How much would you pay?

[pixiepower1971]

At least $10 an hour plus gas, expenses and if she is feeding the child $ for food she buys(i.e. snacks, lunches, etc).

 

[Disnewbie_N_MO]

Wow, the going rate obviously varies greatly on the area you livein. I would do as others suggest and call around to local daycares and ask them about their rates. We live in a rural area in MO, I stay home and do daycare (I'm using my hubbies account on here, for those that thought I was a man!) N e way. Going rate here is a Flat rate of $60.00 per week, per child. Or for part time, $2.00 per hour, per child. good luck! (I need to move to one of the areas where they are paying $10.00 an hour!!!)

 

[Hannathy]

t. Going rate here is a Flat rate of $60.00 per week, per child.

Gee around here you can't even get a pet sitter to come once a day for 15 minutes for that!!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I always felt like I was inconveniencing my aunt when I used her for babysitting, so I felt like I had to make it worth her while. She did not work, but she still had a life and things to do. She had offered to watch my two kids for nothing, but I don't think that would have lasted very long if I went along with that. I wound up paying her just like I would daycare and to tell the truth, she cost me much more than daycare with the added expenses of their outings and food and other stuff. I had great peace of mind though and that made it all worth it.

Now I've used a neighborhood girl for babysitting when me and DH wanted to go out for dinner and/or a movie and maybe it is where I am in NJ (and we are not in what I would call a highly affluent area), but these girls would laugh if you tried to pay them less than $10 an hour for watching two kids.

I don't envy your position. It is very weird to be mixing money and relatives without someone feeling like they are getting the short end of the stick after a while. As someone else said, make sure that you have a back up for babysitting should your cousin get sick (or your kids get sick...cause nobody wants to have illness spread to their house). Good luck in figuring this all out.

 

[asgt]

I Have Been A Childcare Provider For Years And Have Had A Spectrum Of Situations (in My Home And Thiers, Multiple Familes At Once, Etc.) The Highest I Got Paid Was $14 An Hour For Two Kids In Their Home, No Joke. The Lowest Was $9 For One Child In Thier Home. Now I Watch My Friends Baby In My Home For $7 An Hour M-f 7 Hours A Day. Daycare Centers In My Area Are $40 Per Day. I Firmly Believe You Get What You Pay For And Peace Of Mind And The Safety Of Your Child Is Priceless. If You Are Blessed Enough To Find A Caregiver Who Provides Good Quality Care In A Loving Safe Enivironment, It Is Worth Every Penny. You Absolutely Get What You Pay For. Good Luck To You!

 

[hollyb]

Not to be terribly disagreeable, but $14 hour for babysitting? Starting to sound like a union job . As the sitter is both a SAHM(she's not working a paying job) and family member anyway, it isn't as if this is a true competitive employment situation. Day care rates aren't completely applicable as day care centers must pay higher overhead, insurance, taxes, etc, and the caregiver employees must pay income tax, SS, etc. If this is simply supplemental income(tax free to her unless you want to deduct it and therefore probably ought to report it to her and IRS on a 1099 as such) paid between family members off the books, I would think $5 to $7 per hour is probably very reasonable - plus any expenses(food, activities, etc).

Your joking right? $5-$7 bucks and hour for 2 kids? NO WAY!!! Cheap cheap.

 

[Freqflyer]

I guess were getting a pretty good deal to than. We just set up our summer babysitter and are paying her 40 a day for two girls 5 and 8 the local daycare that my year old went to this year was 170 a week.

 

[LynnTH]

We pay for full time daycare in the summer (7:30 to 5:00) - $175 total for my two kids (8 and 5). For before and after school care she charges $3 an hour per kid. I would never pay $14 an hour - thats $420 a week. Yikes....

 

[4eyedbuzzard]

Your joking right? $5-$7 bucks and hour for 2 kids? NO WAY!!! Cheap cheap.

Not joking at all. Read the other posts. 5 to 7 = 200 to 280/week off the books - tax free. That's equivelnt take home to 9 - 10 per hour depending upon hubby's tax bracket. The caregiver is a SAHM, not a cerified or licensed day care provider and she doesn't have and isn't free to seek outside employment. Maybe y'all are willing to get taken to the bank by the organized day care enterprises in higher income suburban areas, but nobody in my area, including fairly wealthy people would pay that rate.

 

[girlsx4]

I watch my niece(2yr)and nephew(1yr) in their home 5 days a week. I bring my youngest dd (3)w/me. I'm there just short of 6 hrs a day. I get paid $50 a day, so $250 a week. I do have to drive 25 minutes each way(when I started gas wasn't so darn expensive). It helps us both out.

 

[dhardawa]

Your joking right? $5-$7 bucks and hour for 2 kids? NO WAY!!! Cheap cheap.

Right now I pay the big fancy daycare $2.18 per hour through the summer and that includes all meals, snacks, activities, etc. Where I live, $5 - $7 per hour for two kids would be extremely reasonable. Actually, it would be on the high end.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Right now I pay the big fancy daycare $2.18 per hour through the summer and that includes all meals, snacks, activities, etc. Where I live, $5 - $7 per hour for two kids would be extremely reasonable. Actually, it would be on the high end.

Location, location, location! Obviously it really depends where you live on what the norm is. Wished I was able to get the cheaper rates when I needed daycare or a sitter, but I'm sure in the end, everything is relative.

 

[kandb]

I pay my cousin $425 (tax free for her) a week for watching my twins who will be 4 years old on June 1st. She gets to my house at 8:30 am and leaves at 4:30 pm. My children go to school in the afternoon, so she has 2 1/2 hours to do whatever she would like to and has my mini-van to go where she wants. I live in the NY area and everything is expensive here. Linda

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

I am a state licensed in-home daycare provider and I charge !00 per day per child. I provide all of the childrens meals and snacks except for infant formula. That is the going rate in my town.

Nicole

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

I pay my cousin $425 (tax free for her) a week for watching my twins who will be 4 years old on June 1st. She gets to my house at 8:30 am and leaves at 4:30 pm. My children go to school in the afternoon, so she has 2 1/2 hours to do whatever she would like to and has my mini-van to go where she wants. I live in the NY area and everything is expensive here. Linda

Can I come work for you? LOL!

 

[hidmickey:myantidrug]

Mind you, I'm 16 not 20 and I don't have a child of my own but last year (as well as this upcoming summer), I watched my then 2, 4, and 5 year old cousins every day from 6am-noonish and I got paid $100 a week...and Dairy Queen visits which just made everything worth it.

 

[BrookeTx]

I send my 2 year old dd to in home child care. Mind you she is licensed through the state and pay her $110/week and that includes food. It comes out to about $22 a day from 7am-4:30pm. That is totally reasonable for this area and acceptable. Working with family is hard...good luck with what you decide.

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

I am a state licensed in-home daycare provider and I charge 100 per week per child. I provide all of the childrens meals and snacks except for infant formula. That is the going rate in my town. Sorry I had typed that incorrectly before. Also, I DO pay taxes on ALL of my daycare income.

Nicole

 

[runswithscissors]

We pay $1200/month to my Mom. She watches our son 5 days a week for 8.5 hour/day. We know we're getting the best care for him and are happy to pay that amount. The rate in our area is about $300/wk at a daycare.

 

[5fordisney]

I live in a smaller sized, average middle-class town in upstate NY. Here, there are 2 rates going for sitters. One is for full-time, daycare-type babysitting. Bringing your child(ren) to the provider's house, the going rate is about $22-25 a day per child. That averages to $2-3 an hour. I think it's this price b/c the thought is that there are multiple children being watched all paying that price. Therefore, the sitter is actually making more per hour, it's just being divided by more children.

For before and after school care here, the rates are between $4-5 an hour per child. For sitting by high-school/college kids, such as a Friday night outing, the rate is about the same as the before and after school care rate. It's more expensive when a sitter comes to your home and your children are the only ones they are watching.

It's interesting to see how costs are different in different parts of the country. We rarely go out for pleasure b/c it's too expensive to hire the sitter!