16 year old babysitter during day at weekend

[Newtothis12345]

Hi,
I’ve seen an advert for a 16 year old babysitter, who is off to college soon to do childcare. She has done a bit of babysitting before. I have asked her mother how much she charges but she isn’t sure yet. Before I meet her I thought I’d get advice from others.

We are looking at having her for 3/4 hours on a Sunday- we would be around the house so we wouldn’t expect sole charge at all, it would more be like a big sister role. It would totally depend on the mood of the children but the aim would be to give my husband and I a bit of time to do some exercise, catch up on housework, life admin, etc.

We have 2 toddlers so would expect her to play in the sandpit with one/both, push them on the swing, read the same story 1000 times, do some cooking with one of them etc. Basically be another pair of hands to keep the kids happy.

I’ve seen the minimum wage for under 18s is £5.18/hr. I have used a nanny on an ad hoc basis (she’s mid 30s, totally qualified, has both children sole charge, capable of driving the children, putting them to bed, nappies, keeping the house tidy, cooking for them, not fazed if they’re ill etc), she’s amazing and charges £12/hr. I will keep using her when I need solid childcare for work but she seems a bit over qualified to be an additional pair of hands on a Sunday morning.

Any thoughts?

Hi, yes you’re on the same wavelength as me. The arrangement is just to make the weekends slightly less manic, rather than to be game changing! I could pay £12/hr for our very reliable, very competent nanny to come and help so I was wondering if £6-£7 would be fair or not. I wouldn’t really want to pay much more as if it was much more than I’d prefer to use the nanny who I’ve used in the past. I guess I’ll have to tell her and her mother what I’m willing to pay and she can take it or leave it.

Yes- that’s exactly what I meant- a fun activity for the kids

Yes, this sounds absolutely fine for a sensible 16yo.

We paid a sixth former to pick my kids up from school and hang out for a couple of hours, when the kids were 10 and 8. £10ph, which she thought was generous. Her usual rate for easy evening babysitting was £8. £5.18 is too low.

It sounds absolutely reasonable OP. Great idea and good experience for her.

My only reservation would be whether the kids would be happy to be entertained by her or whether they’d keep trying to find you. Obviously you know how clingy your kids are though and whether it would be an issue.

Thanks for all the helpful replies so far.

What would be a fair hourly wage to offer?

Do what makes u comfortable , just because I have a different opinion than most on here, mumsnetters seem to want to consistently quote me,like that is going to change my opinion, not trying to change /debate with anyone... Hope everything works out for u, goodbye

Thanks for your opinion. Just wondering if you could elaborate- what sort of thing do you think could go wrong?

Sounds fine. I watched my neighbour's kids (a baby and teo primary aged kids) at that age and my babysitter started watching us when she was that age. You'll also be in the house. It's fine.

I'd expect to pay somewhere between £7.50-10/hour. I don't think minimum wage is fair at all

I agree with PP’s to give her a trial and see how it goes. My DD (18) was a helper at a pre-school summer camp at 13 and 14. Adults were always present, but she helped the 3-5 year-olds with their craft activities, organized games, did the snacks, helped supervise when they played outside, etc. She was quite capable of doing this and would’ve carried on except Covid hit.

Not all teenagers are daft and many are quite mature by 16.

It's fine, no wonder so many teenagers go off to uni clueless if they have parents that think 16 is too young to play with a couple of toddlers and bake cakes ! The op isn't even going to be out the house!

@Newtothis12345

I can't believe your nanny is only £12 ph!!

16 is PLENTY old enough for this, I'd say you might even have more luck with younger teenagers.

As others have mentioned, it's not always easy though for the teenager (or nanny!) to 'entertain' the kids when you're there as most kids want their parents attention!

much easier if there's a park nearby or you go out. It's ok to tell them you're 'working' if that's a concept they're familiar with.

As for money, I'd say £6 ish an hour is fine, but if you have her 3 hours round up to £20.

We pay similar for our competent reliable nanny, she was 19 when she started. I was paid around that at 19 back in the day (accounting for inflation and currency), whereas babysitting was closer to £5. Basically I don't think age is what's important here, it's cash and ad hoc so £7/8 is fine, but the more you pay the more reliable she'll probably be.

I agree with this- £5.18 might be ok for evening babysitting (I.e. being present in the house) but not really fair for a more active role. Hard to say but if a trained nanny is £12 an hour then maybe upwards of £7?

What an ignorant close minded comment to make, I have an opinion, that's all.. Grow up

Viewpoints like this do our 16yos a disservice. They’re capable of so much more than you’re giving them credit for.

Sounds good to me OP!

£8

Sounds like a good plan for a sensible 16 yo.

Tbh my 14 yo could manage that.

Completely agree

Unless there are special needs involved

You’re joking?? Surely. Many 16 year olds are capable of babysitting! My 13 year old babysits for me, no problem!!

I wasn't trying to discredit a teen wanting to babysit, I was giving my opinion, and I stand by it, there is no need for people to make asummptions about my future parenting skills or make assumptions based on a harmless opinion, stop quoting me now...

We pay our 15 yo babysitter £7.50/hr cash in hand out in rural Somerset. She walks to us and we drive her home.

If you are in a city and/or she'll have travel costs getting to you then I'd up it to £9/hr I think.

You'd have to contact them and offer it and see what they say! If she's a gem and it goes really well then you might up it if you're getting decent 'time off' with her around...

Definitely one of those parents!

I don’t think her age is the problem, more that it’s difficult to care for children when their parent(s) are around but unavailabile.

Think what u want, whatever makes u sleep better at night... Goodbye

Sounds like a great idea! I'd say £7-8 per hour plus she may need picking up and dropping back home.