how much do you pay babysitters??

It depends on whether you are babysitting or a licensed child care provider. Prices vary in each states and according to your experience and program. I don't know about where you live, but in Colorado you cannot watch children from more than one family (other than your own) at a time unless you are licensed. So you could watch your kids and the neighbor's kids....but you couldn't watch your sister's kids at the same time. And here you can be fined for every hour you have worked up to $10,000! All it takes is for one parent to get upset with you and call the State. So, be very careful. I am a licensed provider and I charge $200/week for an infant, and $175 a week for 2 and up for full time care. But that is typical of care in my area. The centers are actually charging up to $300/week for infants here! It's insane.

I would pay about $25 for 2-3 hours. We usually don't get a sitter.

I would pay at least minimum wage. I know when I would baby sit - this was 15 or so years ago - I was getting paid $6/hour for all day. The last time I had to hire a sitter was probably 6 years ago and we paid her $7 hour.

I think that you can charge an hourly rate, or you can charge a daily rate. But be specific about your times. I think that for a younger child I would charge more, because their more work...older kids can entertain themselves. I would probably charge $30-40 per day. If you watch the child for 8 hrs. that is only 5 dollars an hour...so it isn't really unreasonable. I would weigh it out though...check other babysitting services to keep that competitive edge.

my friend baby sits a couple kids well she used to. and she wud have 10 dollars a day and then depending on how they worked it wud b 40-50 bucks at the end of the week per kid. i think it makes a pertty gud amounth of money by the end of the week.

I agree calling around is your best bet and then going from there to set a price. also make sure you check your local state laws as well as township. In Pa if you are caring for 3 or more unrelated children than you have to be certified or registered.