Babysitting

[daisyduck123]

I provide child care for some of the teachers at my kids school. I get $20 a day but i take out taxes so it's really $17. They provide their diapers/wipes and their lunch. I provide their snack and everything else. I have them 7 to 4 most days, some days longer. I try not to think of what I'm getting an hour or I would never do it! I had two teachers stop bringing their children when they had their second baby because I wouldn't give them a discount. That is something I DO NOT understand! I am going to give you another child to watch but I want to pay you less!!! I think they should be glad they are only paying $20 per child compared to what other people are having to pay.

OMG that absolutely would not happen here. $20.00/day? The minimum here would be $50, I believe.

 

[Mom_Rides]

Our sitter charges $3 an hour. Our DD has been with her since she was 9 months old. She's an older lady who absolutely loves kids and gives our daughter much more love then I ever expected from a babysitter. My DD and my 6 month old nephew are the only children that attend regularly. The babysitter watches a little boy who is 4 and her great-grandson who is 4 occassionally and has done so since we've started there.

Last year, she approched us and asked if we could afford a $1 per hour increase due to losing a FT child and the rising cost of food. We discussed it and decided that we could. She set a start date of Sept 1 for that. On Aug 15, just a few weeks after she asked us to raise our rates, she said she was keeping us at $3 an hour but asked us to bring lunch and snacks daily. Fine by us! So we got DD an lunch box and we pack her lunch and snacks everyday. Most days we pack her breakfast as well. The babysitter provides milk and juices.

DD will be going to pre-K in the fall at a rate of $150 per week for FT. This will include the pre-K class, before and after school care, 2 snacks and lunch. We currently pay about $120 a week because DD spends one day a week with my grandma. So essentially we are paying about the same as we are for her to be with the babysitter.

I guess I don't feel like $100 is too terribly low but I would expect for 11+ hours a day to pay a tad more then that. Childcare rates are different from state to state, area to area so I think its hard to judge something like that. Its kind of like housing. Someone in California would probably pay $200,000+ for my house that I paid $65,000 for. No different with childcare costs.

 

[Owishingonastar]

$100 a week?

Wow - that's only $20.00/day, for 11 hours of work? I can't believe anyone would take that job. Honestly.

Wayyyyyy too low, IMO. I wouldn't do it for less than $50.00 a day, and that's not even $5.00/hour.

I couldnt sleep at night, knowing i was paying someone for 50+ hours of work for 100 dollars.
Christ fast food restaurants pay more then that. I think you need to re-evaluate before you lose the person. Thats crazy they have not requested more!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I made $100 a week in 1987 as a Mother's Helper. I also worked way less hours and the lady paid for me wherever we went. It was a good paying job at the time.
There is no way I would watch someone's kid 11 hours a day and only get $100. Heck I wouldn't even watch your goldfish for that little.

 

[mjkacmom]

I guess I don't feel like $100 is too terribly low but I would expect for 11+ hours a day to pay a tad more then that. Childcare rates are different from state to state, area to area so I think its hard to judge something like that. Its kind of like housing. Someone in California would probably pay $200,000+ for my house that I paid $65,000 for. No different with childcare costs.

First of all, I can't imagine one could find a home in most of CA for $200,000 - I know you can't find one here! If you spent $65,000 on your home, you must be in a very low COL area. The OP seems to be outside Atlanta - lower COL than where I live, but I think higher than where you are.

 

[Sorsha]

Where I live, day care centers charge around between $22-25 a day for toddlers. Parents provide the diapers and wipes, the centers provide the food.

The daily rate is usually based off of the state reinbursement rate, most centers don't charge too much more than that. Most centers (and home-based providers) also qualify for the USDA's food reimbursement program, so they get money back based on the food they provide, if they meet nutritional qualifications.

 

[hannah_03]

I recently started watching 2 children ages 1.5 and 3.5 for my neighbor, who just went back to work. She did NOT want her children in a regular daycare and can't afford it for two children so she asked me if I would watch them for her. I am a SAHM and both of my kids are either in school or working all day so I have free time on my hands and I understand her feelings on daycare. I only have to walk across the street to their home and she provides all food and supplies. The only personal expense I have is gas twice a week to take the 3.5 yr old to/from preschool and it's probably $5 at the most. We agreed on $150/week. I am there for either 9-9.5 hrs, M-F. This is NOT a lot of money and If I was running a 'home daycare' I would charge more but these kids are in their own home and being taken care of by someone who cares about them and that is the most important thing. They are very easy children to watch also, which offsets the pay.

So I think it could go either way....

If the client can only afford $100/week and the provider agrees then it's fine.

And I think Yes it is a low amount if the person is running a 'home daycare' and this is what they are charging.

Hope that makes sense

 

[aprilgail2]

I was thinking that you were talking about $100 per day which I thought was in the ballpark, if a tad bit low.......$100 per WEEK just boggles my mind. Its sooo low IMHO I'd be thinking twice about the quality of supervision and safety for the child....

I thought she was saying 100.00 a day---but 100 a WEEK is insane!! 5 days of after school care here from 330-600 is 100.00! 2 1/2 hours a day 5 days a week and you are paying 100.00 a week- I can't even wrap my brain around the fact that anyone would be willing to watch someones child for 11 hours a day 5 days a week for a lousey 100.00!

 

[Sorsha]

I thought she was saying 100.00 a day---but 100 a WEEK is insane!! 5 days of after school care here from 330-600 is 100.00! 2 1/2 hours a day 5 days a week and you are paying 100.00 a week- I can't even wrap my brain around the fact that anyone would be willing to watch someones child for 11 hours a day 5 days a week for a lousey 100.00!

OK, but in my small rural area, if I run a small, in-home daycare, and I have 6 kids (legal limit for non-infants with one daycare-mom), and I charge $25 a day - which is about the going rate around here...

$25 a day X 6 kids X 5 days a week X 4 weeks a month is $3000 in income per month!! And I don't have to leave my house!! Plus I get USDA reimbursement for my food costs!! From where I am coming from , where I live, that's pretty darn good wages!

Now, mind you, *I* personally have a very low tolerance for small children - even my own can drive me to drink most days - so there is a very good reason I do not run a home daycare. But I think $25 a day is perfectly reasonable.

 

[hannah_03]

OK, but in my small rural area, if I run a small, in-home daycare, and I have 6 kids (legal limit for non-infants with one daycare-mom), and I charge $25 a day - which is about the going rate around here...

$25 a day X 6 kids X 5 days a week X 4 weeks a month is $3000 in income per month!! And I don't have to leave my house!! Plus I get USDA reimbursement for my food costs!! From where I am coming from , where I live, that's pretty darn good wages!

Now, mind you, *I* personally have a very low tolerance for small children - even my own can drive me to drink most days - so there is a very good reason I do not run a home daycare. But I think $25 a day is perfectly reasonable.

I totally agree with you and it's probably the same for my area, though I'm not 100% on that.

I also think it takes a very special person to work with children, whether teaching them and/or providing childcare. I love kids so it's easy for me. The kids I watch are very easy-going, well behaved, happy kids so it's not so bad.

 

[Sorsha]

I totally agree with you and it's probably the same for my area, though I'm not 100% on that.

I also think it takes a very special person to work with children, whether teaching them and/or providing childcare. I love kids so it's easy for me. The kids I watch are very easy-going, well behaved, happy kids so it's not so bad.

Absolutely! A good daycare-mom is worth her weight in gold! I did daycare for years when I was younger, both in child-care settings and in preschools - loved the little darlings - thought I would do it for years. I think I just burned myself out on it. I still love them, just from a distance now.

 

[JENOS]

Bottom line is what you and the nanny/sitter agree to. You don’t know what their needs are; they might be unemployed, bored at home or just plain love children.
I pay my in home nanny $50 per day to watch my three kids; I usually only need her three days a week but have used as much as five days which she says she doesn’t have a problem with. Last month I paid her $1000.

 

[mjkacmom]

I only have to walk across the street to their home and she provides all food and supplies. The only personal expense I have is gas twice a week to take the 3.5 yr old to/from preschool and it's probably $5 at the most. We agreed on $150/week. I am there for either 9-9.5 hrs, M-F. This is NOT a lot of money and If I was running a 'home daycare' I would charge more but these kids are in their own home and being taken care of by someone who cares about them and that is the most important thing.

Just so you know, a home daycare usually charges half of what it costs to have a sitter come to the childrens' home, right? When I had a part time sitter come to watch my twins for 2 days, I payed her $100 a day. I would expect to pay $50 a day to have them watched in someone else's home.

 

[hannah_03]

Just so you know, a home daycare usually charges half of what it costs to have a sitter come to the childrens' home, right? When I had a part time sitter come to watch my twins for 2 days, I payed her $100 a day. I would expect to pay $50 a day to have them watched in someone else's home.

No clue but I DO know that I'm getting exactly 1/2 of what it would cost her for a regular daycare in our area for her two children. She is already paying for private preschool for her 3.5 yr old as well.

 

[pigletto]

I just don't think I'd want this individual watching my kids. Eleven hours a day is a very long time. As someone posted, that's peanuts on a per hour basis. So why are they charging so little? Why wouldn't they work someplace to make more money?? Even minimum wage is more than you're paying.

I have a problem with this line of thinking.
First to the Op ... that is much lower than I would charge. When doing home daycare I provide all food, parents provide anything extra (diapers, wipes, baby food, formula).
I only watch a very small number of kids (4 part time). It allows me to stay home and be here for my own kids which is a HUGE plus in our lives.
I still manage to bring in a decent amount that covers utitlities and groceries and husband works full time.
When I worked in daycare centers I made a low wage, worked odd hours, saw my kids nowhere near enough and had to pay daycare for them which left us no further ahead.

This works much better for us. I do agree it is low.. but there isn't something inherently wrong with someone willing to make less. Often it is balanced with quality of life for the family and that can be the deciding factor.