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After School Care

MammaBear81MammaBear81 member
in Working Moms
A little background: We have been using an au pair service for our children, which for 6 kids is obviously a steal.  Our current au pair is leaving in a month and we are reevaluating our needs.  I work days and DH works nights, so we really only need care 4 days a week from 3-6pm.

The three older kids get off the bus at 3:45 and my mom is around to take whoever has activities for the day to where ever they need to go, so the nanny/ babysitter would have between 3-5 kids at any given time, and just serve snack, help with homework and play with the kids.  My husband is home, but sleeping so if anything dire was to happen he is there.  Is this too much for a high school student to handle?  And how much would be reasonable to pay per hour in a HCOL area?  I have a feeling we are going to shell out the same amount of $$ for 12 hours a week as we did for 45 hours for the au pair. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
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Re: After School Care

  • cedentoncedenton member
    edited April 2014
    I think since your husband is home, it might be doable with a HS student, but they'd have to be really mature and they more mature ones tend to have extracurricular after school, so that might be hard.  I'd probably be more comfortable with a college student.

     And, wait...your youngest is over 8mos. old? How did that happen? ;)

    Oh, and...for a HS student I'd say $8-10/hr maybe.
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  • jf198400jf198400 member
    For 5 kids I'd be paying more like $12/hr. I used to make $8/hr for 3 kids when I was in HS and that was 10yrs ago. Plus one kid is a baby.
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  • *sparky**sparky* member
    Given that you are HCOL and the sitter will have 3-5 kids, I say you need to pay at least $15/hr.  We have paid $10-$12/hr for babysitting for one child.  We just found a nanny and the going rate seems to be $15/hr for one child and $16/hr for two.  For 3 - 5 kids we would be paying even more.

     

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  • MammaBear81MammaBear81 member
    Thanks for the responses, I was thinking $15, but I didn't want to offend anyone!  I'm guessing an adult with experience would be more like $20? College student would be somewhere in between?
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  • MammaBear81MammaBear81 member
    *sparky* said:
    Given that you are HCOL and the sitter will have 3-5 kids, I say you need to pay at least $15/hr.  We have paid $10-$12/hr for babysitting for one child.  We just found a nanny and the going rate seems to be $15/hr for one child and $16/hr for two.  For 3 - 5 kids we would be paying even more.
    This might be my harsh reality- I pay $360 a week (agency fees included) for 45 hours of care, $20 an hour for 12 hours is going to run me $240.
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  • *sparky**sparky* member
    Yes I'd say an adult with experience for that many kids would be more like $20.

     

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  • brachysirabrachysira member
    edited April 2014
    I would probably hire 2 high school kids, if you are doing that, and you could pay each $10/hr.  Taking care of a baby can be a whole job, especially if you haven't done it a whole lot, and you don't want your husband awake because this person can't handle things regularly.  Plus, if you want  food prep, homework help, etc., I think you're going to want one person who can focus on that while the other cares for the smallest ones.  If you hire someone experienced, like an adult who has worked in childcare, I'd say $20 min, and for a college student, $15 min, and this would be if your kids are generally helpful and independent or a decent fraction are gone most of the time.  My friend watched 4 kids when she was in high school after school, but they were all 8-14 and just sat around playing video games.  It was all she could do to keep track of each of them and make sure they didn't eat all the swiss cake rolls or leave without asking, etc

    We are in a low-mid cost of living area and we pay a college student $10/hr to watch our 1 year-old.  A friend of mine paid their nanny the same and she brought her 1 year-old to work.
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  • Virgo17Virgo17 member
    Honestly, I don't think the cost savings is enough to give up 45 hours a week of help.  At least it gives you flexibility depending on your work/sleep schedules and the activities of the older kids.  I think I would expect to pay $15 per hour at least and I would want someone college-age or older.
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