One-off Babysitting - How much to pay?

[Moomin]

Can anyone give me some quick advice?
Our lovely lovely childminder also does a spot of babysitting for us and won't take any money - just a bottle of wine and some nibbles usually.

However, we have some friends coming at the weekend with a 20m old and a 6m old. They never get out so we've arranged for our childminder to come round with her hubby, get to know the other 2 babies, the parents put them all to bed and settle them then go out for a meal.

We've insisted that we pay her this time, and we're splitting the cost with the other couple. I'd also like to pay for her and her dh to have a takeaway while they're here. But how much shall I offer her? What's the going rate? Is it per child or per potentially nightmarish evening?!!
What would you suggest?

I think it really depends on where you are based. We pay £6.00 per hour on the weekend and if there are additional kids then it is up to us to decide whether or not we increase that. Regarding dinner, why don't you get a couple of menus from your local take-aways and leave what you think the meal would come to if you were ordering for yourself and your husband? Also if she absolutely refuses payment, why don't you buy her a voucher for a facial or something special like that?

Oops - I meant money for the take-away, not ordering on their behalf!! Sorry.

In Kent, childminders who do babysitting on WE get £5/hour... and if babies are already in bed... then I don't think more is necessarily justified!