Dumb Questions: March

hoosiermama-2

It's March and I've gotta question burning in my pocket........

hoosiermama-2

This is a GREAT one  

How much do you pay your babysitter/PT nanny? And what area of the country or state do you live in?

One of DH's former students is a freshman at a local university. She's really nice, a lifeguard (infant CPR certified), has been over to hang out with LO/us 3 times since LO was born. She's going to watch LO two days a week when I'm back to work - probably 8:30/9-4. 

Edit to add - daycare centers around Indy range from about $250-$315 for infants. I don't know about in-homes.

Dang, double edit: ILs are doing a day, my mom will probably do a day, and I'll work from home one day.  

THANK YOU in advance. DH and I just have no idea what's appropriate. She's coming over again next week and I plan on talking pay with her. 

desoky01

When I babysit, I often get paid around $10 an hour depending on the number of kids. When I nannied over the summer I got paid almost $20 an hour for 2 kids that also had special needs, but it was also almost full time no benefits. I live in MN. 

hoosiermama-2

Thank you, @desoky01! Was it cash? i.e.  no taxes, Medicare taken out. (Just racking up the dumb questions )

lajoliedreamer

When I was a nanny in CT I started at around $10 an hour, but by the time I moved to WA I was making $15 and continued that with babysitting jobs I've had here. Given her inexperience, I would say that $10 an hour is fine. I was paid in cash, but my employers worked with their accountant to do the taxes in addition to that. This made it easier for me so I wasn't reporting under the table money and for the parents in reporting their childcare costs, despite the extra effort to have the accountant do it. I wouldn't expect taxes done on small babysitting gigs (nor would I report the money), but for a steady nanny situation, it's a nice thing to do. 

rspalding001

I pay the teenage girl next door $10 an hour but a more qualified adult would likely get $15-20 an hour to babysit. I live in Northern California. My daycare provider charges $1450 a month for infants and that assumes a 9 hour day 5 days a week.

desoky01

@hoosiermama that was before taxes, she paid me through an accountant or something like that. 

kvruns

@hoosiermama the in home daycares I looked at (but were full) seeemed to be in the $175-200 range per week so maybe something like $40-50 a day? I could see a lower rate for a steady gig like this vs babysitting were it's less frequent and a higher rate 

m6agua

I looked at daycare in my area and it would have been $250+ for part time. My friend uses and in home daycare (someone she knows) they charge her $150/week. I have family watching LO,  then a friend of my brothers is picking up the other days we need. It can range from 0-3 days per week and 4-9 hours per day. She was charging $2/hour. I offered her $20 per day no matter how many hours. I live in Wisconsin. We just pay her cash and are not reporting anything for taxes.

MrsBigTime

I'm in a small town outside of Portland, OR and I pay our nanny $100 for 12 hours. My in-home daycare is $63/day and I couldn't justify paying double for the nanny, and she's happy to get a nice chunk of cash a few times a month.

i was paying $10/hr before, but that was when I was working full time and my husband was away at his police academy. 

We live in a very small town with a nice, Christian college, so my nanny is from the online job board there. I interviewed many girls and they were all fine with "whatever I wanted to pay them" and were genuinely sweet and interested in spending the day with some babies. 

lajoliedreamer

@m6agua - $2/hr? That's seems crazy to me. How can she live on an income like that?

m6agua

lajoliedreamer said:

@m6agua - $2/hr? That's seems crazy to me. How can she live on an income like that?

She is a SAHM and her husband works. Her daughter is around 8 I think. They are current trying for a LO. She does Pure Romance. I think her watching my daughter and doing PR are just for a little extra cash and give her something to do. But also my area cost of living isn't as high as other parts of the country. Like I said my friend's LO is in an at home daycare for $150/week. That would be $30/day or 3.75/hour for 8 hour days.

lajoliedreamer

@m6agua Gotcha - that makes sense. As a former nanny, I struggle with the thought of paying anyone less than minimum wage, but I can understand it in that kind of circumstance.

sarac986

What's the best way to keep neck rolls clean between baths? I try and run a wipe under there but he always smells like sour spit up. He gets a bath about every 2 days. It's too dry right now for more

rspalding001

@sarac986 I put cornstarch in his rolls at night after his bath when he is dry. It absorbs any moisture that accumulates and keeps rashs away.

SandNStarsNJ

I second the cornstarch. Gotta stay on top of that neck cheese!

sarac986

I got another one. When I fill his bottles I use 5 oz of water. After I add the powder it's 6 oz. Don't say he eats 5 or 6 oz?

SandNStarsNJ

sarac986 said:

I got another one. When I fill his bottles I use 5 oz of water. After I add the powder it's 6 oz. Don't say he eats 5 or 6 oz?

I would assume 6oz because that's the total he is consuming. The formula causes the water to "expand".

anne11716

I live in Wisconsin and we take LO to an in home daycare and she costs $4/hour and watches 6 kids max, sometimes just 2. She doesn't claim taxes and she's been doing it for years and years. 

lajoliedreamer

I hadn't heard of cornstarch for the neck rolls - I'll have to try it! Any tricks to getting it in there? She does not like us to access her neck for any reason.

sarac986

Does regular corn starch work better than the corn starch based baby powder?

sarac986

@lajoliedreamer we can't get at his neck either. I feel like I need to use a turkey baster to shoot the corn starch in there. 

m6agua

I was reading that baby powder is a big no-no. Reason being that babies breathing in the small airborne particles is dangerous. Wouldn't that same reasoning be applied to cornstarch? Or am I completely wrong. I know Dr. Google isn't always a reliable resource.

Kgridley27

@Sarac986 I'm a lurker from O16 but thought I might be able to help on this one.  My LO sees a dietary specialist and she bases his intake on the amount of water in the bottle.  So 5 oz water + formula is still technically 5 oz. formula.  I know when you shake it it expands quite a bit but calorically speaking, it's my understanding that that is how it's calculated. 

Edit: tagged the wrong person, sorry!

SandNStarsNJ

sarac986 said:

Does regular corn starch work better than the corn starch based baby powder?

I'm pretty sure they are the same thing. I put it in my hands, clap away the excess and sit LO up. Then I work my fingers into his neck rolls gently. I also have to do his armpits, but follow the same protocol. I can't take the smell. 

rspalding001

Regarding cornstarch: I keep it in a Tupperware near the changing station and dip my finger in when I apply to avoid it getting in the air and possibly getting inhaled. I assume a cornstarch based baby powder has ingredients other than cornstarch which aren't necessary and probably costs more than plain old cornstarch. For the neck my son hates me getting at it too but when he is on his changing table I just use the fingers of my left hand to lift the folds on his little double chin and use my right hand to swipe the cornstarch in there. It's gets on the changing table but small price to pay for no rash.

SandNStarsNJ

m6agua said:

I was reading that baby powder is a big no-no. Reason being that babies breathing in the small airborne particles is dangerous. Wouldn't that same reasoning be applied to cornstarch? Or am I completely wrong. I know Dr. Google isn't always a reliable resource.

You're not wrong at all. I mean the reality is almost everything is identifed as cautionary for babies or says "ask a doctor if pregnant or breastfeeding". But if I followed all of those to a T I'd be at a loss for any workable solution. So I always make sure I'm careful but I use it anyway. 

kvruns

What size bottle nipples are you using and when do you know it is time to size up? My H is all about sizing up because of reading that you do it at 3 months. But I don't see any signs he's having trouble with the 1s

rspalding001

@kvruns with my daughter I didn't size up until we transitioned to cows milk at 1 year old. She was fine with size 1 the whole first year. Plus if you breast feed at all it could cause problems going up because at the breast the don't get milk as easily. Could cause frustration.

hoosiermama-2

We went up about two weeks ago. LO is an efficient nurser at about 6-8 minutes per feed and it was taking her double that to finish 4 oz of ebm. She wasn't getting frustrated before but we just wanted to try and it's been fine. We also use three different bottle types, so she's pretty go with the flow (ha ha), in general.  

SandNStarsNJ

@kvruns We never sized up. We kept slow flow 1 the whole time but she stopped using a bottle at 10 months so there was no need. 

m6agua

We sized up just before 3 months for a day and then went back down to 1's. We recently sized up to #2 again because she seemed to be sucking really hard and getting frustrated. She seems fine, but now I am wondering if maybe all of her weird eating and sleeping is because of nipple size. Maybe next weekend I will go back to 1's and see if there is a difference. The eating/sleeping issues could still be teething/leap related.

MrsMaryK2016

We'll probably stick with 1's for a while. But I did read if you have an aggressive let down that babies might get frustrated with 1's and start to refuse the bottle because the boob is easier. Basically the exact opposite issue you'd expect. Something to keep tucked in the back of your mind in case LO starts to refuse the bottle. 

Ladybug2821

hoosiermama said:

We went up about two weeks ago. LO is an efficient nurser at about 6-8 minutes per feed and it was taking her double that to finish 4 oz of ebm. She wasn't getting frustrated before but we just wanted to try and it's been fine. We also use three different bottle types, so she's pretty go with the flow (ha ha), in general.  

S has only been nursing for about that same amount of time and I kept thinking there was no way she could finished. Good to know it is possible. And same with her taking a long time to finish a bottle. I may try to size up and see what happens. 

hoosiermama-2

@Ladybug2821 Yep! She has like 10 wet diapers a day haha, and is racing past 17 lbs. That + pretty aggressive letdown. I was worried about the amount of time until i thought about all that ^ together.

Ladybug2821

@hoosiermama Yes, the diapers here are endless!

kvruns

Speaking of endless diapers daycare changed his diaper twice in 30 min bc it was wet. I'm sure it's a state rule or something but sheesh

Ladybug2821

@kvruns Do they give you an itemized list of everything they do during the day?  I've been told by friends that they will only use a wipe once instead of folding it over to use a clean side. Not sure if that is some type of rule also. 

MrsMaryK2016

kvruns said:

Speaking of endless diapers daycare changed his diaper twice in 30 min bc it was wet. I'm sure it's a state rule or something but sheesh

I'm lucky if I go 20 minutes without a diaper change. M hates being wet. I wish he would sit in it longer, makes car rides impossible. 

kvruns

Ladybug2821 said:

@kvruns Do they give you an itemized list of everything they do during the day?  I've been told by friends that they will only use a wipe once instead of folding it over to use a clean side. Not sure if that is some type of rule also. 

They do althoug it doesn't seem to be updated the whole time. I mean his diaper is wet 24/7 it doesn't need changed all the time unless he was fussing from it 

Ladybug2821

Will my boobs ever go back somewhat to normal when I'm finished nursing?