babysitting - what's the going rate?

[eleanorsmum]

Hi-going out this fri for first time with hubby since dd born 11mths ago. leaving dd with neighbours 16 year old daughter and need to know how much i should pay her for babysitting. DD will be in bed when she comes over so she will only be listening should she wake (but never does, likes her sleep too much!!). As she is next door there are no travel costs to worry about and her mum will be on hand should anything go terribly wrong - but it wont i have to keep telling myself or we'll never go out! So do i pay hourly or a flat rate for the evening (should be home by 10.30) thanks!

When I started babysitting as a teenager I got £1.50 per hour (that was 16 years ago), when looking after the children aged 3 and 6 living next door.

These days I get between £8 and £12 per hour.
I am a qualified Nursery Nurse, Maternity Nurse and am Approved by Surestart and cleared by Ofsted - and of course have a huge amount of experience... plus it is rare that children I care for are ever in bed when I arrive!

Perhaps best to ask your next door neighbours daughter how much she wants for the evening... she may want say £10, she may want less, or more. Let her dictate what she wants and as long as you feel it's reasonable go with that.

it partly depends which bit of the country you are in as to the rates - sitters rates are 5.25 per hour in my area but a bit more in London

Am in south wales. thought a tenner for the night would be ok? just wanted to be sure. will check thats ok with her when she comes round the the afternoon to spend some time with dd on fri before we go out.

I babysat alot when a student and decided to follow the same principal of payment now i have 2DS's. We agreed with our babysitter that we would always pay her £10 up to midnight ( even if it was sometimes 2hrs & sometimes 4 or 5 )& then £15 after midnight- it's never usually much after midnight. It just makes it easy for everyone concerned & I don't think there are any winners or losers, it tends to even out over the course of time. Hope this is of help

God I've just seen the date, this is dead & probably no-one will ever read my advice!!! What a twit!!

£10 per hour do you mean, or £10 in total?

£10 per hour sounds good to me... out of interest, what part of the country are you in - location does seem to make a difference when it comes to childcare rates.

We pay our babysitter £20 a night.
It is easy money for her, as we always have the kids in bed for her, before she gets here & she sits in our lounge watching all the satellite channels that she can't get at home!

I meant £10 a night, & if it's an early start (like 7pm ) we pay for a home delivery carry out too.We live on the NE coast of Scotland & it seems to be fair for here. The babysitters are daughters of friends of ours so they are quite relaxed about it & know they are always welcome to bring friends with them when they ask.

Wow 10 pounds for the whole night!, I wouldn't get a baby sitter around my way for that, thats probably why we have only been out once since they were born as it cost me 30 pounds for 4hrs!!. I have to say as a Nanny as well as a mum I didn't baby sit for anyless than 6.25 an hr and if it's passed midnight it's time and a half, but that's normal for nannies around here.

Sounds like you have a good deal

I don't think anyone round here would ever go out if they had to pay money like that. I'm gobsmacked!! Mind you if you babysit as a Nanny then you can expect Nanny rates I suppose. In my case the girls ,who we know & trust, enjoy the use of a warm meeting place some food & access to cable TV.

Forgot to ask twinmummy04 , where are you from - & i hope it's not the East coast of Scotland or I'm well out of touch!

Dodsey I'm from Bath not the East coast of Scotland so don't worry.
I probably could get a cheaper babysitter (about 5 pounds an hrs although thats not cheap either really) if I didn't use a Nanny but while my boys are young I wouldn't use anyone else other than my parents who don't live near enough, so we will be staying in for the next 5yrs or so or Hubby will have to earn more, I perfer the last option

Yes living near family ,& friends you've grown up with ,can make life easier when it comes to childcare - although no doubt some people would prefer not to!! What a relief we live miles away from each other twinmummy04 ( in a nice way!! )

we pay £7 or £8 an hour and a taxi home..seems to be the going rate in West london

we pay £7 or £8 an hour and a taxi home..seems to be the going rate in West london

We use Surrey Childcare's online babysitting service, and babysitters on there charge anything from £6 to £10. You probably get what you pay for, although very happy with a £7 hour girl. If you find someone you trust, pay them what they are asking for.

Becky, you didn't mention the agency fee... Surrey Childcare charge £145 per year - so that can make it very expensive if a parent isn't going out very often.

This thread is like going back in time, I see a message from my self, posted over 2 years ago!

Can you tell i'm new, didn't notice the dates. OOps. We go out about once a week, so only works out just over 2 quid a booking. Much cheaper than paying a booking fee everytime.

In that case Becky, welcome to mumsnet. We are a friendly bunch most of the time, so do feel free to post whenever it takes your fancy.

Going out every week it certainly makes sense to pay an annual fee rather than per-booking fees.

I charge £7 per hour

I live in Hertfordshire, I charge £7.00. It depends on the family and they'er circumstances....If the family are awesome but cannot afford £7.00 I will drop it down to what they can afford without putting myself into poverty.

..over here in the Euro zone I believe it's about 7-9 euros per hour...

Hello All. We pay £8 hour for most of our babysitters who also come from the same babysitting service. Most are qualified or experienced at that rate though. Wouldn't fancy using a teenager for the sake of a few quid.