I pay 10/hourly for a high school student to come and watch my 4 year old while I'm home. No other chores or assistance.

15/hourly seems fair but it also depends on if you have specific things you want help with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many years of experience does this college student have? And what do you mean you’ll have a separate rate for babysitting hours? What’s the different between the mother’s helper and babysitting? If she has little to no experience then $15 is a good rate. If she does have experience with newborns and infants maybe bump it up a little higher to $17/h

Good questions - for Mother's Helper, she won't be solely responsible for the child. She'll just be here helping me out. For babysitting, I will be gone and she will be solely responsible for the kiddo. I view those as separate levels of responsibility and thus separate rates of pay. Does that make sense? Am I off?

Yes, I think you are off. Working along side of the parent is actually harder than calling the shots yourself. Same rate.

No she should not get paid less. She’s just saying that at this point in the kids life’s it’s just harder to do things. That doesn’t mean she’ll NEVER do them again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many years of experience does this college student have? And what do you mean you’ll have a separate rate for babysitting hours? What’s the different between the mother’s helper and babysitting? If she has little to no experience then $15 is a good rate. If she does have experience with newborns and infants maybe bump it up a little higher to $17/h

Good questions - for Mother's Helper, she won't be solely responsible for the child. She'll just be here helping me out. For babysitting, I will be gone and she will be solely responsible for the kiddo. I view those as separate levels of responsibility and thus separate rates of pay. Does that make sense? Am I off?

Yes, I think you are off. Working along side of the parent is actually harder than calling the shots yourself. Same rate.

A “mother’s helper” is generally a person that would not be able to care for the children on her own (most typically a 10-13 year old kid) that gets paid to do things like play with the kids or fold laundry while a parent is home.

Someone that is capable of watching children independently receives a babysitter rate. Having a parent home is generally seen as a drawback, not a perk for a sitter.

OP here - thanks for the perspective and reality check!

College students are not "mother's helpers.". 12-14
yr olds are mother's helpers!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many years of experience does this college student have? And what do you mean you’ll have a separate rate for babysitting hours? What’s the different between the mother’s helper and babysitting? If she has little to no experience then $15 is a good rate. If she does have experience with newborns and infants maybe bump it up a little higher to $17/h

Good questions - for Mother's Helper, she won't be solely responsible for the child. She'll just be here helping me out. For babysitting, I will be gone and she will be solely responsible for the kiddo. I view those as separate levels of responsibility and thus separate rates of pay. Does that make sense? Am I off?

To be honest, I think you ARE off. She's not going to change a diaper any differently whether you're there or not. She's not going to feed the baby any differently whether you're there or not. I think of mother's helpers as kids who are LEARNING how to babysit. So the idea that you're hiring a college student rather than a 12 year old seems WAY off base to me to begin with. I'd hire a middle schooler for while you're there, and the college kid for when you're out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many years of experience does this college student have? And what do you mean you’ll have a separate rate for babysitting hours? What’s the different between the mother’s helper and babysitting? If she has little to no experience then $15 is a good rate. If she does have experience with newborns and infants maybe bump it up a little higher to $17/h

Good questions - for Mother's Helper, she won't be solely responsible for the child. She'll just be here helping me out. For babysitting, I will be gone and she will be solely responsible for the kiddo. I view those as separate levels of responsibility and thus separate rates of pay. Does that make sense? Am I off?

I’m a nanny and I worked with a SAHM for many years. I was there 2x per week for about 8ish hours.
I also did Saturday night babysitting for date nights for them. I had the same rate regardless of whether mom was home or not, babysitting or coming twice a week. Personally, I would not accept a position that paid different rates. I understand you will be there, but if this is a person who is going to be coming around often pay her the same rate for both. For me it doesn’t matter if a mom is home or not; I still consider myself responsible of the baby. What if you need to use the bathroom? Or shower? Or take a phone call? There probably will be times where you will not be able to be there with the woman as you may have to step away for a moment. This is just my personal opinion. I don’t like it when mothers think they can pay less just because they stay home. That’s really not the point. You’re still having someone come in and assume responsibility of your child.

Anonymous wrote:How many years of experience does this college student have? And what do you mean you’ll have a separate rate for babysitting hours? What’s the different between the mother’s helper and babysitting? If she has little to no experience then $15 is a good rate. If she does have experience with newborns and infants maybe bump it up a little higher to $17/h

Good questions - for Mother's Helper, she won't be solely responsible for the child. She'll just be here helping me out. For babysitting, I will be gone and she will be solely responsible for the kiddo. I view those as separate levels of responsibility and thus separate rates of pay. Does that make sense? Am I off?

How many years of experience does this college student have? And what do you mean you’ll have a separate rate for babysitting hours? What’s the different between the mother’s helper and babysitting? If she has little to no experience then $15 is a good rate. If she does have experience with newborns and infants maybe bump it up a little higher to $17/h

I am hiring a college student to help out with my 3 month old a couple hours a day, a couple days a week in NWDC. Is $15 / hour sufficient? I will be home the whole time and will have a separate rate for babysitting hours.