Babysitting Rates - Chicago,IL

I'm sure your son is mature enough to babysit or else you wouldn't be letting him. $7.00 is pretty standard for high school or younger sitters in the city. Perhaps a bit more if it's for more than one child, involves extras like feeding meals, etc.

The 12 to 14 year-olds I know get $10-12 per hour.

Has he taken a "Safe Sitter" class? Along with training they help sitters learn how to set their rates and parents are confident knowing they have a trained sitter working for them. Once he completes the training (usually on a weekend) he can show his certificate and command a justified higher rate.

Safe Sitter® was founded in 1980 by Indianapolis pediatrician, Dr. Patricia A. Keener, after a colleague's 18-month-old choked to death while under an adult sitter's care. Dr. Keener developed Safe Sitter® as a medically accurate instructional program designed for young adolescents 11 to 13 years of age. Dr. Keener updates the curriculum regularly.

The curriculum is presented in modules which may be combined and are taught as one of two course options:

Safe Sitter® Basic is a 6 ½-hour essential curriculum designed for busy schedules. It includes Babysitting as a Business, Success on the Job, Child Care Essentials, Safety for the Sitter, Injury Management, Preventing Problem Behavior, Care of Choking Infant, and Care of Choking Child. It introduces Preventing Injuries and Behavior Management.

Safe Sitter® is a 12 ½-hour expanded curriculum designed for comprehensive coverage. It includes all topics covered in Safe Sitter® Basic plus Infant and Child CPR, Toddler/Preschool Guest, more in-class practice time and expanded information on Preventing Injuries and Behavior Management. (My daughter took this class at your son's age and it was invaluable, she taught me things I didn't know!)

http://www.safesitter.org/ ~ there's help on the site to assist you in locating a class, and there are scholarships available if one can't afford it, my daughter's best friend was able to take the class this way ✿

At 12 he's not technically old enough to be in charge. IL operates under a "neglect statute" so it depends on the ages and responsibility level of ALL the children that are left alone without an adult as well as the time of day, length of time without and adult present, environment etc.

Having said that I wouldn't let my 12 year old in IL babysit, until they are 13. But tons of people don't follow the law so there are tons of kids in chicago that are alone and/or babysitting at 12... so, to answer the question in general terms - if he is not babysitter certified and not doing anything "difficult" (ie feeding them, putting them to bed etc) and he's just over there to hang out with them as a responsible older kid I would say around $3/hour for BOTH kids. If he IS babysitter certified and will be feeding them / cleaning up after dinner, getting them readt for bed etc I would say $5/hour.

We usually pay our 13 year old neighbor about $7/hr to watch our kids.

Good for you for encouraging your son to babysit and to be professional enough to discuss appropriate payment! Most sitters that I use will say "oh I don't know, whatever you think" when I ask about what they charge per hour.

It really depends on the area. Here we pay our teenaged sitters $5 and hour for 2 kids, but from what I understand that is considered low in many areas.

Rates depend on the area where you live.

We are in a northern burb of Dallas, our 16 yr old routinely get $12-$15 per hour Cash.

She is CPR trained, she does interact with the children well.

Tonight she is babysitting for a new family and has no idea what they pay but it is pretty customary for $10/hr to be a minimum around here.

She sat ONE time for neighbors with 3 girls under 8 that were a nightmare and the the dad paid her $5/hr.

I do believe it gives parents a good sense of comfort when they know mom or dad will be home while the sitter is at their home with their children. My daughter started being a mom's helper around 10 and babysitting on her own by 12.

Let me first say that it is not explicitly against the law to allow your 12 year old to babysit. It depends on a combination of like 15 different factors. So, there is no "technical" age where a child is then deemed old enough to be in charge of other minors. Illinois, like most states, does not specify a minimum age. I used to work with a nonprofit contracted with DCFS to provide child welfare services for abused and neglected kids.

Illinois law defines a neglected minor, in part, as "any minor under the age of 14 years whose parent or other person responsible for the minor's welfare leaves the minor without supervision for an unreasonable period of time without regard for the mental or physical health, safety or welfare of that minor." Juvenile Court Act, 705 ILCS 405/2-3(1)(d)

So my point is, if your son is mature, and he is left for a reasonable amount of time with a minimal number of kids that don't have significant issues themselves, he understands the developmental/ age-appropriate needs of the kids he's watching, and he can react effectively in an emergency, amongst several other factors then it shouldn't be a big deal.

As for the money, I received $3/hr baby-sitting for 2 kids for a couple hours 20 years ago at age 12. So, I would think maybe $6-7/hr now?? It depends on a variety of factors though.

Also, I would enroll him in a "Safe Sitter" class as a couple other moms suggested. The primary reason would be to help prepare him for emergencies and how to handle tricky situations, but the other reason is it justifies a request for a higher pay rate.

Good look!!

Well, he will be watching TWO kids.
And for how many hours????
Does he have to feed them?
Day or night?
Or, he can offer a flat rate.
It can either be an hourly rate or flat rate.

And yes, any rate he charges, has to be agreed upon, up front.
Always.
No one, teen or adult, will babysit unless the rates are agreed upon... UP front. This is standard practice.