I pay $8-10, for 2 kids. A lot depends on when she is here, and for how long. I tend to pay at least $20 a night to make it worth her while so she keeps us at the top of her list for Friday nights!

Wow. My first regular babysitting job that I had in high school about 10 years ago I made a whopping $2/hour!

home day rates are completely different than babysitting rates. You might want to work out a flat fee. I live in an expensive part of the country here are my rates and they are good rates for this area. For 2 children I get paid to babysit $15 an hour, but since I have regular customers I discount it to $10 an hour for them. That is base $10 an hour, $5 each additional child. I never watch more than 3 other children at a time.

Childcare rates ie home daycare rates are much less: I get paid $40 a day (8-5) per child.

Teenagers are cheaper, you could pay one anywhere from $5-10 an hour, although when I was a teen I made $10 an hour. I was certified and first aid trained.

I think you should ask your friend how much she would like and give a flat fee, paid every week or every 2 weeks. Good Luck!

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

We pay our sixteen year old sitter ten dollars an hour for three hours or less. If it's going to be longer we usually negotiate a rate for the whole evening. We have two kids ages seven and almost three. I absolutely think our sitter is worth the money. Our kids love her and she's very attentive. When I asked around here this was the going rate. Our sitter is really modest and will never say what she feels she's worth. We could probably get away with paying her half that, but we only use her two or three times a month. I really don't think you can put a price on peace of mind.

When we still lived in OH I paid the neighbor lady six dollars an hour but she only watched them one hour three times a week and our dd's were best friends so she really only had to watch my son while the girls played upstairs.

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Kimberly mom to Kayla (12/07), AJ (4/04), and baby Ben (10/07)

Project FTJ

"A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside."~ Denis Waitley ~

I'm pretty much in the big cities in MN and I pay anywhere from $7-10 per hour for 3 kids. It depends on who is watching. I pay my college niece $10. and my 12yr old niece $7.00. I think is also depends on whether any of them are still in diapers. IF I know my 11 yr old niece had to change a dirty diaper I give her a bonus of a couple of dollars. OF course my 12 yr old niece only watches at her house with my sister there. she's still a tad too immature.
Most people I know pay $10. My friend pays $5-7 for one child.

allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

I live in PA and I generally pay $2/hour for each kid. I have called a few daycares and the price I got for my 8 month old is $23/day for up to 9 hours of care.

We pay $10/hr. for three children. When we lived in Wisconsin I felt that we paid high. Now that we live in Tampa, I feel like we are a little low. It's hard for me to pay more than that. It's cash and tax free. It's more than than they would be making working in a daycare and most of the time the kids are sleeping. Just my opinion though.

Ask the babysitter about their rates. The people in your area might be paying $5 to $10 an hour but the babysitter might have a lower rate...so why spend money you don't have to.

Jen