Babysitters and day care rates?

BeesKnees181

We are paying a day care provider $50/day to watch our twins (5 months old).  We have a babysitter, a friend's daughter, who plans to take an infant CPR course and babysitting course in the near future.  She is watching the girls this afternoon.  Her mother (a friend) insisted not to pay her at all/much.  How much should I pay her?

carrotcake06

I usually do $10/hr as a general rule, but if you pay $50/day for two you must be in a LCOL area. How long will she be watching them?

I'd say $20 or so.

diz1313

Did her mom say WHY you shouldn't pay her? That seems strange to not give at least SOMETHING.

legaleagles

Sigh...this makes me sad. I live in  HCOL and pay >$800/week for our nanny for our twins. 

BeesKnees181

@legaleagles - love your pic!  Do you use a daycare center?  We would not be able to afford that.  My husband would have to take early retirement and become a stay at home dad; which I would be OK with since he is a great house husband.  We will use a state licensed home day care (starting next week...gulp/nerves).  Our day care provider only wanted to start with 2 days/week to be certain she isn't taking on too much; she has never done multiples.   Fingers crossed this is a good fit for all of us!

@quinncat - What type of day care do you use...center or home?

@diz1313 - Her mom mentioned not paying her until she finishes her courses.  But I totally agreed with you...ended up paying her $20 for watching the girls for 4 hours (of course she had her mom and dad's help, but I didn't feel right not giving her anything).

@carrotcake06 - I went with $20 for about 4 hours.  I know that is low, and I intend to pay her more in the future.  She really is a great kid; the babies adore her; I don't want to lose her help.

Thanks everyone!

hayleydeee

We pay and adult babysitter (a nurse) 20 per/hr but for a teenager I'd probably offer $15 (for 3 kids). We also live in a very HCOL area. 

legaleagles

@beesknees181 we have a nanny - she works a minimum of 40 hours/week - usually closer to 43. We also pay taxes for her. $20/hour and that's a steal for our area. (SF Bay Area)

legaleagles

legaleagles said:

@beesknees181 we have a nanny - she works a minimum of 40 hours/week - usually closer to 43. We also pay taxes for her. $20/hour and that's a steal for our area. (SF Bay Area)

And that's only for my twins - we pay another $900/month for my daughter to go to a day care center.

BeesKnees181

@legaleagles - I would love to have a nanny, but we live in a very rural (aka small cow and sheep town) area 30 minutes from a HCOL area...which means most nannies would rather stay in the HCOL than travel out to our sleepy little valley   We are always in search of great day care options that fit our lifestyle.  Do you like the daycare center you use?  We are looking into one that is close to my place of work.  I am just interested to hear about others' experience with day care centers.

greks84

Oh me oh my... I'm becoming a SAHM bc daycare is so expensive in northern va. Standard day cares are $15-$20k a year... And I'm guessing a nanny would be around $800 a week here.. But I'm just guessing. $50 a day. WOW!

diz1313

i had to become a SAHM after my son was born as my paycheck would barely cover standard day care around here. Now with the twins coming..... I just hope I can find the groovy quickly as there won't be any help coming into this house. Ha!

LittleLady77

I live 20 min away from @legaleagles‌ and pay $22/hr for our nanny (no taxes) it also comes out to about $800/week. I once the twins hit a year we are going to a center which is less expensive but I'll miss getting my dishes and laundry done.