[Ian J]

On the rare occasions that we go out on our own one of the neighbours normally looks after the seven year old, either at their home or ours but this Saturday we are out at a black tie charity function from about 7pm until 1am and a local 15 year old schoolgirl will look after our son.

I have no idea what the prevailing rates are for babysitting and hope that one of the more experienced babysittees here can guide me in the right direction.

Thanks

[mjn]

Apparently, they're £5.50 an hour.

[mikeyp]

I normally pay £5 an hour then round it up a bit.

Obviously a good supply of fags and alcopops will also be required.

[Mr_Wistles]

Yeah £5 an hour and pay for a taxi home.

[RugbyAl]

Dont normally pay quite that much, its nearly minimum wage for the pleasure of sitting watching tv all night! For most 15 year olds, money has a higher relative worth as well (as they have little to spend it on).

My niece and her friend babysat for me last week for about 4 hrs for which they both received £8 each. If she did it on her own, I would have given her £15 - her choice if she brings a friend along.

Most 15 year olds enjoy a night of tv with their friends away from mum and dad, especially with a 42" plasma!

If she worked in a shop for some extra pocket money, I doubt if they would earn upwards of £5 an hour.

Still, a reliable, available babysitter is worth holding on to, so if you feel like giving them a little extra, go ahead.

[Setenza]

When we used a babysitter, we usually paid about £5 per hour (this was about 5 years ago). We also usually fed the babysitter as our son had to dine, too.

On several occassions, the babysitter brought a friend. No payment was required for them.

The two use to sit on the sofa texting each other

[Duncan G]

Depends how much you value your child and how trustworthy the baby sitter is.

A good reliable baby sitter should get a good rate so £5+ an hour sound right.

Mind you is it legal for someone under 18 to be left in charge of a baby?

[Uridium]

Must be cheaper rates in Leics as we only pay £4 ph!

I would have thought that a six pack of vodka based fruit drinks and a Crisp tenner would be more than sufficient in Tamworth though Ian

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Duncan G

Mind you is it legal for someone under 18 to be left in charge of a baby?

As it is legal to have a child at the age of 16 I would guess the answer to that question would be "yes"

[Duncan G]

Originally Posted by Ian J

As it is legal to have a child at the age of 16 I would guess the answer to that question would be "yes"

I found this usefull info on the ROSPA site. It reccomends the baby sitter be at least 16, gives some horror stories of bad baby sitting and advice to parents re chosing a baby sitter.If something goes wrong the parents can be held leagly liable.

http://www.rospa.com/safetyeducation...abysitting.htm

[Torin]

We pay £5 an hour and they are staff who work at the local nursery (Day care as opposed to Plants).

We got them as our son goes their, but they have had parents of older children with no ties to the nursey phone up on the of chance and a lot do it through word of mouth.

Its good for both sides though as they get more than their hourly wage as theirs no tax and you get someone whoes trained to deal with kids!

I just paid a garage £200 to change an alternator. Which probably took 30 minutes and was probably a lot easier than looking after kids.

I say pay them well.

[Pat_C]

Originally Posted by Mickey G

I just paid a garage £200 to change an alternator. Which probably took 30 minutes and was probably a lot easier than looking after kids.

Yes but child minders don't usually grin and rub their hands together when you walk through the door, and then shake their heads expensively whilst assessing the child in question

[GBDG1]

I'd go for an 18 yr old, definitely female, preferably blonde. As for payment, that would depend what she did to earn it.

[princess84xx]

I would say about £10, i think thats well enough for a babysitter.If you start giving more you might as well stay at home because it will cost you a fortune and thats even before you go out. .Am 23 and i dont really babysit anymore but if i did i would be greatful to be given £10.

[TeenSpirit]

We have nieces who live out of town and they get over £20 for a night's babysitting !!

We had a similar situation recently where a friend's 20yr old daughter babysat for us - I asked her in advance what she charged and she didn't know but a friend said usually £20 for 3hrs - we were only 2 1/2hrs so gave her £15 and she seemed pleased.

I found it awkward when we got in as when to give her the money - next time i will say what time we will be back and give her the money first using the excuse 'in case you want to order a pizza or something'.

[stealther]

Originally Posted by Ian J

On the rare occasions that we go out on our own one of the neighbours normally looks after the seven year old, either at their home or ours but this Saturday we are out at a black tie charity function from about 7pm until 1am and a local 15 year old schoolgirl will look after our son.

I have no idea what the prevailing rates are for babysitting and hope that one of the more experienced babysittees here can guide me in the right direction.

Thanks

Well I would say £4 an hour but then round it up a bit so * 6hrs = £24. So I would pay £25 + any taxi fair home if needed, + some munchies like crisps left for her etc

[nheather]

Going on holiday next week. Unfortunately all the people we would normally choose to feed our pets for free (well we bring back a gift and there is a reciprocal agreement) are away at the same time.

So we've had to take on the services of an enterprising teenage girl in our road that does pet feeding. Basically she comes to our house and puts cat food in the bowl twice a day. The charge is £5 per day - so £70 in total.

Our neighbours who are away at the same time are also using her.

So whereas we would normally feed our neighbours cats and vice versa for free, we are having to pay £140 between us.

Cheers,

Nigel

[robfosters]

If it was someone I really trusted and who looked after my children well so i can enjoy myself with total peace of mind, I would happily pay £20, maybe a little more.

[robfosters]

Originally Posted by nheather

So we've had to take on the services of an enterprising teenage girl in our road that does pet feeding. Basically she comes to our house and puts cat food in the bowl twice a day. The charge is £5 per day - so £70 in total.

I hope she cleans the litter tray for that money as well.

[kopchoir]

£140 to tend to some pussy cats twice a day jeez i would of done it for a oner and not rummaged the knicker draw honest

Seriously though smart kid £140 to put some milk/water out and a can of whiskers

[ufitsy]

Originally Posted by kopchoir

£140 to tend to tend to some pussy cats twice a day jeez i would of done it for a oner and not rummaged the knicker draw honest

Assume that anyone left alone in your house goes through your stuff - but thats OT.

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by Ian J

but this Saturday we are out at a black tie charity function from about 7pm until 1am and a local 15 year old schoolgirl will look after our son.

Thanks

Please don't take this personally but I wouldn't leave a 15 year old in charge of my little girl and certainly not until 1:00am when frankly that 15 year old should be in bed anyway.

If the worst did happen do you feel a 15 year old at 1:00am would be capable of dealing with a fire and so forth.

Do you know this girl very well ? Some 15 year olds inspire little confidence whilist others can in fairness by very sensible within the constraints of their age.

I don't mean to be negative and I'm sure you only want the best care but leaving a 15 year old who's basically a child anyway in charge of another child until 1:00 am, scares the poop outta me.

Surely there has to be relatives or a professional baby sitting service available in your area.

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by Duncan G

Mind you is it legal for someone under 18 to be left in charge of a baby?

Believe it or not in the UK, there's not even a minimim age you can leave a child alone at, much less a requirement on the age of a babysitter.

The only issue is that if the child comes to harm or if the person you choose is not capable then you can be prosecuted.

[Naaktgeboren]

This thread is 2 years old

So..... how much did you pay her Ian?

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by CloggyNL

This thread is 2 years old

So..... how much did you pay her Ian?

Oops ...

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by SimonH

Please don't take this personally but I wouldn't leave a 15 year old in charge of my little girl and certainly not until 1:00am when frankly that 15 year old should be in bed anyway.

If the worst did happen do you feel a 15 year old at 1:00am would be capable of dealing with a fire and so forth.

Do you know this girl very well ? Some 15 year olds inspire little confidence whilist others can in fairness by very sensible within the constraints of their age.

I don't mean to be negative and I'm sure you only want the best care but leaving a 15 year old who's basically a child anyway in charge of another child until 1:00 am, scares the poop outta me.

Surely there has to be relatives or a professional baby sitting service available in your area.

At 15 years old I was perfectly responsible and capable of looking after another child.
At 15 you know how to call emergency services (have you seen the reports of toddlers who can't even speak properly yet saving their mum by calling for an ambulance?), or at the very least the people you are babysitting for.

Agreed some can be more or less mature but I would guess most people would know the babysitter before booking anything.

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by Jenn

At 15 years old I was perfectly responsible and capable of looking after another child.
.

I simply would not leave a 15 year old which is basically a child incharge of another child, irrelevent of how responsible they think they are.

I'm yet to see a 15 year old who wouldn't crumple under real pressure and panic and make bad choices.

I wouldn't even let me 15 year old stay up until 1:00 am.

Each to their own of course.

Yes I've seen children ring 999, doesn't mean they know not to open doors in a fire situation , not to turn on light switches if you smell gas and have the skills to deal with retrieving a child from a bedroom or making logical calls under pressure.

Just me feelings on the matter of course.

[Jenn]

What you just said would apply to most adults to be honest.

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by Jenn

What you just said would apply to most adults to be honest.

Fair comment and probably not to far off the mark