[lollypop]

Anyone got any idea how much I should pay a babysitter? It's my Birthday this week and I was thinking of asking our neighbour's teenage daughter to sit for us.

[anna_c]

If it's any help my friend whose a university student aged 21 but with no relevent qualifications charges $9/hour and $12 after midnight.

[wanderingoregonian]

I think I was charging way too little during my babysitting days.. okay I still babysit, but now it is for the chance to be in a house with boxes, to play with great kids, and a full fridge. Then again I have had families (in the states) pay $14 an hour for a few hours after school to shuttle the kids b/w activites and mid the gap between when the kids got home and their parents returned from work. Other families have stuck to just below or above the min wage. I look forward to hearing what people already in NZ have to say as one day soon I hope to switch roles from babysit to the one hiring!

[Jenny & Mark]

I used to Babysit after school in NZ, and got $10 for just under two hours. Looking back, its not all that much, but it was great pocket money for a 15 year old! Evening babysitting I usually charged about $10/hour. (This was over ten years ago now...)
A agree that about $9/hour day-time and then up to $12/hour evenings is a pretty good arrangement. Just keep in mind the age of the sitter too.

My sister is a fully qualified Nanny, and used to work in peoples home and charge considerably more (Nanny's do a lot more work than babysitters, sometimes including housework and "homeshcooling" type stuff with preschoolers.) After she became a mum herself, she worked with Barnardos, charging approx $3 - $5 per child per hour. This is pretty minimal, but the kids go to her house, and bring their own lunches.

Jenny

[Diny]

We 'hired' a babysitter the other night. She's the daughter of a friend of a friend who sits for lots of different families here in our village. She arrived at 7.30 and left at midnight. Came equipped with board games and playing cards for the boys and actually entertained them all night - the TV stayed switched off and she gave them 100% of her time/attention (instead of just sitting glued to the telly and texting her mates).

We paid her $50 (which, according to people I've talked to) is an average amount.

Diny

[lollypop]

Great, thanks for the replies. A reliable sitter close to home is hard to find. I'm looking forward to my night out!

[NannyOgg]

Hi Lolly,

Maybe when I get there you and I and some of the other new mirgant Mum's you mentioned could start a baby sitting circle within the Bays? We must all be in the same boat.

We did something similar here when I first moved here - no money changes hands and you just all help each other out.

Lyn x

[NannyOgg]

Oh, and Happy Birthday! x

[Carol]

I ran the Whitby babysitting club for a while when I first got here.
It really is a good way to do it - but you do need some-one to "oversee" it all and set some ground rules.