How much is fair to charge a good friend for watching her 3 month old baby?

Re: How much is fair to charge a good friend for watching her 3 month old baby?

• CandEChicago member

  February 2015

  jordanfabis said:

  My friend will be going back to work 12 weeks after her baby is born. She wants me to watch her baby 10-11 hours a day Mon-Fri. Now, she is driving to me and the other advantage is I get to stay home with MY baby and make some income also. However I am going to have to give another baby all of my attention, and fill my garbage can with twice as many diapers, etc. How much do you guys think is fair for me to charge her monthly for this?? I welcome all your suggestions, thank you in advance!!

  This is a good discussion to have with your friend.
  
  PS...if one of your concerns is really about throwing out 2x the amount if diapers in your garbage can maybe your friend can take her kids diapers back home with her...so then they are one less concern for you.

  
  

  
  

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• RaeChay member

  February 2015

  yes, you probably want to discuss how much your friend is willing to pay, as this would otherwise be a moot point. has she not offered an amount? it seems odd that she would wait upon you to set a price. what is the going hourly rate of childcare in your area?

  

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• Cristin343 member

  February 2015

  Here in CA it is typically $15.00 to hire someone (who has good experience) for individual childcare. You can get away with $10 for a teenager. I think in-home daycare is less.

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• Mrw218 member

  February 2015

  My daycare in a suburb of a major city breaks down to around 7 ish per hr. I assume bc u are a private caretaker do more individualized attention u could charge more but like others said bc she is coming to you maybe somewhat less. I don't get the trash thing. Was that a joke? Do you have to pay per bag or pound or something? For me it doesn't matter if u have 1 or 50 bags it's the same price for the service.

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• NerdyNurse member

  February 2015

  My cousin watches my 6 week old when my husband and my schedule overlap. I work 12 hour shifts so she has him for 13 hours and I give her $30 per day.

  

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• mrsshour member

  February 2015

  I get $11/hr for an infant-2yo at my nanny job. I go to them. I don't think your child being there should make a difference in the pay. You are still caring for their child.

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• Mrw218 member

  February 2015 edited February 2015

  Well you said good friend. If you are truly good friends I would say you also need to consider her financial status. Ex if I were staying home anyway and I'm financially stable with a good job to go back to and my husband having a solid job so the money is not absolutely necessary and she's had a tough time, is a single mother and doesn't have two pennies to rub together so this babysitting setup is mutually beneficial I would probably charge her WAY less than the going rate anywhere.

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• JenniBell28 member

  February 2015

  @jordanfabis‌ hey! So I've been a nanny/house manager/tutor/ pre school teacher for the last 9 years and I just had my son Dec.1 and my sister had her first son Nov.19 and she's returning to work March 2 and I'm going to watch our boys in my house for $200 wk. I originally didn't want to charge her anything, seriously couldn't imagine someone else watching my nephew and taking better care or loving him more then me. There's also the fact that I've been In multiple Primrose daycare centers and seen first hand the infant rooms with 2 caregivers and heard every baby crying, I would cringe thinking about my son being the last one to be comforted. I get the privlege of helping him learn and giving him love. And also it will be so great that our sons will get to grow up so close. Now, Honestly when I was at my highest paid gig as a house managing tutor/traveling nanny I was making over $4,000 a month and she knows that I have more then enough experience and passion too. But it's my family and he's my nephew. I am not doing it for the money as much as I am the gratifying joy that having him with me will give me! I don't expect you to feel the way that I do, each situation is different and taking care of one baby is enough adding another is HARD work but it's incredibly rewarding! Hopefully this helped and good luck you're going to be helping her a ton I'm sure! K

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