How much is the going rate for a babysitter?

freebiequennie

Going rate really depends on age, experience and area (and how much parents want to pay!!)

I run babysitting courses for 13-17yr olds as part of my job and we suggest after completing the course they charge from £2.50 (for a 13yr old with little experience) upto £5/£6 an hr (for a 17yr old with experience of babysitting for a few families)

Here in the east midlands for a nursery nurse or nanny to babysit you would be looking at £6 - £10 an hr the higher rate being for someone very very experienced and qualified maybe for a newborn or a baby/child with medical problems or special needs needing that little bit of extra care.

It really does vary and think parents have to pay for the best care they can afford

people shouldnt assume a teenager is cheap childcare or they are not and some are as responible as a 25yr old as I know many 14yr olds who are far more responsible and capable of caring for children than many 25yr olds.

RayRayGreen

I used to get £5 a night when I was a teen. It was a family friends daughter & I was looking after her little one. They popped to pub next door (attached to house!) from 7pm to 11pm max. and would pop back home a couple of times a night too

I nannied through university and was paid £250 a week (live in, own car, own room/bathroom, no bills etc etc). I was also paid an extra £50 if they stayed out overnight. After I left Uni I was paid £500 per week for a different family - again live in and all previous benefits (but also they had a housekeeper so she did that side of things instead of me)

I now charge for babysitting £10 per hour at weekends, £7.50 per hour weekdays, plus £2.50 extra per hour after midnight, just £5 per hour after midnight if staying over. My regulars get a flat evening rate.

I have experience of newborn to 14 yrs, boys & girls, ADHD, Cystic Fibrosis, medication, Paediatric First Aid & CRB. I also have food safety certificate, health & safety, never look after a child without meeting them & parents first, I always arrive 30 minutes prior to parents leaving to have hand over time. I take my own dinner & drink, don't allow people to visit me, use their Internet nor smoke/drink.

I would never leave my own children with anyone without this sort it experience/ethic. Would rather pay double & know that if my child was choking or the house caught fire etc etc that this person knew what they were doing. My babies safety would be worth more than £3/£5 per hour. I would also know I had done everything right by them if anything were to go horribly wrong.

I currently have a waiting list for people to have me sit & there are now two if us who work together to cover everything between us. We are currently looking for another couple of people to join us as we are getting busier. But we wouldn't let any Tom, !!!!!! or Harry join us & would rather be über busy than let someone sit for one of our regulars and let us down.

At the end of the day this is about your babies, the loves of your lives.

skintchick

It's at least £6 an hour here, down south. So expensive it sometimes costs more for the sitter than our actual night out! We don't go out very often as a result.

eliviajen

Just goes to show how lucky I am, We seldom go out (maybes once or twice a year and always in by 10.30) our "babysitter" if we have to pay for one charges us £15 for the evening - she is level 2 qualifyed, 20 yrs old, Crbd, and has all first aid. She lives in our street, and her mother is a childminder and could be there within a minute if she was needed

When she first baby sat last year for us I asked if that was per child (we have 2) and she almost wet herself laughing!!!! I thought it was ridulously cheap so I normally give her £20.

I used to get at least £20 when i used to babysit about 10 years ago, depending on how Drunk the parents were when they came in!!!!

There was one family I used to Babysit for who I could go home when there oldest son came in - only after i had made sure that he'd been to the toilet and was in upstairs in bed with the bin within reach :eek: I never felt comfortable leaving them in his care so used to wait downstairs for there mother to come home from work ( about 2am ) I used to normally get £25 from them ( but it was from half 3 in the afternoon - so only about £3 an hour )

Its scary tho that babysitting costs havent risen in 10 years!!

System

I am amazed by how low babysitting rates are1
I pay my daughter £10 per hour!
L x
PS We rarely go anywhere!

jackyann

The law regarding babysitting (like leaving children alone) is rather confused. NSPCC tend to advise over 16s only, but do accept that a trusted, sensible 14 year old may be better than many 18 year olds!
So it does come down to parental discretion, and it sounds as if these parents are very sensible.
I used to teach this course: http://www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/Teaching-resources/Teaching-packages/Babysitting/Babysitting-course
and would advise anyone wanting to earn a bit as a babysitter to consider it. It boosts confidence as well as looking good on the cv!

daska

I pay £15 for an evening (7.30 - midnight) but that's literally just babysitting, not feeding, bathing or putting to bed.

I also allow my babysitter free access to the cupboards for food and drink (not alcohol and I label any food that's earmarked for something specific so there's no misunderstandings) and internet. (Sometimes I'm lucky and she leaves me some of her supper plated up, she's a terrific cook )

newcook

I used to get £10-15 for the evening when I was 14 – these days I often look after my friends children and charge a bottle of wine and a taxi home!
I should charge by the hour or a flat rate – I could make a fortune!!!!

To be honest, I wouldn’t accept money from my close friends – its not often they get to go out on their own with their OH’s and I would rather they spent the money on having a nicer bottle of wine/nicer meal out etc. they have all also been pre-warned that when I have kids that I will be calling in all the babysitting favours!

jellymid

When our neighbours approached me about my daughter babysitting they had in mind a rate of £5 an hour. However, I asked them to offer £3 an hour initially, when my daughter was 14. I worried that £5 an hour to sit and watch sky (we don't have it) and eat chocolate wouldn't give her any idea of the value of work. However, their kids were very young, and always in bed when she arrived. She is now 17 and gets £5 an hour, more if it is late, and has to do a bit more for her money.

An unexpected effect was that she was asked to babysit more often than they had originally intended. She still ended up with more money than she needed at that age, but she has been sensible and saved a fair bit over the years.

Mado

My 15 yo DD just started baby-sitting.
I was shocked when she received £10 for 3 hours (they said they didn't know what to pay her and she was too embarrassed to ask for more). A couple of years ago I was paying £6/h and always rounding it up.
When you have a good sitter, you want to make sure they come to you rather than someone else! That's what I learnt in my babysitting years.

DD babysits for friends who know that we are generally just around the corner should some crisis develop. Also, with mobiles, you are never out of reach really. I was left in charge of kids in my teens with no means of contacting the parents. Hard to believe now.