If you are a teenager willing to babysit as a part-time job and want to know how much you can earn, or a parent who wants to appoint a babysitter and wants to know the going rate for babysitting, go no further. For both category of readers, here is some information on the factors that determine babysitting rates. Babysitting rates per hour are governed by many factors, that include:

• The location or the area where babysitting is to be done
• The number and time of babysitting hours
• The number of children to be looked after
• The age or experience of the babysitter
• Special requirements, if any

Let us briefly discuss each of these factors. Age of the Child Age of the child or children is one of the chief factors that needs to be considered while deciding rates for babysitting. School going children of age more than 6 have less requirements, as compared to toddlers and infants. Both the age groups have different needs. Infants have special requirements, like feeding, changing diapers, putting to sleep, etc. Thus, if you have an infant, you should pay more to the babysitter. Ensure that the babysitter has a good experience of handling children in case you have an infant or a toddler. Area/City The place where the child is to be looked after plays an important role in determining babysitting rates. Metropolitan areas usually have higher rates as compared to other areas. Thus, the areas where cost of living is higher, obviously the rates will be higher. If you live in a remote area and the babysitter needs to travel a long distance, then again the rates can be a bit high as compared to normal. Number of Children This is an obvious factor, the number of children and babysitting rates are directly proportional to each other. Thus, if you want a babysitter to look after more than one child, you should pay more. With increased number of children, the babysitter's responsibility also increases. Now, the question that arises is how much more the babysitter should be paid. You can pay one to two extra dollars than the average babysitting rate for one child. Experience and Age of the Babysitter Experience and age of the babysitter also counts a lot while framing the rate for babysitting. If a babysitter is a certified one, then he/she should be paid higher. Adult babysitters should be paid higher than high school students without any experience. Teenagers usually babysit at lower rates as compared to adult babysitters. Infants need special attention and you will require an experienced babysitter for the same. Children going to elementary school can be handled by teenagers. So, depending on the age of your child, you can select the babysitter and thereby decide the rate. Babysitting Hours The time when you want the babysitting to be done is one more major factor. If babysitting is done during daytime, then the rate is a bit less compared to overnight rates. But if you want the babysitter to come on Sundays also, then you might have to pay more. Decide the hours of babysitting. For extra hours, the babysitter should be paid extra money. If you expect your babysitter to work at situations like coming early for work some day, working late, cancel plans for you, or work overnight, then you need to pay extra money. If the child is autistic or has some disabilities, then also the rate is higher. Babysitting rates depend on all the factors listed above. Some websites provide rate calculators where you need to enter the location you live, the age of the child, babysitting hours, etc., and you get an approximate rate as the final output. You can take help of these websites and decide what salary is to be offered to the babysitter.