Babysitting, what's the going rate?

I think it's going to vary quite a bit state to state (assuming your are in the US). I pay my sitter what I consider to be quite more than the going rate, but I do so because I only use her a few hours a week & I really depend on her being available those few hours. If over-paying means she won't look for a situation working more hours, it's a good investment for me. Does your sitter have references? I'd ask when I call on them what they were paying her.

I think at least minimum wage. Usually if we get someone to watch my son for a few hours at night we would pay them $20-$25 depending on the length of time and depending on how well we know them.

Since the teenager will only be watching the child for 4 1/2 hours, I would say to pay $10 for this time that the child will be watched. I wouldn't even consider the fact that the child is going to be a sleep because you will not know for sure if the child will stay a sleep once you are gone. I always pay $10 for every four hours per child. You and your significant other should agree on the amount before making a final decision.

You'll have to "shop" around in your area to see what the going rate for a child around that age is. Around here, its about $12-$15 for babys and once they're about 18-24 months it goes to about $9-$12 but never less than $7. I see in some of your other comments, that you put shes 13 and will be doing it at her own home, so I would pay her maybe $8 or $9 at the most. Also, theres a website where you can look up sitters in your area, I dont know what it costs to join, as I am a sitter, not a parent. www.sittercity.com

Hi there. If we had to rush off somewhere, which rarley happened, we would pay my younger cousin, who was 16, a set price of $40, we paid $20 per child as we have 2 of them, why we paid her that much, was because we knew her quality with looking after children, and being parents thats what made us feel our children were being left in good hands... We also told her why we've paid her that much and she would always try to refuse and say $10 is more then enough... She is 22 today, no children of her own, but very happy to watch the families children if she was called on...

I'd say $10 would be sufficent. Course if you get there and your son's been difficult then up it a bit. :) I usually pay about $40 for a night out but I have five kids.