Last Friday, today, and tomorrow, I am keeping a 4 week old baby from 8:00 am-2:00 pm. When mom left this morning she said, "Be thinking about how much you want me to pay you." I don't have a clue. I don't want to over charge her, but I don't want to under charge her either because this may turn into an everyday "job" for the next couple of months. So, what should I charge or how do I find out what the going rate is. Thanks.
I would google home child care in your area and see what the going rate is. Maybe even call around and ask about pricing. In home care around here (and I think we might be fairly close to each other) is costing about $120 per week for toddlers and $135 per week for infants. Drop in rates are usually around $35 per day. Your drop in rate will usually be more expensive than your daily rate for a regular.
ok, 8 to 2 isn't that long, really, when you think about it. I did childcare from 7 in the morning til 6 at night in my home for 3 kids (not including my own). Our town is kinda small, I think 12,000 people here, and there are alot of home based childcare places. My rate was for 5 days per week, and I charged $75/ week. Around here, that's an excellent deal. I would charge $75 for one child, and if you had a sibling attending I would tack on another $15 to th charge, so for two sisters/brothers it was $90. An infant is a little more pressing to take care of expecially with your OWN kids in tow, so I would charge $100 a week. Think about the economy too, people are going to be limiting what they spend and if they can find cheaper care, then they will. Call other places around you and see what they charge (I always said I had a child I was looking for care for and asked their price....).
You have to remember that rates are going to vary from area to area. $75 is a great rate but around here where day care costs between $200-$250 per week(no matter how long you stay or how many days a week you go you would still pay the weekly rate) so is $120! In New York, California and places like that I have heard of weekly child care costing anywhere from $350-$500 per week! I would definitely call around to see what the going rate for your area is. Child care can be expensive. In the end it was a major factor in my deciding to become a SAHM. I was going to be handing my entire paycheck over with just two kids. Now that I have a third I wouldn't even be breaking even!
Or, you could take the average hourly wage of a cashier in your town and divide it by 3. That's what I do. For example, around here cashiers make about $8/hour. So, I charge $2.50/hour per child.
What I have always done is called around local day cares. I base my rates on their rates. I usually charge whatever the cheapest one charges. Daycare rates vary greatly by area. Like in my small town (about 5 years ago) I paid $75/week for my 1 year old to be in daycare. My cousin, near Atlanta paid $120/week for her 3 year old....so def call around local for prices. Also-I didn't charge by the hour, I charged just like a daycare, doesn't matter if you use my services for one day a week or 5-same price. 8 hours a day or just 2 hours a day. Weekly rate still applies.
OK~ so I got paid today for keeping the 4 wk old. I got $10.00 for 4 hrs. and $15.00 for 6 hrs. When she came to pick up the baby today, she asked me if I could keep her a week in Dec. while she goes on a trip. I don't know if I am up to that or even want to do it, I diffenently have to make it a matter of prayer. But, she also asked me to let her know how much I would want to get paid so that she could start putting it in her budget. So I would keep her for 9 days and 8 nights. How much would you be willing to pay? Or how much would you be willing to keep someone else's baby this long?
Hmm that's a tough call. It would depend on how close I was to the baby and parents. It would also depend on whether I thought I could handle a baby and all its crisises without its Mom close to comfort that could be a lot. I am not sure I would do it. I would ask the $30 a day, it's a lot to care for an infant. Especially since I assume you would have to bottle feed it too?
Well, we aren't close at all really. Mom use to go to our Church. I just happened to run into her the other day and told her if you ever need a baby sitter, kind of in just, and 3 days later she was calling me to keep the baby last Fri. and yesterday and today. Then today she asked about a week in Dec. The money would be great and is needed, but I don't want to keep the baby just for that reason. Wow, this is a tough one.
I would say $40 per day... $2.50/waking hour.... of course, with a baby, there may be more than 8 waking hours, lol.
Each area tends to be different when it comes to rates depending on your cost of living. Obviously if the cost of living in your area is cheaper, then the rates are going to be less. Around here, the $10 or $15 would not be worth it to me. I would not have excepted anything less than $30 for the day. In most daycares around here a full day of care is about $45. Actually, a friend of mine will be dropping off her baby off to me starting in Nov. and I will be charging her $30 for 4 hours (2pm-6pm). As far as the entire 9 days straight, I personally would not be up for that task but if I were to do it I would not charge less than $400-$500 for the entire time because she will be there 24/7 AND getting up in the middle of the night to eat more than likely. ETA: Also think about what babysitters get in your area. Last time we paid a sitter when we went out, we paid $5 an hour. You are at least worth whatever they would get.
This baby was born in August, and in December she's going to leave her for 9 days straight??? to take what kind of a trip? No way I would've left my infant that age for that long! Nor would I keep one that long unless it was my grandchild, for any amount of money.
I would not keep a 4 month old baby for that length of time unless there was a real, genuine emergency, and I knew the mother very well! There are too many things that could happen during that time and without knowing the mother well enough to be able to trust her judgement and she to trust mine would make me uneasy. I know that's probably not much help, but really as a mother I don't think anything in this world could have convinced me to leave my 4 month old babies with ANYONE for 9 days.
I know, I couldn't have left mine for that long until they were older. I still don't like to be away from them. She could take the baby with her and take her sister (the mom's sister) along with her to watch the baby, but she asked me instead.
This was a help, it helped confirm what I was thinking. I just don't think I will do this and two of the reasons you mentioned are why. I don't know the mother that well and I could never have left my 4 month old for 9 days and ecspecially with someone I don't know any better than I know her. Thank you for you input.
Another thing that popped in my mind (just food for thought - though I'm with everyone who wouldn't leave their baby that long like that)... how much would it cost her to take her sister? plane ticket..... food..... room..... things like that can add up quickly! I wouldn't just look at babysitters in your area - price out a nanny. Seriously - I was SHOCKED at how much one would cost (and I was still going to be in the house!) as I was looking into one when I knew I would be on bed-rest for 3-4 months. I ended up paying a neighbor's kid $5-6/hour to watch a toddler and cook lunch etc while I was actually still in the house. A nanny would have been $400-500 per WEEK plus food and no board...
I don't know if I would do the 9 day thing or not, but if you do change your mind about, make sure to write up a medical consent form AND see if you can get a contact number and address for someone related to her (maybe Grandma or the sister mentioned) just in case. No way I could leave my kid that young for that long. Hubby and I took a 2 day vacation for our anniversary when Malachi was 3 months old to a near by town (less than 2 hours away) and I cried when we checked into the motel LOL (and it was supposed to be a 4 day vacation, but I couldn't do it! LOL) I had had a rough time with depression during pregnancy then REALLY bad PPD and a getaway sounded like such a great idea-to relieve stress LOL turns out it stressed me out more
