If I were to come home to leftover pizza in the fridge, dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and toys put away, I would tip more than simply rounding up to the full hour.

But that has happened exactly once. With a sitter who is a regular nanny for a friend of mine (who has sadly moved out of the neighborhood, taking her nanny with her).

I did have a regular once-a-week sitter during the spring semester this year, who brought my kid home from after-school, made dinner, and got her to bed. I didn't tip her every night, either, but I paid her an extra $5/hour. (Which would work out to be approx $5 more than a tip of one hour's wages, come to think of it.)

oh hell no. they cost a ton - they don't get a tip. If you have a regular babysitter, though, a gift card at Christmas might be nice. (or maybe a slightly more regular "extra" if they regularly do things for you like cleaning your house, if that's outside normal babysitter duties.)

We had a great babysitter when our daughter a toddler and a preschooler. I did tip her an extra hour each time she babysat for us. As a result, she contacted me at the beginning of each month so I got first pick of her availability and when I needed her to be my daughter's companion at my sister's wedding, she came over to my house, dressed my daughter, did her hair, packed snacks and drinks for her, and totally handled the whole day. I was the maid of honor and had my sister and the wedding party to deal with and my husband had his infirm mother to take care of so we wanted one person with their whole mind there for our daughter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

I am one of those babysitters who plays with your kids and teaches them stuff. There's no tv. I won't use my cell phone until the kids are asleep. You'll come home and your five year old will now know how to do a back-walkover or count to ten in French or Spanish. I'll have gotten your potty-training kid to wash their hands like a surgeon.

If they slept while I was there, then when you come home a load of clean laundry will be folded. Or I'll have organized all the kiddie books. Something.

Plus, if you're a good tipper, I will move heaven and earth to always be available to babysit for you.

I dont think good babysitters are hard to find. Nice teenagers are readily available in our neighborhood. Also, thats great if you want to teach my kids to count in another language, but I am not paying you extra for it. I just want you to keep them alive so I can have a night out with DH.

I will give you dinner, allow you open access to our TV, on demand, internet, exercise equipment, video games, and library, but you set your rates and I will pay them. No "tipping" required.

I know, right? I am not looking for a tutor or Mary Poppins. I just need someone trustworthy to feed and put my kid to bed while I have a few hours out with my husband. That's cool that you can speak French or Spanish, but it is completely irrelevant to me. I don't want you to fold my laundry, FFS! You're like those people who wash your windshield at stoplights. Sorry, but I am not going to "tip" you for something I didn't ask you to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

I am one of those babysitters who plays with your kids and teaches them stuff. There's no tv. I won't use my cell phone until the kids are asleep. You'll come home and your five year old will now know how to do a back-walkover or count to ten in French or Spanish. I'll have gotten your potty-training kid to wash their hands like a surgeon.

If they slept while I was there, then when you come home a load of clean laundry will be folded. Or I'll have organized all the kiddie books. Something.

Plus, if you're a good tipper, I will move heaven and earth to always be available to babysit for you.

All of that sounds good and makes sense but for the love of god please don't ever teach my 5 year old child how to do a back walkover!

my thought exactly!

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I want to deduct from my babysitters rather than tip- no one cleans up from dinner, no one puts the pizza away (you know, the pizza I ordered and paid for for babysitter and my kid to have for dinner), toys are everywhere, kid's clothes aren't even near the hamper let alone in it. And if I'm out until 11 PM, babysitter has had THREE HOURS to sit and text on her phone and watch Netflix?

See, that's bananas. I would never do that (I'm the babysitter that says to tip). Firstly, unless you have me arriving at 5pm and staying until 11, you don't need to feed me dinner. Maybe I'll have a glass of water, but I almost never eat while I'm working unless it's an all-day thing. Secondly, EVERYTHING played with should be cleaned up. I don't even sit down until the kids are in bed, kitchen's cleaned, toys are cleaned. etc.

I don't know what to tell you people who think tipping is ridiculous. All I can say is that I am a damn good babysitter, I go above and beyond happily, and get paid damn well to do so.

To the poster who wants to deduct, I'd suggest you tell your babysitter "Please clean up from the pizza and leave the kitchen as clean as it is now, and please help the kids put away their toys and clothes after they change into pajamas." If they don't do it, find a new babysitter.

Personally, I want to deduct from my babysitters rather than tip- no one cleans up from dinner, no one puts the pizza away (you know, the pizza I ordered and paid for for babysitter and my kid to have for dinner), toys are everywhere, kid's clothes aren't even near the hamper let alone in it. And if I'm out until 11 PM, babysitter has had THREE HOURS to sit and text on her phone and watch Netflix?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

Sorry, but that IS ridiculous.

Tipping has gotten out of control. NO, you do not need to tip a babysitter. I do typically round up the hour though.

Agreed. I would never use such a snotty person as a babysitter. Our sitters get a great deal - our kid typically goes to be 1-2 hours after they get there, plus we feed them dinner, and then they spend the rest of the night lounging on my couch eating my snacks and watching my TV. I'll be damned if I'm tipping someone for that!

No need to tip. We round up. Sometimes a lot depending on how late, whether the sitter is saiving up for school, how much extra I have in my wallet, whether the house is CLEAN... <--- Yeah, I am grateful to come home to a clean house, with toys put away, and dishes in the washer.

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

I am one of those babysitters who plays with your kids and teaches them stuff. There's no tv. I won't use my cell phone until the kids are asleep. You'll come home and your five year old will now know how to do a back-walkover or count to ten in French or Spanish. I'll have gotten your potty-training kid to wash their hands like a surgeon.

If they slept while I was there, then when you come home a load of clean laundry will be folded. Or I'll have organized all the kiddie books. Something.

Plus, if you're a good tipper, I will move heaven and earth to always be available to babysit for you.

All of that sounds good and makes sense but for the love of god please don't ever teach my 5 year old child how to do a back walkover!

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

I am one of those babysitters who plays with your kids and teaches them stuff. There's no tv. I won't use my cell phone until the kids are asleep. You'll come home and your five year old will now know how to do a back-walkover or count to ten in French or Spanish. I'll have gotten your potty-training kid to wash their hands like a surgeon.

If they slept while I was there, then when you come home a load of clean laundry will be folded. Or I'll have organized all the kiddie books. Something.

Plus, if you're a good tipper, I will move heaven and earth to always be available to babysit for you.

I dont think good babysitters are hard to find. Nice teenagers are readily available in our neighborhood. Also, thats great if you want to teach my kids to count in another language, but I am not paying you extra for it. I just want you to keep them alive so I can have a night out with DH.

I will give you dinner, allow you open access to our TV, on demand, internet, exercise equipment, video games, and library, but you set your rates and I will pay them. No "tipping" required.

We round up, too. Seems cheap to ask for $2 change or whatever.

Tip? Seriously? No. They charge an hourly rate, and if you go over an even number of hours just round up. Good lord. It's like the world keeps getting ever more insane.

I used to babysit a lot and I never expected a tip but the family did always round up.

I would only tip a babysitter if she went above and beyond (like PP folding my laundry, for example). If all she did was entertain my kid for a few hours and then wait around while she slept...well, that's what the regular hourly rate is for.