Babysitting Question

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?

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.

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!

$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.

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

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

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.

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?

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.

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..

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?