Babysitting Fee?

My kids are in an in-home daycare and I was paying $35 a day ($700 a month) and it included lbreakfast and lunch.

Hi T.,

If you can't find anyone from your area to give you any ideas go to sittercity.com and see what locals in your zip code are charging.

M.

when my son was 3 weeks old I paid my nanny 13.00 per hour.. She came 30 hrs per week.... With just a babysitter now, i pay 10.00 per hour... I do see a lot of people pay weekly flat rates, which will save you more money. Good luck!

I would definitely charge a flat weekly rate rather than hourly, it's just easier for everyone. Start by researching what daycare centers charge for that age per week and then see if you can find a few in home daycares that advertise in your area to compare their fees.

I can tell you that 6 years ago in the Chicago suburbs we paid $170/week for daycare for our son from the time he was 6 weeks to 2 years old at an inhome daycare. The daycare centers around us charge about $250/week for that age right now.

Good luck,
K.

People generally are unwilling to pay more than $30-40 per day. This is why people who watch children in their home watch more than one. It sucks, I know. But you can charge more the $10 per hour at night, because you aren't in competition with facilities. And generally, the evening babysitting is by choice, not necessity.
It would be different if you were a "nanny" with some sort of background in early childhood education. People would then pay you to come to their home and guide their kids in educational activities.

The variance is due to the fact that these are not apples to apples comparisons. You pay more for a sitter to come into your own home and watch only your child(ren) than you would pay someone to watch your child in their home along with their own child(ren). You are paid more when its more convenient for the other family and those child(ren) are receiving your undivided attention. I have had several babysitters since returning to work in my home watching my son during the day. The going average here for a sitter (not nanny) is $10/hr (400/week). However, when I was in between sitters and was looking at alternatives/home daycare type situations as you describe, the average rate was around $150 per week. I would have never even considered paying the $400 range to someone who was watching my son while in their own home with their own children. Its not the same thing. My child is not in his own home with all of his own toys, comforts etc nor would he be receiving undivided attention. This is the reason for the large gap. If you go down this route, I think the norm is a rate per week but I suggest being clear on your hours covered by that rate and make sure the parents understand that if they exceed your cap of hours, you will be expecting further compensation. My MIL has watched many children over the years and often gets burned in this area where families expect her to work more hours than initially discussed without any more compensation. I think she gets taken advantage of because they know she loves being around the kids (and we live about 18 hrs from them so she rarely sees her own grandchild). Good luck.

I watch my neighbors 4 month old 2-3 days a week. They are paying $75 a day.

I googled it once. There is a site that calculates what sitters charge in your approximate area. It goes by your age, age of kids, years of experience.

Also, check the local newspaper and see what people are charging.

I would also charge by the week, even if the child misses a day, because you are setting that time aside to take care of that child.