Babysitting Rates - Mokena,IL

My 16 year old daughter does quite a bit of babysitting and the "going rates" among her and her other friends that babysit are $5/hr for the first child and $2/hr each additional child. I've always told her to accept what people offer and so far she has never been taken advantage of and usually paid more than that because she does a great job. I also taught her to always leave the house/kids in better condition than she found it...simply meaning to clean up any messes and make sure there are no dishes left in the sink, etc. I'd be curious to know what other mamas have to say about this to see if she is on target.

We live in Oak Lawn and pay $7 an hour for our two girls. We pay our neices the same as we pay the neighbor girls. You could probably get away with $5 but they are more likely to be "available" again if you pay a little more. :)

ps... to Judi.. I love when my sitters clean up after themselves, makes me call them FIRST when I am looking for a sitter. Wish all moms trained their girls to, at the very least, clean up the mess they make. :)

Hi, I live in Oak Lawn, and I gave $5.00 an hour for one child, and $6.00 an hour for my two children. I know some places further South pay so much more. One person told me $15.00-$20.00 an hour....I was like holy cow. For one thing, that is CASH, and for another thing, I think I would love to quit work and work for that person! ha! Heck, half the time the babysitter is playing with them, and the other half they are sleeping (we usually need them in the evenings). So I think that is more than fair myself. They must think so too, because they come back! (Note, I pay the same amount for the person who comes to my house twice a week to watch them during the day as well). I have a 50-year old friend for the day, and usually the daughter to my friend, who is 30 years old watches them at night when we go on date nights. It is a hard economy out there, and when you factor the babysitting $, plus the evening you had planned, it could be tough!

Again, especially for a college student, $5.00 to $6.00 I think is more than fair.

Please note, I have one person who always cleans up after themselves, and one who doesn't. Funny how that works. I know when I used to babysit a million moons ago, my Mom always told me I better leave it like it was (at least). I usually did more when the kids were sleeping, and I did get paid extra alot because of it!

Good luck!

I am currently a part time nanny and have nannied fir the last 5 years. I have noticed since the economy has gotten worse rates have gone down. It's an expensive In the last five years, I have been paid anywhere from $12-$16/hr but thus past job I took offered only $9/hr. I am 30yrs old, with more experience that a typical college student. So I would think a going rate for an 18-22yr old would be $7-8.50/ hour.

If you need more help finding a sitter, www.care.com and www.sittercity.com are both great websites.