Babysitting rate?

nmc29

DS's teacher at daycare has been begging us to babysit DS for ages now.  We've never had anyone but family watch DS and have no idea what to pay her. 

What's the going rate?  And would you give her gas money included - she's driving about a 1/2 hour to get to us.

Thanks

debfife

We pay $10/hour but usually give some extra at the end of the night. 

MrsDB

i wouldn't pay gas money/drive time unless it's a situation where you're in a bind and only need her help for an hour. 

10-15 an hour is pretty much standard in much of NJ. what area are you in?  

debfife

I wanted to add that our sitter is a girl from school too. When we first asked the girls at school if they babysit, they told us they charge $10/hour. 

AmyRob04

Have you asked her? Anywhere between $10 and $15/hour is normal. You don't have to pay her for gas - she knows she's got o drive 30 minutes, she needs to figure that into her costs.

nmc29

AmyRob04:

Have you asked her? Anywhere between $10 and $15/hour is normal. You don't have to pay her for gas - she knows she's got o drive 30 minutes, she needs to figure that into her costs.

We did ask her and she told us she didn't want any money..lol.  DH won't let that fly, so we wondered what the going rate was.

AmyRob04

nmc29:

AmyRob04:

Have you asked her? Anywhere between $10 and $15/hour is normal. You don't have to pay her for gas - she knows she's got o drive 30 minutes, she needs to figure that into her costs.

We did ask her and she told us she didn't want any money..lol.  DH won't let that fly, so we wondered what the going rate was.

Whatis her demo? We pay our sitter $15 but she's got a BA in early childhood education, is the head teacher at his old preschool, etc. We paid a college student who was a room aide in his daycare and drove about 25 minutes $12. Other sitters, $10. I think 12 is fair. You can't pay her  nothing. I think it's a little weird that she'd drive that far and offer to sit for free after begging you...

nmc29

She's young.  I know she's still in college..I think she's around 19 or 20.  She really loves her job.  She's wonderful with Riley and loves all the kids.  She's one of the assistant teachers in his classroom.  Riley absolutely loves her, constantly talks about her and even shares his cookies (which he won't even do with me).

I think $12 sounds good.  It's nice to have another babysitter that we can use now, since family isn't always available.

HarrietNJMommy

$10/hour. Gas money is not included. And I don't count the drive to/from my house.

To me, babysitting is a job. The commute is what it is. If you live around the corner, you have a shorter commute. If you don't, then you have a longer one.

ETA: we pay $15/hour but we have 3 kids. If I had 1 kid, I'd be paying $10/hour. 

TARAnj

I remember wanting to babysit certain kids at daycare when I worked there....even for free cause I loved those kids so very much. (I was 19/20)  I don't think it's weird, but yeah...you have to give her something.