How much would you charge

[verycontrary247]

to watch a relative's infant 3 days a week- 7:30am to 5pm?

My sister is going back to work in a few weeks and she doesn't want to put him in daycare until he's older. I volunteered to watch him on the days I don't have school (since I was looking for a little extra income anyways and I love spending time with nephew) and she wants to know how much I want to be paid. I know childcare is super expensive so I'm trying to help them out, but not to the point of totally fucking myself over. 

Thoughts?

[verycontrary247]

Is there a website to see how much nannies get paid in certain areas?

[emsumm]

Hmm, $10 per hour where I live would be a steal.

[angelaa73]

she's your sister, so I'd do $280/wk

[BunnyMacDougal]

Where I live, the going rate is $12.50 per half day. So $25 per day.

[underwaterrhymes]

Feb 16, 2013 18:57:27 GMT -5 BunnyMacDougal said:

Where I live, the going rate is $12.50 per half day. So $25 per day.

^o)

Where do you live? That's like $2.50 per hour!

[angelaa73]

she lives in Guam!

[MWOS]

I'd charge a thousand dollars an hour but nobody wants to leave their baby with me so it's a moot point.

[BunnyMacDougal]

Feb 16, 2013 18:58:01 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Feb 16, 2013 18:57:27 GMT -5 BunnyMacDougal said:

Where I live, the going rate is $12.50 per half day. So $25 per day.

Where do you live? That's like $2.50 per hour!

In a smaller (albeit capitol) city in the midwest.   Everything is a steal out here, really.  Except car registration.

ETA:  that's not nanny rates!  No idea what they get around here.  Its in-home daycare rate.  Our lady does about 4 kids C's age, a newborn, and one older kid.  So $2.50 times 6 per hour.  The proposed minimum wage.....except C only goes two half-days a week.  

[angelaa73]

no wonder your sil wouldn't pay you for those baby clothes. she has to work like a week to afford them!

[BunnyMacDougal]

Feb 16, 2013 19:00:49 GMT -5 angelaa73 said:

no wonder your sil wouldn't pay you for those baby clothes. she has to work like a week to afford them!

HAHAHAHA!  She's costing me an extra $12.50 a week, that bitchface!  I'm bittttterrrrrrrrr!

[CurlyQ284]

You could use this and then adjust if you think its not right:

www.babysitting-rates.com/calculator.php

[underwaterrhymes]

Feb 16, 2013 18:59:53 GMT -5 BunnyMacDougal said:

Feb 16, 2013 18:58:01 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Where do you live? That's like $2.50 per hour!

In a smaller (albeit capitol) city in the midwest.   Everything is a steal out here, really.  Except car registration.

ETA:  that's not nanny rates!  No idea what they get around here.  Its in-home daycare rate.  Our lady does about 4 kids C's age, a newborn, and one older kid.  So $2.50 times 6 per hour.  The proposed minimum wage.....except C only goes two half-days a week.  

Still, though. Holy shit.

I live in a HCOL area, granted, but we will be paying at least $80 a day for in-home daycare.

Center care is more like $100 - $125 per day.

[verycontrary247]

Feb 16, 2013 19:04:56 GMT -5 @iamsnazzy said:

I'm going to pay $115 for three days of in home care a week. Maybe $100?

Per week or per day?

Nevermind I can't read.

[Deleted]

for $25/day, i'd anticipate that my child was primarily locked up in the trunk of a station wagon and fed 2 string cheeses via one of those things they have at the bank drive through that use pneumatics to suck up the little container with your checks and whatnot. holy hell.


ETA:  i mean, a medium sized latte costs like $4 and it takes them 5 minutes to make.

[ginger]

LOL! So I just thought I'd divide out what it costs per day for M's daycare.

$23/day. But then I realized they just raised prices $5 a week, so now it's $24/day.

I can assure you, there are no pneumatics involved.

[Deleted]

Feb 16, 2013 19:16:14 GMT -5 ginger said:

LOL! So I just thought I'd divide out what it costs per day for M's daycare.

$23/day. But then I realized they just raised prices $5 a week, so now it's $24/day.

I can assure you, there are no pneumatics involved.

yes, but that's more than one child, correct?  so, if you add up the $24/day that all the other parents are paying, it's clearly more.

this is one-on-one nannying.  $2.50/hour is bullshit.

[underwaterrhymes]

Feb 16, 2013 19:16:14 GMT -5 ginger said:

LOL! So I just thought I'd divide out what it costs per day for M's daycare.

$23/day. But then I realized they just raised prices $5 a week, so now it's $24/day.

I can assure you, there are no pneumatics involved.

This just blows my mind.

Daycare at that price here would probably take place in a bunch of Sears boxes taped together and involve the kids being watched by a beagle at least 30% of the time.

[EmilieMadison]

I'd be very hesitant to do this. Has she looked into finding care for the days you can't watch him? Very few day cares offer part time infant care. What happens when your class schedule changes? Will she expect you to go to her house? Would she come to yours? What if you dont agree with all of her parenting choices that she then asks you to follow? What if she doesn't agree with yours? What if you end up not liking it as much as you'd thought you would?

If you do move forward with this, I would write up a contract with her, outlining everything from feeding, to transportation, to when she pays you and if you get days off and how much notice you need to give if you can't work on a certain day, etc. And I would charge slightly less than what a nanny would charge. In my area, a nanny would make around $15/hour, but they'd also get benefits.

[ginger]

Oh duh! cville I'm a dummy sometimes.

[phdprocrastinator]

It's so variable, I'd check out local in-home centers to see what they charge in your area.  FWIW, I live in a poor area  of a HCOL area  nd our in-home care (which is licensed like a center - they have to be in CA) will be $50/day.  The provider we're transitioning away from increased her rates to $80/day... which is probably on par of what people pay in richer areas of our HCOL area.  

[ginger]

Feb 16, 2013 19:21:29 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Feb 16, 2013 19:16:14 GMT -5 ginger said:

LOL! So I just thought I'd divide out what it costs per day for M's daycare.

$23/day. But then I realized they just raised prices $5 a week, so now it's $24/day.

I can assure you, there are no pneumatics involved.

This just blows my mind.

Daycare at that price here would probably take place in a bunch of Sears boxes taped together and involve the kids being watched by a beagle at least 30% of the time.

The suburbs of Chattanooga is pretty LCOL. Like...you'll probably freak that my house payment is under $700. And we'll be paid off in less than 15 years.

[jinkies]

I think between 100-150 a week, depending on your cost of living and how much of a break you want to give her, seems fair for three days of childcare. I did the math, and I pay about $70/day at a center.

[underwaterrhymes]

Okay, look. Some of these people are looking at this the wrong way.

Definitely give your family a break, but don't give yourself less than minimum wage.

I think between $210 and $230 for 3 days week would be fair (although if it were not your sister or you live in a HCOL area I would ask for quite a bit more.)

If daycare is cheaper than that in your area, your sister can suck it up and pay for it.

[verycontrary247]

Feb 16, 2013 19:22:51 GMT -5 EmilieMadison said:

I'd be very hesitant to do this. Has she looked into finding care for the days you can't watch him? Very few day cares offer part time infant care. What happens when your class schedule changes? Will she expect you to go to her house? Would she come to yours? What if you dont agree with all of her parenting choices that she then asks you to follow? What if she doesn't agree with yours? What if you end up not liking it as much as you'd thought you would?

If you do move forward with this, I would write up a contract with her, outlining everything from feeding, to transportation, to when she pays you and if you get days off and how much notice you need to give if you can't work on a certain day, etc. And I would charge slightly less than what a nanny would charge. In my area, a nanny would make around $15/hour, but they'd also get benefits.

On my school days or if I'm unavailable/sick our mom has agreed to watch him. I'm watching him at her house so we don't have to transport all the baby stuff back and forth. She lives like 5 minutes away from me, so it's not a big deal for me to drive over there.

To be honest, I hadn't thought about the parenting choices aspect. I don't foresee it being a problem, but that's definitely something to think about. 

She says I can change my mind about doing this, but try to give her a few weeks notice so she has time to make other accommodations. 

I'll look into a contract of sorts.

[underwaterrhymes]

Feb 16, 2013 19:45:59 GMT -5 @cse1960 said:

In home nanny, 9 and a half hours a day, plus your driving time back and forth? so at least 10 hours a day, presuming you live close by.

I'd charge 10 an hour, for family. Is she expecting light housekeeping as well? That would up it somewhat, to 13-15 an hour for me. I live in a med size city in the Midwest.

This is definitely more like what I was thinking, but I threw in a little bit of leeway there since she is your sister and presumably will keep you well-fed / stocked with goodies at the house.

[jinkies]

So I'm doing the math here. 7:30-5 is 9.5 hours, 3 days a week. At $10/hr, that's $285/week. At 7.25/hr, which is the federal minimum wage, it's just over $200/week. I can only speak for my daycare, which is an east coast-based chain, but it would be about $210/week for an infant for 3 days/week, 4:1 ratio. That included formula/ 2 meals a day.

Verycontrary, what is your sister's primary reasoning for not wanting to do daycare? If it's to save money, then paying you $10/hr is not going to be beneficial to her. If it's to keep him away from the germs until he's a little more developed, she may be willing to pay the premium.

By the same token, what is your primary motivation? Is it to help out your sister, spend time with a nephew that you adore, and maybe make some pocket money? Or do you need additional income and are looking for a job?

Because it seems to me that you can help your sister save some money on daycare costs, OR you can make the same amount that you'd make at any other part-time job, but you can't do both.

[verycontrary247]

Her main concern at this point is money. Things have been super tight since she has been on maternity leave since she is the primary breadwinner in her family. Second concern is, as a first time mom, leaving him with strangers and exposing him to germs.

My primary motivation is I love nephew and want to spend more time with him. Extra money is an added perk.

He will be about 11 weeks old when she goes back to work.

[jenna]

Feb 16, 2013 20:59:59 GMT -5 milsaroo said:

I think it's nice of you to consider this but I like all of jinkies questions.

Also, I would definitely ask for a carseat to be in your car so you don't feel "stuck" there at all times. How old is the child?

Sometimes a second base is  all you need for infant seats.  That might be a cheaper option.

[jinkies]

I think it's really sweet that you are offering this to your sister. Given your answers, I am going to stick by my original answer of 100-150/week, depending on the cost of living in your area. You'd be getting a little extra cash, spending time with a cutie 3 days a week, and cutting your sister's daycare costs roughly in half (by my unreliable math, anyway).

I will second EmilieMadison, though, on making some clear rules before hand, to avoid a really nice gesture turning ugly.