Are you searching for a babysitter but don’t know how much to pay him or her? Back when I was a babysitter, the hourly rates for each of my clients varied – it depended on what they could afford. The same is true today. While some people pay $20 an hour for sitters, many teenagers are more than happy to accept a $10 hourly rate for multiple kids. We asked our Facebook followers how much they pay their babysitters:
$15/hour for two small kids and the sitter is in her early 20s. – Shannon Littell Byers
I give my sitter 20 bucks per hour. – Keeks Ouellette
$10 an hour for my 1-, 3- and 5-year-olds! My babysitter is a college freshman, this is more than she gets an hour from her job and she stays three to four hours. She loves the extra money, plus $10 an hour is more than minimum wage! – Leanne Arsenault Joyce
$10/hour for two … but when we go out, they are usually in bed most of the time. – Summer Hartford Cookson
$12 for two kids, 3 and 8. – Renee Palermo
I tend to pay around $7 to $10 an hour for 6-and 4-year-olds … but usually it’s the cost of my 18-year-old’s monthly cell phone bill. – Heather Gould
$10/hour for two kids. – Laurie Sacco Clinton
$10 an hour one kid. – Sara A Collins
I used to pay $10 per hour up [until] last year for an 8- and 10-year-old. – Sonia Ahooja Malik
$10 for 2. – Cheryl Kirk-Barnes
Questions to Ask a Babysitter or Nanny
- How many families have you regularly babysat for in the past and what were the ages of the children?
2. Can you provide me with contact information for three of these families?
3. What do you enjoy most about babysitting?
4. What games or activities do you like to do with kids, both indoors and outdoors?
5. What kind of meals do you prepare for kids?
6. Are you comfortable with bathing children and bedtime routines?
7. How will you enforce house rules?
8. What will you do if children bend or break the rules?
9. What would you do if a baby started crying?
10. Have you ever had to handle an emergency relating to a house or a child? Explain what steps you took or would take if there was an emergency.
11. Do you have infant and child CPR certification? Would you be willing to become certified?
12. What’s the first thing you would do if there was a fire?
13. What would you do if the child was ill?
14. Do you have your own transportation? Have you ever been cited for a traffic violation or accident?