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Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

Childcare

How much do you pay your babysitter?

62 replies

ssd · 27/02/2005 19:29

Following on from the last thread, I was wondering how much you all pay your babysitters and what area you are in?

We're hardly ever out, but I guess the £2 an hour I got as a teenager to babysit might have gone up a bit?

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Cod · 27/02/2005 19:30

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biglips · 27/02/2005 19:31

me and DP goes to college on tuesday nights for 3 hours so we pay £10 for 4 hours babysit (liverpool area)

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happymerryberries · 27/02/2005 19:32

Some of them charge £4 an hour, andother charges £10 for the job, up to 11 and then a suppliment if we are later....don't think that has ever happened!

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KatieMac · 27/02/2005 19:32

Well I pay my normal girl about £2 an hour.

I got someone else in 'an emergency' who asked for £3.50 an hour (she was only 18) - I nearly fell over - I only get £3 an hour as a c/mer

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pipsy1 · 27/02/2005 19:34

Wow! We are in Kent and pay £4-5 an hour. Mind you when I used to babysit 10-15 years ago I used to charge £5 an hour so I don't think its too bad. Prefer to get grandma if poss though else it makes a night out doubly expensive

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Cod · 27/02/2005 19:36

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soapbox · 27/02/2005 19:38

£6 per hour but we use our nanny so its overtime rate, or another woman who is in her 30s so can't get away with the teenager rates.

As far as I can work out round here (SE london/kent borders) teenage sitters get around £4 per hour.

TBH I'm happy to pay more for the peace of mind that the babysitters are suitable qualified to deal with any emergencies - both are police checked and have current first aid certificates.

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WideWebWitch · 27/02/2005 19:38

We pay £4.50 an hour via sitters, plus a £4 arrangement fee per booking plus £13 iirc for quarterly membership of Sitters. We're in Bristol.

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uwila · 27/02/2005 19:38

Between £4 and £6 per hour, rounded to the nearest half hour.

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roisin · 27/02/2005 19:44

It does depend what you're asking them to do though. When we have babysitter now ds2 is asleep in bed and never stirs, ds1 is in bed reading and needs encouraging to switch his light off at a reasonable hour.

But basically the babysitter gets a night of peace and quiet away from her three brothers, with free rein on the TV, PC, DVD/Video/CD player and anything she can find in the kitchen. We usually pay £10 as long as we are not late back, and she's very happy with that.

If I was expecting someone to entertain the kids more, feed them, read them stories and put them to bed, I would expect to pay more.

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roisin · 27/02/2005 19:46

We paid £6 per hr at Center Parcs, which I thought was a LOT as babysitter had nothing to do except be there to escort them out if the place was on fire.

BUT it was worth it ... we went to the Spa

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katierocket · 27/02/2005 19:47

£5 per hour - it's one of the nursery nurses at DS's nursery

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foxinsocks · 27/02/2005 19:50

I think we pay £5 an hour - it usually ends up being around £20 for a night.

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SenoraPostrophe · 27/02/2005 19:54

My babysitter asked around and discovered that the going rate is 7E per hour for evenings, 6E per hour in the day. But since mine are always asleep she only ever charges me 5E per hour and we usually have a silly argument over whether or not i pay for the extra half hour (I usually don't have enough change anyway so she usually wins). Bless her.

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mafalda1 · 27/02/2005 21:07

Hi there, I work for Sitters in central London and the going ratye is 6.25ph, for other parts of london its 5.75 ph. Hope that helps

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Cod · 27/02/2005 21:09

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Bonkerz · 27/02/2005 21:10

I do babysitting and charge a flat rate of £20 per night but then i am a qualified childminder. The kids are usually in bed for me and i just sit!!

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Cod · 27/02/2005 21:10

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ChicPea · 27/02/2005 21:12

Golly, a friend of mine is paying £8.50 per hour in Wapping. I thought it sounded a bit high when she told me. The person has 20 years childcare exp, maybe that is the going rate for somebody of that calibre?

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Dahlia · 27/02/2005 21:34

We pay a flat rate of £15 for the evening. But I do the odd bit of sitting for Sitters and their rate of pay is £5 per hour (Manchester).

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Bozza · 27/02/2005 21:34

But if the kids are in bed do you really need someone with 20 years childcare experience? Not that I can really comment on this because I have never paid for a baby sitter. This means that I don't go out often. or at least not with DH.

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PennyLane79 · 08/04/2005 19:21

Oh my gosh £2 an hour. Are these 14 year olds from down the street?
As I'm a nanny but I wouldn't even go out my door let alone start my car for that hahaha. I charge £7 per hour and the nice family I reguarly babysit for usually rounds it up as well.

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ssd · 08/04/2005 19:36

PennyLane79 I'm a childminder who gets £2.75 an hour.I used to be a nanny and got a lot more, that was before I had kids....

Never say never....

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kama · 08/04/2005 19:55

This reply has been deleted

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RTMTMML · 08/04/2005 19:59

We pay £4 an hour. The youngest kids are normally in bed but even if they aren't I have a nice network of babysitters who are more than happy to send them on their way.

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