Babysitter pay for overnight +day

[dglvrk2]

One of our go-to sitters said she'd watch my daughters (ages 3 and 6) overnight and through the following day (Saturday night through Sunday early evening) next weekend, so H and I can go out of town for a quick get away.

I'm wondering how much money to pay her. Her normal rate is $10/hour. If we pay her this, we are looking at paying her around $300. What is the price range for multi-day care for kids - hourly or set? We are thinking of offering her $250 plus extra money for car gas and dinner and/or a fun Sunday activity.

Thoughts?

Also, we live in a HCOL area, so $10 per hour for a sitter is very reasonable.

[2chatter]

We pay $350 for two nights. But that includes a 13 year old - this weekend she baked brownies with the two younger ones, watched a movie with them and led an art project. So the sitter is really there in case of emergency (which was needed this weekend).

[dglvrk2]

Thank you! I'm thinking I'll offer $250, but will go up to $300 if she asks.

Also, wondering about age.....Sitter is 17. Would you let a minor stay overnight w your kids? She's *incredibly* responsible. She will be a senior in high school this year and turns 18 in a few months. Her parents are about a mile away and a close mutual friend of her mom and I lives down our street.

H and I have checked for any legal stipulations about leaving young children with care givers under 18 and we cannot find anything. We are in CA.

H is totally fine w this. I need to warm up to it.

[sdlaura]

wow $10 an hour is super cheap for HCOL area. We pay $17/hr+. I would probably talk with her and try to agree on a set rate - maybe $200 + tip?

[2chatter]

We ended up with only leaving the kids with legit adults - but that's because we have to worry about precedent. If I leave the girls with a 17 year old, so will exh, and his idea of "responsible" and my idea of responsible are really different. The last teen sitter he hired cut DD's hair in front (formerly all one length) to the scalp to remove a rubber band. She didn't cut the rubber band. She cut the hair. That was five years ago. We agreed grown ups only for him at that point. DD said the girl was generally not very smart and he agreed and realized maybe he's too laid back so needed a better rule in place.

Also, our sitter is our proxy. This weekend DD got a kind of big injury and she had to evaluate urgent care vs hospital vs waiting (I also dispatched a retired nurse to assist). But you need someone who won't freak at a cut that needs stitches or knows how to handle a possible concussion or broken bone or projectile vomiting (these are all things that have happened while we have been out of town).

[xctsclrx]

dglvrk2, I would be 100% on board with this. 17 is old enough to drive and that is what you need. Plus with her parents being so close it would be fine. I did this for a neighbor when I was in high school. She ran ultras and I would watch the kiddos over night if necessary. It was never more than 1 night. There were five kids. Older set was 10 and 12 and the younger set was 7,6, and 4. Never had any issues.

As for payment, I am no help there.

[k3am]

I'm probably the odd man out, but I'd just ask her what she thought a fair amount for her time would be. If she's your regular sitter and you have an established rate, she'll either say the max of $300 or something less, but either way, she'll feel it's fair.

[leap]

We had our babysitters (they are sisters and live 4 door down) watch our girls for two nights last year. The oldest was 18 and a senior in HS; the younger was 15. The 18 year old spent the night at our house, but her sister stepped in if there were scheduling conflicts. We asked what they thought was fair as far as payment. I can't remember what we ended up giving them. They always seem to under price themselves (in my opinion) so we probably paid more than they asked.

[grover]

Aug 1, 2017 9:01:47 GMT -5 dglvrk2 said:

Thank you! I'm thinking I'll offer $250, but will go up to $300 if she asks.

Also, wondering about age.....Sitter is 17. Would you let a minor stay overnight w your kids? She's *incredibly* responsible. She will be a senior in high school this year and turns 18 in a few months. Her parents are about a mile away and a close mutual friend of her mom and I lives down our street.

H and I have checked for any legal stipulations about leaving young children with care givers under 18 and we cannot find anything. We are in CA.

H is totally fine w this. I need to warm up to it.

I did this as a high school freshman-senior for my mom's boss. He lived around the corner from us and the wife was an overnight nurse. I think he paid 100$, but the youngest was always in bed when I got there and the older two were easy. But my requirement was that his wife had to book it home in time for me to catch the school bus at 7 am.