Now… The mother of the 3 children asked me to do my first overnight with the 3 children starting at around 4 through to around 1 or 2 the next afternoon. Keep in mind this means 3 meals for 3 children prepared by me. WHAT DO I CHARGE?????

ps i NEVER use the phone or computer (besides once to find out what to make for dinner because all i had was plain pasta and i had o figure out what to do with it) even after i put them to bed, i rarely watch tv, i bring a book to read and/ or clean up the kitchen and the childrens toys the might have left behind

i also give baths and as stated above, cook for them

do you think im being paid enough?

I am 25, in college, and have an extensive childcare background which includes working with infants and children with special needs. I am CPR and First Aid certified and have gone through STARS training.

I currently charge $13 an hour for 1 child and $2 an hour extra for each additional child. At this time, I am working mostly with families which have infants or special needs children.

I do agree that $13 an hour is a lot of money, but for me babysitting and nannying is my only source of income. I am not provided with any health benefits and thus my insurance is paid out of pocket. Because childcare is my line of work, I take a very professional approach to my job.

If you are hiring a kid for a one night gig while you go out on the town, I would say $13 an hour is too much. But if the person you are hiring is going to be spending a significant amount of time with your child, it is worth it to pay them the extra money. Finding someone who loves helping to raise other people’s children is rare and when you find that sitter/nanny you’ll want to hold on to them. Save the big bucks for those young men and women you would rather teach and play with your child instead of just “watch” them.

The one thing I hate is I also used to tutor ($20 for 40 minutes) and parents would try to sneak in some homework help while I was sitting. I don’t mind helping out with a question or two, but I’m not going to sit down and give a total lesson for a cheaper price.

Also, currently most of the sitters here in Philly and on the Mainline make about $15 an hour.

When I started babysitting I got paid 50cents an hour. {{GRINS}} guess that is telling my age!

Maybe I should go back into babysitting. I know that daycare cost is really high too, glad my baby is 25.

i get paid about 4 bucks an hour. i find this completely fair. if you really think about it, for the 3 hours till the parents come home, i am getting paid to sit there and do homework, watch tv, and text. i do pay attention to the kids. they are good kids, and i have fun watching them. in the summer, i get paid the same but i am saved from a day of boredom sitting at home.

these people are very sweet and the kids are adorable. during the school year, it helps me stay concentrated on my studies instead of doing things i shouldnt. i believe i am getting paid fairly.

Actually, they were kinda crappy — cancelling at the last minute and not paying me, pushing the time back five minutes before I was to ride down in the elevator. They totally took advantage of me.

As a college-educated professional babysitting on the side in Manhattan for two little ones, I should have been getting at least $18 an hour.

I don’t expect housework to be done, but the sitter should clean up if they have a snack and help the kids tidy any toys they played with. Once kids are asleep, TV, texting, homework etc are all ok with me.

You couldn’t pay me enough to watch/clean up after them, but that’s why I’m their mom. I do it for free. We live in a small community in a mid-Central state.

When I was a nanny (only one summer), I got paid absolute garbage–it worked out to lower than minmum wage–but I was only 19 then. (And to top it off the kids were AWFUL!)

A family that I sat for had a nanny (in addition to me coming once a week). She was also a college student, and she was paid a flat rate of $400 a week for 45 hours a week since there was more downtime spread throughout the whole day.

Anyway, I never got paid much. It usually worked out to $2 or $3 per hour, no matter how many kids. I usually sat for kids who were already potty-trained, so that was a plus. The parents would tell me I could eat whatever I wanted and sometimes left out yummy snacks for me, so I guess that was part of the compensation.

I’m pregnant with my firstborn so I don’t know when I’ll be hiring a babysitter (not for awhile, likely) but especially while he’s little and unable to speak, I’d want to leave him with someone who knows what they’re doing with babies. If that means paying someone $10-$15 an hour, that’s what I’ll do.

im 14 and im kinda wondering how much to charge? i was thinking around like 8-12/hour