HS student rate to babysit three young kids?

[Anonymous]

This question came up in another forum : What’s the right hourly rate for a high school student to babysit a 4 year old and 2 year old twins?


My first thought was that a high shhool student shouldn’t be watching that many young kids. Nobody else said this and just gave various rates. Am I wrong? And what do YOU think is a fair rate?

[Anonymous]

I would NEVER leave a HS student with any kid younger then 5. I would NEVER leave HS in care of more then one child.

[Anonymous]

If you read teen forum and see the stuff the HS kid are in trouble for, make you wonder about the judgement of parents who want to save few bucks over an adult care. It is different when a child cares about their siblings but different when they do it for other kids. And THREEEEE? No. No rate.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the children and the teen. At age 11, I babysat 3 (infant, toddler and 5 year old) and was happy to make $3.50 an hour! Now, at least $15/ hour, maybe $20.

[Anonymous]

I think a mature high schooler could handle this especially if it's evening (pizza, put them to bed, they are sleeping until parents return). I pretty regularly babysat 3-4 kids as a high schooler myself with no issues. I'd say $15-17/hour for 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would NEVER leave a HS student with any kid younger then 5. I would NEVER leave HS in care of more then one child.

You are really underestimating the capabilities of a high schooler.

[Anonymous]

2 HS kids and they would take $25 per hour each, if the kids were in bed and sleeping.

[Anonymous]

How old are the previous posters?

I’m 45, and I grew up in MoCo. I started babysitting in 7th grade. As a HS student, I sat for multiple families with 3-4 kids—which often included a baby or toddler. (Catholic families in Ktown.) I was paid very well to ensure I would be available. Kids went to sleep around 8 or so, and I watched tv until the parents got home (usually around midnight).

I have a handful of kids, and we pay $15-20/hour (depending on the sitter, how many kids, how long, etc.).

For your scenario—and given how gun-shy younger parents seem to be these days—perhaps try to find a seasoned HS or college sitter, or two teens. I think most teens expect at least $15/hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2 HS kids and they would take $25 per hour each, if the kids were in bed and sleeping.

Where do you live? That’s absurd.

[Anonymous]

We had this approximate situation and paid $10-$12 and never had a problem finding eager sitters.

The quoted mommy board rates of “what I would pay” tend to be off by a factor of 2. I think so many people don’t use sitters, and so they want to believe that it would be prohibitively expensive.

[Anonymous]

If it was me, I'd hire two teens and pay them both $10-12/hr. With little kids it's so so helpful to have one who can handle a potty or diaper emergency while the other keeps an eye on the other kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would NEVER leave a HS student with any kid younger then 5. I would NEVER leave HS in care of more then one child.

You are really underestimating the capabilities of a high schooler.

+1 As a teenager, I was very capable of both. Have teens' capabilities dropped in the past 30 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would NEVER leave a HS student with any kid younger then 5. I would NEVER leave HS in care of more then one child.

You are really underestimating the capabilities of a high schooler.

+1 As a teenager, I was very capable of both. Have teens' capabilities dropped in the past 30 years?

Maybe. They were raised to be snowflakes by their helicopter parents, so it’s possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old are the previous posters?

I’m 45, and I grew up in MoCo. I started babysitting in 7th grade. As a HS student, I sat for multiple families with 3-4 kids—which often included a baby or toddler. (Catholic families in Ktown.) I was paid very well to ensure I would be available. Kids went to sleep around 8 or so, and I watched tv until the parents got home (usually around midnight).

I have a handful of kids, and we pay $15-20/hour (depending on the sitter, how many kids, how long, etc.).

For your scenario—and given how gun-shy younger parents seem to be these days—perhaps try to find a seasoned HS or college sitter, or two teens. I think most teens expect at least $15/hour.

Are you me? I’m also an HR alum. I think $15/hr is about right. I babysat three or four kids routinely when I was in 8th grade or young HS. I probably wouldn’t leave my 2 year old twins with a sitter from HS now though unless they were asleep.

[Anonymous]

I would just get an experienced adult sitter and pay experienced adult sitter wages.