Rate for nanny staying overnight?

emilyec1

Our twins are 14 months old, and I'd like to surprise my husband with a 1-night local getaway. (We've never been apart from the babes for a night yet!) They are most comfortable with our nanny, and I'd like to ask her to stay overnight on a Sunday evening. However, I'm not sure what the rate-of-pay protocol is for this. The boys go to bed at 7 pm and usually don't wake during the night, so for 12 of those hours she'll just be a "house sitter" and not actively caring for them. I can't afford to pay her the regular hourly pay for these extra 12 hours. Should I offer instead a flat rate? Or maybe take an extra day off from work and give her a day off in exchange (if she agrees to that)? She lives alone and doesn't have pets that require constant care, so it wouldn't be a hardship for her to make other active arrangements for that extra time she'd be at our house. H

as anyone else done this and what compensation terms did you offer your nanny or other sitter? TIA!

*sparky*

I have no experience with this, but what do you think about offering her regular hourly rate for the hours you expect your boys to be awake in the evening and the next morning, and then maybe half rate for their sleeping hours.  That way she is still be compensated for the fact the she is sleeping over, but not as much as if she were on active duty.  I would use that formula to come up with a flat rate to offer.

SoMoNY

I would give regular rate for entire time if asking someone to give up 24 hours of their weekend.

Kids might be sleeping but she's still stuck there.

FemShep

I'd offer a flat rate, based on a small discount of her usual hourly rate.  For example, if you usually pay her $15/hour, and you're booking her from 4 PM Saturday to 4 PM Sunday, instead of paying her the full $360, I'd offer ~$250.  While the odds are that she won't need to do anything at night, you just don't know for sure that she won't be providing hands-on care, and she deserves to be compensated for her time, inconvenience, and availability.  It might not be a "hardship" for her to watch your LOs, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be paid; she is making herself available to care for your LOs no matter what she may want to do.

I know this sounds harsh, but if you can't afford to compensate your nanny fairly for her time in order to have the getaway, you should postpone the night away until you can pay your nanny.

cedenton

I would ask her if she's okay with a flat rate and just ask her what she'd be comfortable with being paid.

PSU_Texan

I think her current rate during the time your twins are awake and 50% of that for the other hours.  I think the PP was a bit harsh.  It's not about can you pay, but what is actually reasonable.  If she doesn't want to give up her weekend/night time, she can say no.  Otherwise, I understand not wanting to feel like you are paying so much for her to watch TV and sleep.  I would also say for her to let you know if she has to get up during the night so you can "bonus" her if needed.

michaelaskedlauren

Back in June we had our nanny come with us to my sister's wedding. I was the MOH and DS was the ring bearer. It was an evening wedding so we were going to need someone to watch DS once it was time for him to leave, however since it was an out of town wedding she was with us from Friday afternoon - Sunday afternoon.

We talked about it beforehand and paid her a flat rate of $500 for the entire weekend (her hourly rate was $15) after getting suggestions from the ladies on this board. I didn't feel like I "needed" to pay her while she was sleeping or in the car driving with us (plus we covered her hotel stay and all her meals).

So, I guess this is a really, really long way of suggesting I would calculate her normal rate when you expect her to be caring for the twins (basically when they are awake), then add 50% of her rate for each hour she wouldn't be "working" then just offer her the flat rate.

honeybee111

Our nanny was our emergency back up care for DD when I had DS.  It ended up that we had to go to the hospital in the evening, so our nanny took care of DD at our house from 5pm until 10am the next day.  We gave her $300, but she also took DD out to breakfast, so there was that factored into our total, too.

alli2672

A friend of mine owns an agency that places babysitters.  Their sitters charge $9/hr and $150 for 24 hours.  (the agency charges a separate fee for placing the sitter)

emilyec1

Thanks to everyone who responded! Your comments are all incredibly helpful and I have a lot of information to help inform my decision now. @ FemShep, thanks for your response too. I definitely want to compensate her fairly as she is an excellent caregiver and very dear to our family, just wasn't sure how other people determined what is "fair" for this kind of arrangement. Thanks again ladies!

FemShep

No problem, @emilyec1 ! I've had similar situations with a nanny, and just like you, I really wanted to find a way to pay her fairly, keep her happy, and not break the bank!  Good luck, and I hope things work out so you can have a getaway!