Vancouver and areas: How much do you pay your babysitter?

[erynw]

I have just arranged to have an 11 year old homelearner come and play with my son (while I am at home or very close by) to give me a chance to get some things done/rest. She will be coming once a week for three hours.

How much do you pay your babysitters? It's been a while since I babysat and back in the day I think I was lucky if I got $3 an hour!

Thanks for your replies!

[iris lea]

im sorry i dont know about the price..
im looking for a babysitter also, and today i was thinking about getting a homelearner kid.. i just dont know where to find one..
how did you find your babysitter?

[kdtmom2be]

I have my daughter in part time care at a family daycare for $5/hr.

I paid a teenage mother's helper type that came once $5/hr rounded up to the next $5 (so $10 for 1.75 hrs I think) and she told me that I was getting ripped off and shouldn't be paying her that much.

I paid my old sitter $7/hr but she is a friend of mine.

I interviewed a sitter last week (22yrs no first aid, no ece) and she charges $10-12/hr.

So, it's quite variable. I think $5/hr is fair for a home-learner mother's helper, but that is my opinion!

(Pay can also vary a bit depending on the area, we are in Surrey.)

[Alison's Mom]

We paid our old nanny $12/hour for 3 days/week for one child, so also paid her the same if she did after hours sitting for us. Our more recent old nanny we paid $15 for two kids, so that's how much I pay her to do casual sitting for us. I guess it's on the high side, but she's great with the kids and they love her. She's also 26, so not your highschool or preteen babysitter.

[Vancouver Mommy]

I pay $16 for a grown-up, ECE trained nanny-type occasional babysitter, and $8 or 10 for a high school student for short blocks of time during the day or early evening (no meals or bedtimes).

[woaters]

I pay mine around 7/hr. She is a senior and I tried to pay her 10/hr but she said it was too much.

[tooticky]

I pay $10/hour to a young man who is also a live in nanny (manny? :lol) across the street.

I pay him the same amount whether it's for one kid or two.

[dawncayden]

I haven't done this myself yet but it is definatly different if you are going to be around the house or not.

For a mothers helper where you'd be around the house and the teen is between 11 and 13, I'd talk to their parents to see what you can come up with. My friend pays her neighbor boy (who is 11) $2/hr. She had suggested $4, but his mother thought that was too much.

For a 13 year old and up, and you may or may not be around, I'd pay around $5. Again, discuss it with their parents.

For a 'nanny' you'll want to pay at least $8/hr, but probably around $10 especially if they are ECE, CPR etc.

[erynw]

Thanks to everyone who replied! I feel pretty good about paying her $6 an hour...I think we're both getting a good deal.

As far as how I found this homelearner, I am friends with her mom.

If you want to find one in your area, I recommend finding a local group of homelearners in your area. You could probably google it and I think a lot of them have websites or at least yahoo groups. Then try and get a message out to the group. Or if you ever meet a homelearning family, ask them if they have a group they belong to that you could ask.

Thanks again for replying everyone!
Eryn

[netmamma]

For a babysitter, depending on the age and if they have first-aid certification, it typically can range from $5-$12/hr.

When you jump into the nanny market, the typical rate starts at around $11-$12/hr, and again, the more experience and certification they have, the more you are paying. If you're looking into a nanny agency, I can recommend a group that I have hired and have had a good experience with.