What’s a Week of Babysitting Worth?
Posted on February 17th, 2009 – 7:28 PMBy May Chen
A question from T. of St. Paul….
My husband and I are going away for several days in March, and a babysitter couple that we use will be staying with the kids. We have no idea what to pay them. Wondering if Cribsheeters have some ideas of the going rate for long-term sitters.
Salient facts:
husband-wife couple in their late twenties,
we know them well and the kids love them,
will be staying overnight with two kids, 3 and 6 on weekdays,
will drop kids off at schools/daycare and pick them up at the end of the day,
and in between they’ll both go to work (obviously, if a kid is sick they will have to take the day off from work)
on weekend, will drop off/hang out at a couple of activities (circus class and sunday school)
they will be with the kids for essentially 5 nights and 6 days
Cribsheeters?
7 Responses to "What’s a Week of Babysitting Worth?"
I’ve only ever done that with teenagers, but I usually got paid a hundred for a weekend, plus a grocery allowance. I was also in college and came cheap. Oh, and that was a over 10 years ago.
Do they want cash? Do they want gift certificates or something like that?
I was a regular b-sitter in college for a family that has 3 young kids and every year in Jan I stayed with them for a week while they went to a big banking conference. I essentially has the same schedule that you have. They paid me $500 for the 10 days (this was 14 years and 4 kids ago). At the time I thought it was very generous as the kids were sleeping most of the time I was with them. They also left a grocery budget and some mad/ fun money.
As far as your situation; these are friends who are helping you get away. I would not expect any of my friends “to pay” me for serving them. However, a gift of gratitude that includes something they enjoy is an awesome idea. If they are people that you regularly pay to watch your kids them pay them at least $50/ day. Otherwise if you are really unsure chat with them and see what their expectations are. Most of all enjoy you kid free getaway knowing that your children are cared for by people who love them and have their best interests at heart!
Wow, I hope that you have a wonderful trip! What an amazing couple to be doing this for you.
I think if it were me, I would definitely err on the side of being more generous than not. First, I definitely agree with Amelia and Ruth’s idea of leaving a grocery allowance/mad money behind. That way they can order pizza in one night or get the kids ice cream and have a more relaxing time, plus have money if milk or something else runs out without having to pay out of pocket for it.
As far as pay goes, I would probably take the number of waking hours that they will actually with be the children X their normal hourly rate with you to get a figure for the week. Then I would add on a fairly generous bonus to it-at least $50 or so–since they are doing you a big favor and are putting themselves out for the week. I think this figure would be fair.
Also, I would definitely talk to the couple about this figure before your trip. You will want to make sure you’re on the same page and that afterwards they feel they were compensated fairly and that you appreciated them. You definitely want to maintain the great relationship that you have with them! I would also consider sending them a thoughtful thank you card afterwards; maybe you can help the kids make one.
Have a wonderful trip! 
Hi - just to clarify. These are not friends doing us a favor - they are really babysitters, the ones we use for our monthly (or so) “date night.” So they are (I hope) certainly expecting to get paid. They both work full time and are also doing some graduate coursework. So they are older than college students and not nearly as impoverished as I was during college. But their time is definitely valuable!
Have you called a college nanny agency to see what they would charge?
Well, I pay my son’s daycare $238/week to watch him for approx 6 hours and feed him breakfast, 2 snacks, and lunch. So, I can’t imagine paying anything less than that for watching him for a week, being responsible for taking/picking him up at daycare and staying at the house all night, not to mention you have 2 kids. I would say that about $500 would be good.
Thanks for these helpful suggestions. Cribsheet is my go-to place for all these parenting dilemmas!
