV, use my wifi, drink my tea and eat my biscuits whilst my kids were asleep upstairs.

Sorry OP - but 7.50????

Middle aged that's fine but you will find not many are willing to work for that amount.

I used to be paid 10/hour to babysit sleeping children 5 years ago. I saw it as a good deal, but also had loads of business so it was a rate families were willing to pay (central London, I was a student with little experience).

Middle - that's not the case with every family though. Some a 7pm-10pm babysit would include bathing and sorting out x3 children, getting older two to sleep, feeding baby a bottle, settling baby to sleep, toddler wakes having wet bed, feed baby again, eldest has nightmare... Etc.. But hardly any time watching TV. Every family is different and therefore every babysit will require diff things.

My teenager charges £5 and I charge £10. She normally gets picked, does a few hours and gets paid a round £20.

My babysitter, qualified nursery nurse only asked £5 an hour, I always rounded it up because she came a long way.

I guess she'd be more now, but unless your in London it's likely people will find someone who wants less than your asking.

My 13y would probably do it for free, she loves small DCs.

I haven't sent her Babysitting yet, I want her to 14 and have done a first aid course.