Babysitting

[mjkacmom]

Here the average pay for a sitter is $10 - $12 an hour IF THEY COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND ONLY WATCH YOUR CHILDREN. If you drop off at the sitter's house, it's $4 - $5 per hour. The absolute lowest I have heard was a friend who watched a 4 year old for 7 hours, $25 per day (it was a friend). Centers cost more than home daycare, less than a sitter who comes to your home.

 

[Ephany]

Low, really low. I paid $135/week 6 years ago (that was on the low end) and provided my own wipes and diapers. It definitely varies from region to region though.

I pay $20/day or $80/week for DD8's day camp in the summer and I think that's a bargain at our local rec center. I think that's a great deal even though I have to provide snacks/lunch. They have a pool, activities, full access to the rec fields and take field trips. A lot of my friends disagree and think that's too expensive. They're open for 10 hours a day ($2/hour); I know I wouldn't watch my neighbor's kids for $2/hr. It's crazy how perceptions differ.

 

[CinRell]

just lunch in an 11 hour period doesn't seem like enough to me... $100 a week is unheard of here... I, too, thought you meant $100 a day which is under $10 an hour which is hard to find here as well!

 

[indimom]

I run a licensed home day care in Indiana. I charge $100 a week for full time. I am licensed for 12 children, but usually keep it at about 10. I'm open from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. M-F. I provide two meals and a snack each day and follow an educational curriculum. Parents provide diapers/wipes and any specialty foods their child may need.

The only day care center in town charges $160 a week for infants. The price drops as they move up into the toddler room, preschool room, etc...

I have a feeling that it makes a BIG difference when you are talking about rural areas vs. urban areas.

 

[LaDonna]

Okay this is a good friend of mine that is paying her sitter $100 a week for 11 hours a day.......the only reason why I decided to ask this ? is because while debating w/ her about it she said I was the only one she knew that thought $100 a week was very low.......so I honestly didn't want to be "in the dark" and wanted to find out if I was in the majority or minority in my thinking......

 

[LaDonna]

I run a licensed home day care in Indiana. I charge $100 a week for full time. I am licensed for 12 children, but usually keep it at about 10. I'm open from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. M-F. I provide two meals and a snack each day and follow an educational curriculum. Parents provide diapers/wipes and any specialty foods their child may need.

The only day care center in town charges $160 a week for infants. The price drops as they move up into the toddler room, preschool room, etc...

I have a feeling that it makes a BIG difference when you are talking about rural areas vs. urban areas.

I'm from Ky and my friend also is from Ky so I do realize prices are different, Ky is much lower than here in hotlanta lol that is why others think I"m crazy for wanting to find a babysitter for when dh and I want to go out for around $4-5
I think maybe $100 would be much more reasonable too if I had several kids, since it averages out to much more money a week.....

 

[LaDonna]

Home daycare when there are only 2-3 kids is a completley different rate than if they have 8 compared to a center, etc. I would pay whatever it takes to get a situation that fits with my family, sometimes that is free (having a grandparent watch or trade with a friend) and sometimes I have to pay upwards of $12 an hour for someone to come to my house. If I worked 11 hours then that would be more than the $100.
Jenn

yeah I totally get this, if somone is okay with and wants to do it for less than $2 I think that is great, benefits both parties if they is what they both want to do
It just keeps hanging over my head that she told me I was the only one she knew that thought it really low.....but I'm starting to feel better now.....

 

[hiddenj]

I will be paying $40 per day ($200/week) for my infant to go to my friend's house from 7:45am to 5:15pm (so 9.5 hours). Still too low IMO, but that is the going rate here. She will only have her 3 year old and my infant, unless school is closed, then she will also have her two school aged boys. I will provide all diapers, wipes, and food. I am also on paying her on days that she can't watch the baby (i.e. one of her son's field trips, etc) or if we are on vacation.

 

[LoriKutchey]

I honestly thought it was 100.00 a day. That much a week and that many hours a day with her providing the food seems unfair to that provider. Just my opinion though.

 

[tasha99]

Seems really low to me. I would think that if she got childcare assistance due to poverty, the state would pay more. If she doesn't qualify, then morally she should be paying more because she isn't so poor that the childcare is part "favor to a friend down on her luck."

 

[Offsides]

There's also a huge difference if it is some kind of daycare center/home OR a one on one nanny/babysitter type thing. When I babysit I charge $10/hour and that is NOT including anything extra (pizza, going to the movies, etc).

 

[SnowWhite2]

7 years ago my kids were 8 and 10. Our nanny worked from 7:30 am - 5:30 pm (summer) and we paid her $500/wk cash plus extra money for her and the kids for trips to movies, etc

When my 17 yo was an infant, I paid $165/wk at the day care center. Supplied all my own diapers, wipes, etc.

$100/wk for a toddler is excellent.

 

[happymommy]

It's been a few years since I needed a babysitter (I'm a stay at home mom), but when I had one, it was $11 an hour. I guess it may be a bit cheaper for a daycare provider, but I would be shocked to see $20 a day. Even the drop-in place we used a couple of times was at least $5 an hour per child.

I had surgery 6 years ago (major) and my husband is working a lot, so I "hired" a good friend, whose own son is grown now, to come stay with us and take care of me and the kids for 2 weeks, and I paid her $100 a day to do that. And I felt bad paying her so little for caring for my 6 and 8 year old kids. The kids' old baby sitter I used to pay an extra $100 to spend the night (we did that a couple of times), plus her $11 and hour, so a night away was about $150 or so.

I'm just saying - wow that's cheap. I never left my kids with anyone at that age, so I'd be skeptical of someone charging only $20 a day.

 

[tipsytrtle]

I left the corporate world last september to pursue my master's degree and became a full time nanny

I watch 3 children ages 2,6 and 10 plus a puppy and 2 cats. the youngest has developmental issues and is home all day, the other 2 are at school full time. I also clean bathrooms, do laundry, make meals, vacuum, dust etc.
I take the oldest two to weekly lessons and all of them on outings to local parks, movies etc.

I work 2-3 days a week (mom is a nurse) and each day is 14.5hours 530am-8pm . I am paid 375.00 a week for 2days and 425.00 a week for 3days. I also receive reimbursement for outings, food on the go etc.

when i do other sitting jobs I charge between 8-15 a hour depending on distance, number of kids and the situation, I often help a single mom out with her 3year old...she is also a nurse, when i work with them, i arrive at her apartment at 530am get her up, dressed fed and then drop her off to daycare by 8am, then i pick her back up from daycare at 530 and keep her until 8pm when mom gets home, I charge 40.00 a day for this which would be 60-70 for anyone else given the driving and the hours.


100/wk for a toddler 5days is very low

 

[krystalleigh1]

Send your friend over to Babycenter's home daycare board. They'll set her straight.

I am in one of the lowest rate areas in the country and the going rate here is $100/wk for up to 45 hours of care a week. Anything beyond 45 hrs would cost more.

So for 55 hours/wk she's making only $1.82/hour. That's not accounting for her food expenses (if she ONLY serves him lunch then that's $3/day approx), extra utility expenses (parents going in and out during the day), extra wear and tear on her home, supplies (extra paper towels, cleaning materials, activity, craft expenses, extra toilet paper). So she's making more realistically, after expenses $1/hr.

Doing daycare is hard work. It can be physically and emotionally draining. She deserves to be compensated fairly for it.

OP, instead of telling her she's not charging enough why not call around to some other area daycare's and see what they're charging for similar care? Make a list and say, "See, this is what you should be charging. You deserve to charge the going rate for the hard work you do."

 

[Suzanna1973]

You have to realize that babysitting is a job too. They deserve to get paid for their time. This woman is keeping your child 11 hours a day and feeding meals too?? You are WAYYYY underpaying. Contact your local daycare facility, found out how much they charge for a week. Find a nice middle ground between your $100 and the daycare rate.

 

[krystalleigh1]

Okay this is a good friend of mine that is paying her sitter $100 a week for 11 hours a day.......the only reason why I decided to ask this ? is because while debating w/ her about it she said I was the only one she knew that thought $100 a week was very low.......so I honestly didn't want to be "in the dark" and wanted to find out if I was in the majority or minority in my thinking......

Well, you also get what you pay for. For example, if the going rate in your area is $200/wk but only $100 at her daycare . . . .I can guarantee she is getting pretty low quality daycare. As in kids are set in front of the TV all day, they eat pop-tarts and kool-aid for breakfast and they don't go outside.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Well, you also get what you pay for. For example, if the going rate in your area is $200/wk but only $100 at her daycare . . . .I can guarantee she is getting pretty low quality daycare. As in kids are set in front of the TV all day, they eat pop-tarts and kool-aid for breakfast and they don't go outside.

yikes... really nice.. dont forgot she must be facebooking or watching soap operas all day also.

OP I would say low.. I have been watching a now 2 1/2 yo since he was 2 months old. 9.5 hours a day at $125 a week (Yes still to low)

I would also say it depends on your area.. the ones who can afford expensive daycare usually put them into a school. Those whose parents are both working and just making min wage or a little above tend to go for a home sitter.

I am looking into becoming a registered provider to bring in more money. They little guy I watch is moving out of state this weekend.


I also wanted to add I had an amazing babysitter for 3 of my kids.. she was an older women and charged $50 a week.. yes, $10 a day. My oldest child started goign to her when he was 3 weeks old. I could not of asked for a better person to take care of my children. She passed away 2 weeks ago and my kids were at her side the night before she diesd She sometimes less money does not mean less treatment.

 

[krystalleigh1]

yikes... really nice.. dont forgot she must be facebooking or watching soap operas all day also.

OP I would say low.. I have been watching a now 2 1/2 yo since he was 2 months old. 9.5 hours a day at $125 a week (Yes still to low)

I would also say it depends on your area.. the ones who can afford expensive daycare usually put them into a school. Those whose parents are both working and just making min wage or a little above tend to go for a home sitter.

I am looking into becoming a registered provider to bring in more money. They little guy I watch is moving out of state this weekend.


I also wanted to add I had an amazing babysitter for 3 of my kids.. she was an older women and charged $50 a week.. yes, $10 a day. My oldest child started goign to her when he was 3 weeks old. I could not of asked for a better person to take care of my children. She passed away 2 weeks ago and my kids were at her side the night before she diesd She sometimes less money does not mean less treatment.

Hey I do daycare too. I've been a licensed home provider for 6 years now. I have a great program and charge the going rate. All I'm saying is that IF she charges a lot under the going rate (charging $100 in an area where the going rate is $200 as an example) that it's probably not quality daycare. N

Totally not saying that home daycare providers do that-I don't do that. In fact, I don't even have a TV in my daycare area. We have story time instead of TV time and the kids love it. But if someone were to take their child to one of the daycares in town that charged $75/wk (the going rate here is $100 for up to 45 hrs) then their child WOULD be watching TV all day.

 

[21yankees]

The last time I paid for child care was 8 years ago. I paid $125 a week then and my dd was 2-4 at the time. She was there from 8-3, 5 days a week. The provider provided lunch and snacks. She was licensed and received funding from the USDA because of some of the kids' families were considered low income.


steph