Caring for children demands special skills

They’re the people who care for your kids while you’re out to dinner, out running errands or just out and about.

These teens and young adults play with your kids, feed them meals and tuck them into bed at night. Some learn CPR and receive American Red Cross training. And the really conscientious ones also wash a few dishes and clean up after the children.

So if you’re still paying your high school-age baby sitter less than $5 an hour, especially if you have more than one child, perhaps it’s time to consider a raise.

Members of The Spokesman-Review’s Parents’ Council and other readers recently weighed in on the standard rate for baby sitters in the area. While $3 to $5 an hour appeared to be the minimum, some families with young children pay as much as $10 or even $12 an hour.

“After all, how much are your kids worth?” several parents asked on the blog.

Like child care, baby-sitting is a job that some people think just about anyone can do, according to a few local sitters. But the truth of the matter is that not every teen or young adult has the patience or maturity to take care of your kids.

Baby-sitting – even if it’s just for an hour or two – is a huge responsibility, according to several teens who baby-sit in Spokane. When the parents are out, the children’s safety and well-being are in their hands, they said.

“It’s good for kids to experience other people besides their parents,” said Jackson Marchant, 14 and a freshman at Mead High School. “Obviously, I like the income from baby-sitting but the reason I do it is because it’s fun to work with kids.”

Marchant, who has been baby-sitting for the same family for a few years, usually gets about $8 an hour caring for three boys ages 8, 10 and 12. He also sits for brief periods of time for a neighbor with twin 7-year-olds. The parents are gone for no longer than about half an hour to do errands, he said, and they pay him about $5 for that short span of time.

But some teens don’t tell parents up front how much they expect to be paid – which leaves families guessing and perhaps even shortchanging the sitter.

According to several parenting Web sites, the average national rate for sitters is about $9 to $12 an hour. The pay usually depends on the city, of course. In New York, for instance, the going rate is about $15 an hour. But in rural areas, it’s closer to $5 or less.

To figure out what’s fair in your neighborhood, it’s always good to ask around, parents say.

Wages vary depending on the baby sitter’s age and skill level, as well as the age and number of kids being watched.

Based on responses from the Parents’ Council blog as well as posts on Craigslist (http://spokane.craigslist.org), the going rate for younger sitters is about $3 to $5 per hour while those in high school are paid closer to $7 or $8. Adult sitters, however, usually can ask for more.

One college-educated individual looking for part-time income as a sitter on Craigslist provided these figures: $9 per hour for one child, $10 for two and $11 for three. Another charged $8 an hour or $40 to $60 for overnight care.

But families looking for sitters also have specific criteria. One Craigslist poster wanted a sitter who doesn’t smoke, has transportation and “will spend time with the infant, not just sit her in front of the TV.” Another wanted a nanny who likes dogs, is willing to do some light housekeeping and run errands as well as teach the children a foreign language. “Language speaker a plus,” wrote the poster. “Mandarin, Spanish and/or French.”

Craigslist as well as newspaper ads and bulletin boards at area universities remain popular places to find sitters. Still, most parents hire someone based on the recommendation of friends and neighbors.

And pay, of course, is just the beginning. In addition to leaving your sitter with a list of emergency contacts and phone numbers, it’s also important to take the time to talk to them about your expectations. “I think the more direction you give to a baby sitter, the better,” wrote blog reader Debbie G. “If you don’t want them just sitting in front of the TV, then give them options. If you want them to do the dishes, let them know. No cell phone calls to boyfriends/friends? Give your expectations.”

Middle-schoolers and teens sometimes enroll in baby-sitting courses that teach them how to supervise and play with children, how to change diapers, how to administer first aid and other skills. It’s a job, after all, they said, and education always helps. Training gives their own parents some peace of mind and it also seems to make a difference to the families who hire them.

“…They really take it seriously, interviewing us about bedtimes and food preferences and emergency contacts and fire extinguishers and making us feel like our kids might just be better off in the hands of the baby sitter than this tired and stressed mommy and daddy couple,” wrote Debbie G., describing her experiences with teens who have taken baby-sitting courses.

To help your children adjust to a new sitter, it might be helpful to bring them to the sitter’s house for a visit, if the sitter and her or his family agree, she suggested. “That way they get to know the baby sitter but there is an extra adult or two around if needed,” she wrote.

But since there aren’t any national or state regulations governing baby sitters, anyone can call themselves a “baby sitter” or a “nanny” and apply for a baby-sitting job. That’s why some parents still prefer to leave their children only with relatives.

“Since we have four young kids, I don’t trust anyone other than my parents to watch them,” wrote blog reader Mikayla. “It takes a lot of patience, self-control and love to watch my brood and who else has that other than Grandma and Grandpa?”