how much to charge for babysitting an infant

Expect to pay at least another $1-2 per hour in addition to the basic rate. Others are fine to let the children sit and watch television for the entire evening or play on a tablet.If you're the more active type of babysitter, you should really use that as a selling point to parents to explain why you might charge a higher rate than other babysitters.For many parents, it's worth the extra $1 or $2 per hour to pay for a really engaging babysitter. Like if a family wants you to be at their house to start babysitting at 7 am on the weekend, or if they need you to babysit on a holiday. But then you might increase your rate a bit more depending on any extra services that the family asks you to do.Some things that might go above and beyond your basic babysitting duties include picking children up from school, cooking dinner for them, tutoring and helping with homework, and doing household cleaning after everyone has gone to bed (Going above and beyond is an excellent way to get rave reviews from parents and get recommended to other families to babysit for. In that case, in some places, you might be entitled to overtime pay (usually 1.5x your normal rate.) As a younger babysitter, you're probably going to have to negotiate more and really prove that you're a mature and experienced babysitter.If you're a smaller person you might run into similar problems since parents will perceive you as being younger.I'll talk about some of the tools you can use to overcome any potential biases of being a young babysitter in the next few sections.Just how young can you start babysitting? For example, the infant babysitting rate for one child for five hours in the Houston, Texas, area would be approximately $12 an hour.

You must be at least school leaving age to get the National Minimum Wage. At least better than a babysitter they've never met before! Maybe you babysit for one of the first families you ever worked for at a lower rate than what you charge new customers. They might not be able to do certain tasks, and may not even be able to communicate effectively with you at all.You might want to look at each family and adjust your rates on a case by case basis.

That includes time getting ready, traveling there and back, on top of the actual hours that you'll be spending babysitting.Curious if babysitters can claim mileage as an expense on your tax return? 3. A more experienced babysitter has probably seen and dealt with every tough situation that children have to offer. Especially if the parents have helped you out in other areas of your life in the past, or some other reason why you need to repay a favor.You might even decide to babysit for free in some cases. The average hourly rate for a babysitter is $16.75 for one child and $19.26 for two kids, according to the 2019 annual study compiled by UrbanSitter. You might be getting food worth an amount that would take you several hours of babysitting to earn!It's good to think of the whole picture too. Some dogs may also have behavioral issues like going to the bathroom in the house or ripping furniture that you need to either prevent or deal with at the time.For lazy dogs that don't need much attention, I wouldn't charge any extra. If you charge too little, you may be missing out on a lot of extra money.Let's start by looking at the average babysitting rates in cities around the world, then we'll cover the various factors that can influence your pay per hour. Parents with infants will especially pay a premium for the peace of mind and expertise that a more seasoned babysitter can offer.If you're not an experienced babysitter, don't worry!

The information contained in member profiles, job posts and applications are supplied by care providers and care seekers themselves and is not information generated or verified by Care.com. Especially if you're doing a physically demanding activity with the children that will get them nice and tired out so they'll be ready for bed when the parents get home!Take your skills to the next level, read our guide: One babysitting job can be totally different than the next depending on the type of child or children that you're going to be in charge of.Babysitting older kids tends to be easier since you can take a less hands-on approach.

Babysitting infants can usually bring in another dollar or two per hour over what you typically charge for babysitting older children.

The positive and negative aspect of babysitting late sort of even out, so I wouldn't charge any extra in that case.Babysitters come in all types. (Generally larger cities with a high cost of living are where babysitters are able to charge the most. So if you normally charge $11 per hour to watch one child, you can charge $12 or $13 per hour to watch two children.Pet sitting is often considered an entirely separate job all on its own.If the family you're babysitting for, has pets, you'll probably need to watch them and make sure they don't get into trouble as well.Cats and smaller pets like hamsters and birds don't need much input from a babysitter. Usually somewhere between $8 and $15 per hour is a good asking price. Basic tidying up and getting the kids a snack are usually included in your basic rate-just be sure your babysitter knows what your expectations are. If you're basically going to be babysitting a very active dog the entire time, I would treat them like another child and add an extra $1 or $2 to my rate.Of course, if you have allergies or you're not an animal person, you might just want to turn down opportunities to babysit for families with pets entirely!Services like Lyft and Uber adjust their pricing depending on demand (That's just supply and demand.