How much should it cost for a sitter for DS aged nearly 5?

[TheSweetLittleBunny]

We have hardly been out since he was born. Now that he is older we really want our social life back!

It would be about once a month for an evening out, 5 hours max, most of the time he'd be asleep as his bedtime is 8 o'clock.

So how much do you reckon. We are going to ask a couple of the girls at his nursery if they can do it? How much should I pay per hour?

i am in the South East and the nursery nurses at DS's nursery charged £10 per hour

am sure it varies tho'

£10.00 . These girls are at NVQ level 3 or 3. We are in EMids, but still £10 seems an awful lot for a sitter!

NVQ level 2 or 3 I meant.

You could register with www.sitters.co.uk

they are all fully NVQ'd up!

also, as i said i am down south, so prices are generally higher

£5.55 week nights and £6.05 Sats with Sitters

streuth don't you have any friends you can swap with?

The friend who we would most likely sway with is completing her PHd at present - so this is not the best time! We are doing lots of child swapping at the beginning of Sept when both our children start school for half days. Other than that we have not known anyone here long enough to leave DS with them. All other friends and family live in London.

In Surrey, as a qualified nursery nurse when I babysit I get £10 per hour.

I would expect costs in the Midlands to be lower, but they may not be that much lower, for someone who is childcare trained and who has childcare experience. It will depend on market forces as well as other factors. I expect range will be: £4-£10 per hour.

If asking nursery staff... ask them what they want to be paid, then see if that is an amount you will pay or not. Negotiate.
Note: Check nursery contract (if your son still attends the nursery) as some nurseries make a charge for using their staff as babysitters.

East Midlands does not provide me with a town/city location... so I will have a guess:

Looking through childcare job adverts on Gumtree can help you establish likely pay rates
Leicester Gumtree
Nottingham Gumtree
Derby Gumtree

If you are not near one of those, try looking on the Gumtree List to find your nearest location.

Sheesh!
At £10 ph we wouldn't be able to afford to go out at all.
Do you know any responsible teenagers that would babysit for the price of a pizza and control over the tv remote?

If using an agency don't forget to add their additional costs such as Booking Fee and Membership fee.

Asking someone at your son's nursery, is likely to be cheaper than using an agency.

Let the babysitter decide how much they want to be paid, then you are in a much better position to either accept it, or negotiate it.

im also in south and charge £10 with a min of 4hrs - but I am ancient at 35 and have beeen a sole charge qualified nanny for 17 years

sure you would be able to get a younger girl for 5/6ph or someone from nursery who prob earn min wage there, and would be happy to bs for less than what i charge

all depends on area you are ,but if you went through an agency then prob be looking at 6-8ph

without casting aspersions on any mners .. I am agog that anyone would need someone to be qualified to sit in your house whilst your children sleep .. nor that they would pay that much money .. how can anyone afford to actually spend any money on going out if the babysitting costs £40 to start with

find a reliable teenager / neighbour or use friends or join / create a babysitting circle

Twigglet, I suspect it's about peace of mind. Some parent's want to have a babysitter who they know has experience and training, whereas other's will be happy with a local teenager who may have only cared for their own siblings.
Some parents for example want to use an agency, not put an ad up or respond to an ad at the local newsagent/or online. Again, I suspect it's about peace of mind, plus also probably convenience - as they don't have to go about recruiting someone, just need to call the agency.
Wish I did know all the factors that went into a parent deciding to choose a childcare provider.

TSLB - do let us know how you get on with asking the nursery staff. Will be interesting to find out how much they would be wanting to be paid.

I'm surprised it costs as much as a tenner per hour. We once used a girl from his other nursery when he was younger and I think we paid her about £5 - 6 per hour.

For me it's not that they have to be qualified, it's just that the nursery has a ready supply of potential babysitters. My only criteria for someone to look after DS is that they are trustworthy, my son likes them and that we have known them for a little while (ie about a year minimum).

Im a qualified nanny and i would be happy with £6 an hour babysitting, I'd probably feel bad taking £10 an hour especially if the children were in bed. I no you are responsible for the children when the parents are out and it is your time that its taking up but when the children are asleep all you have to really do is watch tv.

Is it possible to set up your own babysitting circle with some like minded other parents.

I'm always touting this site but if you go to www.mynightoff.com as well it is absolutely fab, free to use and means that someone you know will be looking after your children. Ours has mushroomed due to word of mouth so there are 8 mums in it which provides a good pool of people. You do of course have to do reciprocal babysitting, but i never mind that unless people are back late when you have got to grit your teeth and pretend you don't mind, but you usually get good biscuits.

I am in east midlands and a qualified childrens nurse I charge £10 an hr but know some nursery nurses in area who charge £7.50 an hr.

I charge £10 an hr as experienced and very qualified for babysitting and this is the same I charge for nanny work too. I am never despeserate for work so dont ever reduce rates.

I have many families who pay me £10 an hr and one pays me £10 an hr to be asleep so i get up with the chilren in the morning and they have a lie in. They also pay me an extra hr as its 30mins each way to their house!!

Ah jura, you'd be surprised at what constitutes a good night out chez rookie

a baby sitting circle sounds a good idea - I assume your ds will start school in sept - maybe you and some other mums can start one

I dont feel bad for charging £10 for sitting on my bum (as bs can be )- people seem happy to pay it as there are quite a few nannies I know who charge £8 - YET the famillies ring me first

ROOKIE I had a look at the site you mentioned - and it looks good

im in E midlands and used to do babysitting when i worked at a nursery. I charged standard rate of £20 BEFORE midnight and then charged hourly rate of £4 after midnight.
Currently pay my 16 year old neighbour £5 a night!

as some of you know i have run babysitting course for teenagers aged 14-18yrs and we say to them once they have finished the course depending on if they have any experience some 18yr old do have a bit we say £2.50 an hr for 14yr old upto £5/6 an hr for an 18yr old with bit of experience. That is east midlands.

I think you are right - exchanging babysitting favours with people you know sounds like a great idea. I just feel a bit guilty about someone leaving their own child to look after mine. Last time I did something like that DS went round to theirs for the evening, which worked very well.