Taking care

In The challenges of making friends once you’re a parent we talked about the tricky process of setting up a friendship circle for Mum and Dad once you’ve relocated to Australia, or anywhere else in the world. We shared our top “making friends” tips for relocating parents and one of these tips was; “Don’t be tight with babysitting”. We recommended assigning a monthly budget to babysitting so that you can treat yourselves to grown up nights out with your friends.

Of course, the next questions from many families planning their relocation to Australia, or who have just arrived, are “How much should we pay for a babysitter?” and “Where can we find a good sitter?”

How much should we pay for a babysitter or nanny in Australia?

Our article about The challenges of making friends once you’re a parent prompted a lot of discussion over on the Mum’s gone 2 Aus Facebook page and lead to our readers discussing the hourly rate we should pay for babysitting.

As Mum mentioned over on Facebook, when we first arrived we regularly attended a lovely playgroup in a fairly central and affluent area of Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. I met a full-time nanny there who told me that the going rate for evening babysitting was $30 per hour…hmmm. I remember at the time doing a quick conversion into £s and figured she was trying it on, or we’d never have a night out again!

As she was a professional nanny with many years experience this might be the hourly rate she can achieve with some families, in some areas of Sydney, but for most of us adding $30 per hour to a night out isn’t an option.

Now we’ve been here a little longer we have got to know a few lovely ladies from our children’s childcare centre and previous preschool. We pay a much more manageable $15 – $18 per hour and this seems to be fairly normal amongst our friends who choose an adult carer for their kids. Mei Koon, who runs Meet a Sitter (we’ll talk more about this service in a moment) confirms that the average you should expect to pay for evening babysitting is $15 – $20 per hour, and that this is fairly standard across Australia although larger cities are more likely to be at the top end.

If you want to pay less than $15 – $20 per hour it is possible; we know many people who pay teenagers around $10 per hour. Depending on the age of your children, the personality of the teenager, how well you know the teenager’s family etc. this type of arrangement can work very well for all involved.

The rates we’ve mentioned so far refer to evening babysitting, if you’re looking for a daytime nanny or mother’s helper you should expect to pay a little more. Mei from Meet a Sitter suggests $20 – $25 for a daytime nanny and confirms that nannies with lots of experience in affluent areas can earn up to $30 per hour. You pay more for a day time nanny because they have more responsibilities i.e. taking children to activities and preparing meals. Long term nannies will also expect holiday pay and superannuation entitlements.

Where can we find a good babysitter or nanny in Australia?

You know how much you’re likely to pay, but how do you find a good babysitter, nanny or mother’s helper when you’ve arrived in a new city and don’t know anyone?

Mum feels the first thing to consider is your level of comfort regarding the qualifications of the person caring for your children. For us, our first choice has always been to use someone the children already know from their daytime childcare centre or preschool. It has many benefits; the carers are childcare professionals, they have first aid training, they are checked and known by the centre, and already have a rapport with the kids.

If your children aren’t in a childcare centre you could ask a friend to recommend someone from their centre. We often pass on the details of the ladies who babysit for us.

If there aren’t existing connections or relationships that you can turn to, a service like Meet a Sitter is invaluable. Meet a sitter currently operates in Sydney and Melbourne.

How does Meet a sitter work?

Meet a Sitter is a boutique speed dating service for parents and babysitters. For a one off event fee or annual membership payment you attend Meet a Sitter events to interview potential babysitters and nannies. By attending an event you receive the resumés of all sitters, you get the opportunity to interview them and by the time you leave will have a shortlist of sitters you’d like to use; you’ll have their contact details to negotiate rates and schedules to suit your requirements.

The big benefit for busy parents is that sitters attending the events have already been screened by the Meet a Sitter team. Sitters are typically required to have at least two years experience working with children, they attend a behavioural interview with trained recruiters who are also parents, and sitters ID, working with children and police checks are verified.

Meet a sitter events are often held early in the morning or in the evening making it as easy as possible for working parents to attend.

Visit the Meet a Sitter website for more details about the service. The Meet a Sitter blog also provides useful tips and information about babysitters and choosing a carer for your children.

If a Meet a Sitter service isn’t available where you live, you could search for a babysitting agency or introduction service local to you. There are several online babysitting services that offer job listings and introductions.

Don’t forget babysitting swaps…

When we want a night out with friends it’s straight forward to pay for a babysitter, but we shouldn’t overlook the fact that our new friends are also a good resource for babysitting. As long as it’s mutually beneficial you could suggest regular babysitting swaps with friends and \ or set up a babysitting circle. We have a few friends who live close by that we know we can call on if we’re due to have a night out and can’t find a sitter.

How have you got on with finding a babysitter or nanny in Australia? How much do you pay? Have you used a service or agency to help you find carers for your kids? Please share your experiences and top tips. Thank you.

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