Babysitting fees

[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

[Lawrenzini]

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.