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Babysitting Question

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OctoberBaby06

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Babysitting Question Posted: 01-06-08 19:39pm


Shane & I need some more money coming in with getting this new car & all. With just his income we're going to be cutting it VERY close every month, so I'm going to start babysitting here in my house. A friend of mine just asked me if I would be interested in watching her 8 month old daughter which I'm fully capable of doing, I just don't know what to charge her. I'm going to provide all meals, except for obviously formula & if she's still on baby food she'd have to bring that. Help! Also, any advice on going about all of this?

AyaMiyaki

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Posted: 01-06-08 19:41pm


How many hours would you be watching her? I would, at minimum, charge her minimum wage... which is, what, $7 an hour? Daycares charge much much more than that, plus she trusts you. Will she be providing diapers as well?

tdr

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Posted: 01-06-08 19:43pm


I charge a base of $7/hr to babysit, and then there are added fees, like if I have to change diapers or if I have to cook.

OctoberBaby06

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Posted: 01-06-08 19:48pm


That's what I figured, $7/hour. I'm not sure of her hours yet, she's suppose to email me back then we're going to go from there. It will either be 6 or 12 hours at a time though. I'll know how many days a week when she writes back to me. She'll provide diapers, wipes, etc. She'll provide formula & if she's still using babyfood, she'll bring that. If they're on regular table food, I'll do all of that because it wouldn't be any extra hassle to just cook a little bit more food at meal times. I'm excited but I want to go about all of this the right way. I've read on a few websites that there is a penalty that if she was late paying me one week, I could charge extra each day late. How much should that be? Or should I even do that? I'm friends with this girl but we're aren't REAL close, I don't want to go too far & ruin my chance of making a little extra money!

Mommy35

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Posted: 01-06-08 19:48pm


$20-$25 a day is quite fair. $7 an hour seems a bit steep. That would be $280 a week for a 40 hour week If I were you I would have strict pick up times too.

OctoberBaby06

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Posted: 01-06-08 19:49pm


That's what my sister said, $20-25/day..

AyaMiyaki

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Posted: 01-06-08 19:50pm


$20 for a 12 hour day is ridiculous though. That's less than $1 per hour!

Mommy35

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Posted: 01-06-08 19:51pm


If I were going out to dinner and a movie I would have no issue paying $7 an hour, but to do it all day every day would get expensive.

OctoberBaby06

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Posted: 01-06-08 19:54pm


Soooo, say she's working 4 days a week, 6 hours at a time.. (Just an example, I have no idea what she'll be working yet).. I'd be totally fine with charging $25/day then.. But what about if it was 4 days a week; 12 hours at a time?

Mommy35

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:03pm


That is a great question. I guess you and her would have to sit down and decide what you both think is fair. Maybe setting a weekly amount will work better for you. I agree that $20 would be beans if you were sitting for a child for 12 hours, but $84 dollars seems a bit high too. Most daycares do not take kids for 12 hours at a time.

jenniek

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:07pm


Sorry I didn't read everyone reply but heres what we do. If Brayden goes to the liscened daycare provider she charges $2.50 an hour if he goes less then 20 hours a week and if he goes full time 40 hours then is I believe $100 a week. I've looked into gettin Brayden into a program at the local YMCA and I know they watch the kids frmo like 7:45-5:45 monday through friday and they charge $103 a week. If I have a good friend of mine come watch brayden about once a week (here at the house so its one on one care) She charges us $4 an hour. What do you feel comfortable paying people? I would probably go based on that. I remember when I was younger and would babysit I always thought $2.50 an hour was a rip off but now that I'm actually paying a babysitter it really is a managable rate and it does add up over time. While scrolling down I saw someone posted $7 but to me that seems ridiculously high. Maybe if it was a last minute I really need a babysitter kind of thing but not for something prearranged that you will probably do on a regular basis..

yellow ribbon

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:07pm


la petite academy charges 165 a week for 6am-6pm care, of course the kids are over 2 tho

Bridget

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:09pm


i think sadie (candita) charges $3 per hour per child. "daycare" babysitting is different than regular babysitting. $20-25 a day is reasonable for an 8-9 hour day.

tdr

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:12pm


I misunderstood the original post. I think you should go with like $20 per day if it's 8hrs or less, and then like an aditional $4 or something per hour after 8.

jenniek

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:13pm


Oh also our liscenced daycare provider gave us a contract that we had to sign that just covered all the basics and I would consider coming up with something like that incase she'd fall through on payments or something. I know on our contract it out right states the days she will not be doing daycare(like holidays and such) so that they have no reason to not find other care and it states all the charges for the different circumstances. It states pick up and drop off times and the extra fees if you are late picking up the child. If you would like to know more about the contract we go on like exactly what she charges and stuff PM me.

ladylee70

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:16pm

Mommy35 wrote:

$20-$25 a day is quite fair. $7 an hour seems a bit steep. That would be $280 a week for a 40 hour week Shocked

If I were you I would have strict pick up times too.

I think there is a BIG difference between charging for once in a while babysitting as opposed to 5 days a week full time or even two or three days a week babysitting. Good luck on finding people willing to pay $280 dollars a week unless the person paying you is pretty well off or you live in a city where that is considered acceptable. I know that would be considered high even in some cities that are considered more expensive.

When I worked full time, the most I ever paid was $800 a month. That was at a private, daycare/preschool that had only 10 kids at 3 teachers. That was in Columbus, Ohio where the average cost of daycare was about $650 to $700.

I would say between $20 and $25 dollar a day is reasonable. I pay $20 dollars a day for each child at the in home place I take my kids. I feel this is a very good deal. That is the average going rate here in Boise, ID. You can't expect to make minimum wage when you do daycare in the home. That is not realistic in most circumstances. Perhaps it's realistic for a babysitting gig but even I wouldn't pay someone that much having two kids...I would never get to go out!

Whatever you decide, I would write up a contract. I can share with you my babysitters contract. It is very well-written (some grammatical errors). My friend has made up some pretty neat communication cards she gives me everyday stating how my sons have done, when they ate, etc. Perhaps I can get a sample of that as well. Just PM me if you want that.

I can drop my children off between 7:00 am and need to pick them up before 6:00 pm. If I don't pick them up before 6:00 pm, I get charge extra. I always pick them up on time. I forgot what that extra is. At another place, I was charged a dollar per hour after ten minutes being late.

I did have a friend watch Nathan when he was younger and it didn't work out. She expected me to pick Nathan up at the same time each day. At that time, I didn't work typical 40 hour weeks. I am a salaried employee not hourly and I worked more then that. Most people don't charge hourly for daycare, they charge by the day. This works well for the salaried employees like myself. When you do decide to have a daycare, I think flexibility is very important. If you decide to charge hourly and want to take in daycare kids, you may not have much luck on finding kids.

I do think it's a wonderful idea but I would really get in touch with other people who do it from their home like Candita.

I also would see what is the average going rate where you live. Do you have craigslist?? If so, I would look at that under childcare and see what other people are advertising for. If you only want to take in this one child, I may consider charging slightly more because the child will be getting a lot of one on one attention. It really all depends on this girls situation as well. I paid more when my one friend (who didn't work out) was watching my son because it was like a one-on-one situation. She was just watching my son and her own child.

Good luck.

ladylee70

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:18pm


I wouldn't go to someone if they charged me extra after 8 hours as I can easily find a well qualified person that would do a daily rate. I would, however, expect to pay extra if I had the person watch my child longer than 12 hours. That is a very very long day. As someone said, most daycare centers allow 12 hours. I would charge the $4 extra if it goes over 10 or 12 hours. Now that would be reasonable. I would also definitely pay $25 a day if you were watching my child, especially considering you are not watching tons of kids. Last edited by ladylee70 on 01-06-08 20:24pm; edited 1 time in total

Mommy35

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:21pm


I think if you are clear with her that you want her to be picked up at a reasonable time that is fair. Not saying that this girl would take advantage of you, but some would get out of work at 4 and go shopping or have some drinks before picking the kid up. That wouldn't be fair. I would find out what time she got out of work and expect she'd be there promptly or at least call to let you know she's running late.

ladylee70

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:30pm

Mommy35 wrote:

I think if you are clear with her that you want her to be picked up at a reasonable time that is fair. Not saying that this girl would take advantage of you, but some would get out of work at 4 and go shopping or have some drinks before picking the kid up. That wouldn't be fair. I would find out what time she got out of work and expect she'd be there promptly or at least call to let you know she's running late.

I have heard that complaint from other people as well. I personally never did that out of fairness to the person watching my child.

Since my job is salaried, some days I get home around 3:45 and other times I get home around 5:30. I think both of those times are reasonable. When it is a longer day, I call up the person watching my children and tell her that it is a long day for me. I am in frequent communication with her and she knows I don't take advantage of her. Most people, however, don't have funky work hours like mine.

What does she do for a job? If she does have set hours, I would expect her to pick up the kids shortly after her work hours. If she is salaried, please don't make the same mistake my former friend/daycare person made with me. She didn't understand at all that I didn't have set hours. She couldn't understand that concept even with frequent communication and it eventually led to my finding another person. I can already tell you are not like her, though.

OctoberBaby06

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Posted: 01-06-08 20:36pm


Thanks everyone for all of the great advice. I've decided I definately won't charge the $7/hour. I didn't realize how much that would actually be a week, & for where she will be working, it would be too much. I'm going to work on writing out a contract. I don't know if she would take advantage of me or not. She'll be working the same place Shane does, only she'll be under a different contractor. If she's part time, she'll work 6 hours shifts (or 12 if she wants) & she'll get to pick the days & times. Here are the "blocks" that she could work.. A Block - 7:30am - 1:30pm B Block - 1:30pm - 7:30pm C Block - 7:30pm - 1:30am D Block - 1:30 am - 7:30am With part time though, she wouldn't only have to do 6 hours shifts.. She could combine 2 blocks to do 12. If she goes full time she'll be on rotating teams just like Shane does. It'd be 2 days on days, 2 days off, 3 days on nights, 2 days off, etc. The hours would be 7-7. It works out to be 3 days one week & 4 days the next. If I was the one doing the 6 hour shifts I would be comfortable paying $25/day, so that is what I will charge for that. I'm still stumped on if she does 12 hour shifts on the rotating teams though. At $25/day for 6 hours it comes out to about $4/hour. If I keep it at $4/hour, it'd be $50 for 12 hours. Is that way too high?