It depends on where you live.

Sitters in bigger cities earn more. Some sitters also do housework, so they deserve more.

I never dropped my kids off at any babysitter's house, unless it was a certified daycare. The sitters either drove or I picked them up. Just tell them flat out that your child needs to be in her home environment so she can be put to bed, and you're not hauling her things around.

I used to pay my sitter minimum wage plus meals, which was pretty good for this rural area. I had three kids, but she was actually only watching two of them because my teen watched himself. (He wasn't old enough to babysit, plus I couldn't write off anything I paid him on my taxes.)

I'd tell you to keep looking. Kids have to be older than 11 to even stay home alone by themselves in a lot of states. Trust your gut if you think the older gal is flighty. I had one gal I wasn't sure of. Sure enough, she had boys over inside my house, was outside smoking while my baby was alone inside screaming, and stole some of my jewelry. I also found slices of pizza under my couch in the living room. My neighbor intervened, thank goodness! I wound up calling the cops on the girl. Get references and CHECK them. Pop home unexpectedly to check up new sitters, too. Parents are ultimately responsible for choosing good sitters.

Call the high schools to see if they'd make an announcement and collect phone numbers of interested older teens in your neighborhood. I did this and got 20 girls and a boy who were interested. You're probably going to pay at least $3 an hour for just one child.

Follow Ups: