My twelve-year-old daughter is starting to get into serious babysitting and the mothers are asking her how much she charges an hour. I have to laugh at this because I remember not long ago when I was the mother hiring babysitters I would ask the same question. The girls who would babysit my kids would look at me, deer in headlights and say, “Whatever is fine.”
At the end of my time of hiring sitters, I was paying about $10 – $12 an hour for three kids. Now that McKaelen is 12 and starting to sit, she’s got one family who has four kids. Usually she babysits the two older boys, while the mom takes the infant twins with, or she’ll take the two older boys out while the twins are sleeping. McKaelen’s not quite ready to tackle four children on her own. I think this mom has a great pay rate. She pays five dollars for the first kid, and then another dollar for every additional child that’s there.
So now, that’s how McKaelen is going to base her fees. Five dollars an hour for the first child, and an additional dollar for siblings. I think that’s fair for a 12-year-old who’s beginning her ‘career’ in babysitting. Of course, if she were driving and having more responsibilities, she might have to charge more, but I think she’s fine for now!
I’ve already told her that she’s likely to receive tips if she cleans up while she’s babysitting too!
What do you think? What do you currently pay? And do you expect the house to be clean or any additional chores to be done by your sitter when you’re out?
Woah woah woah!
A twelve year old taking care of 2-3 kids at a time for six dollars an hour? If you think your kid is mature enough to take care of other human beings lives, then I think six dollars an hour is embarrassingly low. Even for a 12 year old.
Here’s my advice: Have a conversation with your daughter on what she truly thinks she should get paid. Ask her what rate would make her work the hardest for this parent?
Then, tell her to write down all of the positive things she brings to the table when it comes to taking care of kids. Has she had experience helping out with younger siblings or baby cousins? Is she good with helping out in general?
Then tell her to go over there herself and negotiate an amount that they both can agree on. Prep her on how to act serious and professional. If this is her first real job, she should get a good impression of how things work, because she will follow suit in all of her future jobs the same way.