What is an appropriate babysitting rate?

I am 15 years old. Just to give you a little information about money in our area, houses sell for about $500,000-$1,000,000, I have a part-time job making $8.00 an hour, and we have a huge range from lower-class to very upper class families in our town. I am middle class. I babysit kind of frequently for a family that goes to my church, but my neighbor has been asking me to babysit as well. I am certified in babysitting, know basic first aid and CPR (but am not certified yet). I have to get certified in first aid and CPR for my job, though so I will be soon. The family I was has three kids: 8, 5, almost 2. The two year old is not potty trained, and is very very fussy. I usually watch them from about 5-11 PM which includes dinner, bedtimes, and straightening up the house. My parents drive me there and they drive me home (we live about 20 min. away). They have never asked me what I charge, but I am pretty sure my neighbors who wanted me to sit for them will so I am trying to come up with

a reasonable rate. About how much should I be getting paid for this? Per hour? Per child?

Hi! Do you have friends that babysit? Can you ask others in your area their opinions of the "going"rate? When I lived in Upstate NY, I paid a babysitter $10/hour for three children, ages 4,3,1 1/2. That was a rate set by a nanny company I used to help me find a sitter. These sitters were excellent, really engaged my children and had experience dealing with young children. I moved to Wisconsin, and the "going rate" for 4 children is $8/hour. I now have 5 children, ages infant, 4, 7, 8, 10. I pay my babysitter $5/hour for first child, and add a$1 on for each child over that. Sometimes she's watching 2, sometimes 4. It is rare for her to watch all 5, however, my two older daughters are a big help to her , so I don't feel like she is doing it all herself. I also know she isn't certified in First Aid, or CPR. I think that is an extra qualification that is terrific! In your case, the 8 year old can be helpful to you so that takes a bit of work load off of you. You don't want to charge too much because you may never be asked back. It is also a matter of what the average rate is for a babysitter. These people know you and trust you and it seems you are motivated so that is why they are requesting you. I would say people living in $500,000- $1,000.000 can afford paying you $7-10/hour for three children. Dinner and bedtime hour can be difficult, but after they are in bed, there is that down-time and you are not interacting with the kids. So, as a mom of five, I guess, I would feel no more than $10/hour IF you have all three children all the time. If there are less children, then less money. I am glad you tidy up the house some. I have found many babysitters that don't do that and I know that annoys the heck out of me. I don't expect a babysitter to be doing my cleaning, but I do like it when they gather up the toys scattered around, and clean up their dishes,etc. Also, I never expect a babysitter to do too much with the potty training. That can be hard. I would expect them to encourage the child but potty training is difficult enough for parents, much less for a babysitter! I hope this has helped you.

Per hour, but also take into consideration how many kids they have.
Ask for $8, but if there are more than 3 kids, or one is disabled ask for $9

In an area that sounds somewhat similar to yours, we pay our babysitters $10 an hour. Given your certifications, I think you should deserve that much. If you didnt have them or were younger I'd say a bit less, but you sound quite qualified.

I have been babysitting for many years. I think you should be making $8-9/hr because they have to come pick you up and you aren't able to drive the kids around. Once you get older and able to drive you should up your rate to 10-12 (also because you will be more experienced and CPR/first aid). Remember that babysitting money is in cash and is not taxed so making 8-9$/hr is alot more than your part time job at 8$. Good luck and hope it works out for you.

I think it would be reasonable to take into consideration factors such as:
How many kids, the ages of the children, how many hours you are working.
I would charge more if they were at your place & eating your food.
Set a minimum.
With the information you provided I think under $50 a day is reasonable.

3.50 per child

well i'm a parent i only have one child 2 and i pay the babysitter 50 bucks to watch her she only usually babysitts on saturday's so i can run errands but other than that my daughter is either with me or in daycare. so since they have 3 kids i would tell them that they have to pay you 10 bucks an hour per kid so for 3 hours they would pay you 30 bucks or you can tell them to pay you $40 dollars for one day

You sound quite qualified. I when I babysitting in an area that sound much like yours, I had 3 kids and they paid me $10 an hour, if I drove them somewhere I got an extra $15 that day. The $10 was whether I had 1 child or all 3 children. I had them most mornings and drove them to school or their summer activities.

i would say about 7 dollars an hour. since you are babysitting three kids and one is not potty-trained yet, that is a big tool deciding the amount of money you should be making. you are babysitting for six hours, and very young children; DiNNER TOO..man. the total you should make at the end of the night is probably 100 dollars especailly because of the training you have. :]

i think 9 dollars an hour becuz there all little and can be a handful.try to discuss a reasonable price with the parents of the kids.