how much to pay the babysitter?
RIght now, E goes to daycare 2x a week and MIL watches her 2x a week. For the past month, DH and I have worked out our schedules such that either him or I are off every Wednesdays to be with her. For April, we can't afford to take off work anymore and MIL can't watch her for an extra day so we need a babysitter to help us out every Wednesdays in April. Our friend/neighbor who has 2 kids (2 yo and 7 mo) has offered to watch her. She's very nice. Her DH recently got laid off so whatever extra income they can get will be helpful. E will only be with her every Wednesdays in April and then she goes full time in daycare come May. Now, I asked my friend how much should we pay her. She said whatever we're comfortable with! Ugh! Of course, I have no idea! lol. WHat do you think is fair? We'll be bringing E to their house which is about 3 blocks away from our house. She'll be there from 745 am to 515 pm.
TIA!
Re: how much to pay the babysitter?
I was going to say $10-14/hr, with the higher end being if E was the only child being watched and toward the lower end if she is with other kids....... BUT in this case i think you should just pay her around $12-14/hr because...
(a) she's your friend and you don't want to come off as too stingy
(b) she's doing you a favor b/c it can be hard to find short term care like this. (and yes, you're doing her a favor too b/c her DH is unemployed right now)
(c) it's only for 4 days total so a little more or a little less isn't really going to be a big deal
(d) it's worth the money to have someone you know/trust watching her as opposed to going through the process of using a service like sittercity to find someone
when we were looking for someone, there were even people asking for $15-18/hr because they had some education in early childhood education!! but the vast majority were asking for about $12-14/hr. i'd guess that DC rates are in line with those in DFW if not slightly higher....
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
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I used to make $15/hr as a nanny/babysitter while a grad student in the Bay Area. That was over 5 years ago, and I was also working as a preschool teacher and studying education/child development at the time.
Since she's a friend and you're probably paying her cash, I would expect a little less hourly... maybe $100-120 for the day (~$11-13/hr)? Or maybe just a flat $500 for the month?
Definitely find out the going rate in your area. I also get the "whatever is comfortable" from my friends that have watched Libby and I have paid $8-10/hour depending upon the circumstances, length of time, time of day, etc. What do you pay for one day at daycare? You might use that as a guideline for what to pay your friends for one day a week.
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We pay $12-15/hr for evening babysitters. I'm not sure how much nannies who watch multiple kids all day get.
But.... Can't she just go to daycare on Wednesdays? Or are you only paying for 2x/week of daycare? I'm confused by that. It seems to me that if she will eventually go to daycare full-time, then it would be better to get her in that routine sooner rather than later. Introducing a new Wednesday schedule for a month might throw her off.... Just a thought!
Malia & Dave & Alexa
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It's great that your friend has offered to watch E! And if she and her DH need the extra money, that's good too. I have found that sometimes using a friend can cause problems with the friendship (a number of different reasons) so make sure you are up front with her about the cost. I think using the averages in the area (from a calculator ) to show her what the general rate in the area is may be helpful so you can see if this rate is comfortable for you both. Just be upfront and ask if this is ok and hopefully she'll be honest too.
If it doesn't work out or you want to give her a day off, I know Care.com has a care on call feature that helps you find care last minute. I have used it (along with Care.com all the time now) and was very impressed with the service. Ask around to see what your friends do for child care, but going online and finding someone is a great resource these days too! Good luck!