Older kids Babysitting Siblings

[Kjersti]

How much do you pay your oldest to babysit his/her siblings? My oldest is 13 and I want to pay her when I'm out running errands and she has to babysit her sister. I'm usually never gone more than 40 minutes. Thanks!!

[NatalieKW]

Hmmm....since you want to pay her and because 40 minutes isn't much at all, I would say $5? Especially since Faith probably isn't much work since she's older anyways. Anything less would seem like nothing. Even at $5, if you do it regularly, it will add up, for both you and her.

I'm not old by any means, but I come from the day and age were I got paid a dollar an hour per kid. So $5 would be awesome in my book.

[jacinda]

I'd say $5 an hour for the same reasons as Natalie.

[julifish]

My 14 yo only charges $5/hour to babysit for the neighbors and I pay her about the same - sometimes I just offer to buy her Starbucks or a new pair of shorts instead.

[Valgal]

I almost never pay my kids to babysit, lol! I grew up with 4 siblings and taking care of each other was just part of life. I do pay the boys if we're going to be gone all evening or something, but I expect them to do more for her... like actually get her a meal so she's not using the stove unsupervised.

[Valgal]

Originally Posted by NatalieKW

Hmmm....since you want to pay her and because 40 minutes isn't much at all, I would say $5? Especially since Faith probably isn't much work since she's older anyways. Anything less would seem like nothing. Even at $5, if you do it regularly, it will add up, for both you and her.

I'm not old by any means, but I come from the day and age were I got paid a dollar an hour per kid. So $5 would be awesome in my book.

I got paid $2 in the early '90s

[lovely1m]

I agree, I would keep it low or offer her like $40-$50 a month or something.

When I babysat back in the day, I got handed a $20 bill at the end of the night usually I babysat for like 8-10 hours at a time for 2-3 kid. o_O

[Keely~B]

Well my oldest usually owes me so we're on more of a barter system

[NeverendingJen]

I never got paid for watching my brother.

[scrap2day]

Originally Posted by NeverendingJen

I never got paid for watching my brother.

What she said. I didn't know that being paid to watch my siblings was even an option.

[Julie Billingsley]

When Jacob would watch Logan, we'd pay him about $2-3 an hour. It wasn't much, but it was more than he'd normally get hanging around the house. LOL When Jacob got a little older and was working and making his own money, if he watched Logan, I'd offer to take one of his chores in exchange. So, I'd do the dishes instead of him, and we'd call it even. He actually liked that a lot because dishes were his least favorite chore.

[glumirk]

There are 5 kids in my family, and I don't think my brother ever got paid to watch us. By the time I was oldest at home my sister was already babysitting other kids.

Especially if it's while you are running errands, you are probably doing them as much of a favor as they are doing you.

If you are looking for a way to teach her about earning money, then $2-3 an hour is probably good. I know 10 years ago I was paid $5/hour for 4 kids, and I thought it was great.

[Keely~B]

Originally Posted by NeverendingJen

I never got paid for watching my brother.

I'm an only child but my cousin lived with me for many years and I was a built in babysitter and never got paid. It was not a once in a blue moon, only for an hour or so type thing and it felt unfair to me. I promised myself I'd handle it differently. If I need my oldest to watch my youngest for an hour, I'm not paying, but if we're going out for the day/evening, she's going to earn some money. ( or like I said, we're big in trade, the barter system LOL )

[scrappurple]

I never paid Brianna unless JIm and I went on a date. If it was running errands, etc., She watched Cassie because that is part of being the family. We all contribue to the family in different ways. BUT if Jim and I or if one of us wanted to do something fun that was not family related, then we paid her either cash, an item she wanted (itunes, make-up, etc).

[nun69]

Originally Posted by Keely~B

If I need my oldest to watch my youngest for an hour, I'm not paying, but if we're going out for the day/evening, she's going to earn some money. ( or like I said, we're big in trade, the barter system LOL )

we barter here too.....my oldest is watching ALL of her siblings (12/7/6) for the summer ($200 every 2 weeks) but we just bartered with her for the rest of the summer for a new desktop computer But she is not only required to just "keep them alive" she has to clean, make them do their chores and feed them and so far she is doing ALOT better than she has before......on that note, she really only has to keep her eye on Peyton (because of his Autism and you just can't take your eyes off of him) and Abby and Ben really tend to themselves I am one that agress that it is part of the family for you to help out your parents whether that means babysitting, doing chores, helping other siblings with homework, spending some quality time with their siblings/family, etc......

[marnel]

I was never paid and I never paid my older girls to watch the younger one's. I've taught them it's all about caring for each other and helping each other b/c we are family and that's just how we do...

If my oldest now 18 had to watch them while I was out working & it's summer then she'd probably make 125 a week for all 3. Mr Mason would be the biggest handful the others clean and cook (supervised) for themselves. Going back to the whole helping each other out.

[Nettio]

I was never paid either but I also never received an allowance. My parents would just pay for stuff. So I think if you require her to pay for her own things, it'd be fair to pay her, otherwise I probably wouldn't.

[Jenn Barrette]

For 40 min - hour errands, I would explain that babysitting is just part of being a family and working together. If it is a night out for you guys, or a full day of errands than around $3-5/hr seems fair to me. I had to watch my 3 younger siblings a lot and never got paid...it sucked. lol

[Valgal]

Originally Posted by marnel

I was never paid and I never paid my older girls to watch the younger one's. I've taught them it's all about caring for each other and helping each other b/c we are family and that's just how we do...

That's our sentiment too. If it was a regular type thing (like if I worked or something) I would definitely pay a small'ish amt.

[maryinaz]

Originally Posted by Nettio

I was never paid either but I also never received an allowance. My parents would just pay for stuff. So I think if you require her to pay for her own things, it'd be fair to pay her, otherwise I probably wouldn't.

This is us with the boys.

[Kjersti]

I like the $5.00 per hour! That sounds great!!
Thank you for all of your input