Baby Sitting Rates in Metro

Big12Cy

Member
Jan 13, 2008
214
9
18
New father and not sure what I sould be paying for baby sitting of an infant.
What are peole out there in the Metro area paying per hour?
 

brianhos

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Staff member
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SuperFanatic T2
Jun 1, 2006
56,727
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Trenchtown
Depends on the age of the sitter. We have three kids so when we get a sitter it is about $10 an hour (scary!).

One kid, tween sitter, maybe $5 an hour?
 

AIT

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2008
2,743
101
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Johnston, IA
$4-5/hour is probably fair, but it depends on how difficult the infant is. If the infant screamed for most of the time, you should pay more. If the infant slept most of the time, you could pay a little less.
 

psycln11

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2006
3,540
1,521
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Ankeny
We always use grandpa's and grandma's. Both sets are in the area and one is usually availabe.

Best thing?? They pay us to let them watch the kids!! :wink:
 

HILLCYD

Well-Known Member
Nov 22, 2006
9,757
332
83
We typically use girls that work at our daycare. They are all at least 17-18 years old so they can drive etc. They also work at a daycare so they are CPR trained, work with multiple kids everyday.

For that level of service we pay between 8-10 an hour.

We have 2 kids, four year old boy, two year old girl.
 

wartknight

Well-Known Member
Mar 24, 2006
6,736
175
63
We have a 2.5 year old and pay $5/hour. Our daughter goes to bed at 7 so if most of the sitting time is after that, we pay 4. The girls that watch her are 16 and we pick them up. When they start driving we will probably bump what we pay a little.
 
Sep 28, 2007
165
13
18
Norman, OK
We have 4 kids (7-5-3-1) and joined a babysitting co-op. Basically, we developed system of wooden sticks to use as currency among several (12) families and there is a set rate for the first child and diminishing rates for additional children. I highly recommend this if you know of others in a similar life stage. You accumulate sticks by volunteering to watch other kids and then when you want to go out, it doesn't cost an extra $30 or so for the date.

We limit the number of families to keep tabs on the currency and interview new families prior to admission to the co-op to assess the likelihood of abuse (of the system, not children - but that , too I suppose). The best thing is that we will often get email from other families in need of sticks wanting to watch our kids (4 kids pays a lot of sticks).

Yes, I like to save money when I can.
 
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HILLCYD

Well-Known Member
Nov 22, 2006
9,757
332
83
We have 4 kids (7-5-3-1) and joined a babysitting co-op. Basically, we developed system of wooden sticks to use as currency among several (12) families and there is a set rate for the first child and diminishing rates for additional children. I highly recommend this if you know of others in a similar life stage. You accumulate sticks by volunteering to watch other kids and then when you want to go out, it doesn't cost an extra $30 or so for the date.

We limit the number of families to keep tabs on the currency and interview new families prior to admission to the co-op to assess the likelihood of abuse. The best thing is that we will often get email from other families in need of sticks wanting to watch our kids (4 kids pays a lot of sticks).

Yes, I like to save money when I can.

This is a GREAT idea! I am going to try to start one of these!
 

tec71

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
1,352
124
63
Ankeny, Iowa
we have a 3 (almost 4) year old and a 20 month old. we pay a secretary from the office $10/hr usually with some sort of guarantee since we live in ankeny and they typically drive over from urbandale or west des moines. If we leave one kid we usually pay $7-$8 depending on how badly we need someone. If we get by with a neighbor high school kid we might go with a flat fee especially if the kids are going to bed and most of the night will be spent eating and watching television or surfing CF. Say $40 for the whole night.
 

zach

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2006
1,556
91
48
The Subs
we have a 3 (almost 4) year old and a 20 month old. we pay a secretary from the office $10/hr usually with some sort of guarantee since we live in ankeny and they typically drive over from urbandale or west des moines. If we leave one kid we usually pay $7-$8 depending on how badly we need someone. If we get by with a neighbor high school kid we might go with a flat fee especially if the kids are going to bed and most of the night will be spent eating and watching television or surfing CF. Say $40 for the whole night.


I like your avatar!

Z
 

green1706

New Member
Aug 5, 2009
3
0
1
Romania
New father and not sure what I sould be paying for baby sitting of an infant.
What are peole out there in the Metro area paying per hour?
I have a teenage babysitter that I pay with 5$ per hour. She takes care of two children of my, 3 and 5 years, and she’s satisfied and do the job very well. So, I think this is the right price. Good luck!
 

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