how much should I charge?

My good friend wants me to watch her daughter who is 11 months (my boys are 13 mos), for two days, from like 7-3:30. Her husband has the opportunity to possibly switch his shift so he can have Sundays off. He's been working on Sunday for at least a year now. I would LOVE this for them, to have more time together, for him to be able to go back to church again. I think it would be great for them!
So...I'm faced with the dilemma of if I do, how much do I charge. I don't want to ask too much, but if I ask too little, they may never want to look for help elsewhere, and I really don't think I want to watch her on a long term basis. I could write a lot more about my thoughts on this, but I'm strapped for time. Mostly, I'm just curious what other people are paying or being paid out there for daycare or homecare.
Thanks for the input!

 

I get paid $100 a week ($20/day) to watch my cousin's 8mo son from 7:45 - sometime between 3:30 and 5:30 (the dad is a teacher and has to tutor after school sometimes) 5 days a week. If I had it to do again, I would at least charge $125 or $25/day. We are just making it and every little bit can help. I only charged so little because it is family.

Maybe check out what daycare in your area costs and work from there.

 

I watch my bil's little girl who is 9mths younger than my son. I started watching her at about 3mths and watched her anywhere from 3 to 5 days a week from 8:30 to 6 pm. I started out getting paid $250 a month, I went really cheap since it was family. But I just asked for more since it is hard watching her and I really needed more since things are tight around here (it was either ask for more or get a night time job). So now I get paid $35/day. But I only watch her 3 days a week now (her mom is a nurse and she only works 3 days but 12 hr shifts). I felt bad asking for more because I know things are tight for them but I figure I am still cheaper than most day cares where they would have to send them.

Just make sure you put down ground rules before you agree to baby sit. Make sure you have set hours (which I didn't do and I ended up with later hrs than I wanted) and make sure they know that you only want to do this for a short amount of time until they find someone else to watch her (since you said you don't want this to be for a long time). For you I would do a pay on a daily basis since you will only be watching her two days a week.

 

I think this is going to depend on what you are expected to provide or what you are expecting her to provide (make sure you put this in writing). Right now I am sure they will be providing her formula for a few weeks, but what happens when she switches to milk? How about lunch and snacks? Diapers and wipes? If she is going to be providing all of these things for you, then you can go a little lower on your cost. Do they seem to be hurting for money? I personally would do btw $20-25 a day charging only on days she is there (no fees for sick days). I live in an area where daycare costs for in home are reasonable though so that might make a difference.

 

When we had the kids in a home daycare-our next door neighbour, she charged $30/day/child and provided all the food/drinks/snacks...we supplied diapers/wipes/bum cream, and HOMO milk while the kids were on it. This price is pretty much the norm in our area.

 

I used to charge 20 a day and found it was way to little .... so when a longtime friend asked me to watch her 11mo started as part time now is full tiem I said 23.00 a day... 25 if it was a stranger so I thought 23 was fair and she was happy because she was getting 30.00 a day quotes from others... so it works for us she's here from 8:15 until btwn 2:30 and 5

 

Around here its normal to charge around 25 dollars per child.

 

I do daycare in my home and charge $25.00 a day. I really want to up this to $30.00 a day though. I have some kids in my home from 7:30-5:30 and it gets to be a long day. They should bring their own diapers, wipes and you provide food, etc. unless it is formula or baby food. I would really ask for $30 a day if I were you. Good Luck!!!!

 

I used to watch my niece for $3/hr (she didn't have a set schedule, so I didn't charge a flat fee). She supplied food/diapers/etc. That's about the same as $25/day, and much cheaper than day care. If you don't want to do it long term, you'll probably have to ask at least $30/day.

 

my sitter charges $30/day for the first kid and $25 for additional kids. so that seems about right with what everyone else was saying. I noticed you are from elyria, so i am near you. when i was calling around to find a sitter, in home care was usually anywhere from $25-35/day and the hours were from 7-5:30 ish. as per pp, we just do the diapers, milk and did babyfood, but now that they are eating more normalthings, she is providing the meals and snacks.
we did also sign a contract about what we were each responsbile for, how to handle sick days (esp. i fyou have kids, you don't want a flu-y kid in your house spreading germs!), when you expect them to be dropped off/picked up,e tc. I think the contract would be especially important, as it might be a LITTLE stressful or take a different toll watching a friends kids- not saying she would, but some people feel more prone to taking advantage of those they know better, thinking of things as "favors". i'm not saying that will happen, you just don't want it to! best to be up front on everything.
my sitter also gets paid on friday for the following week.
if the kids are sick and i keep them home, i still pay her for that day; if she is sick or can't watch them she does not charge me for the day. we have mutually agreed on some days off around holidays, summer vacation, etc. and she also did not charge then. that is up to you guys and the contract though.
good luck!

 

QUOTE(JackieBlimke @ Dec 5 2007, 11:31 AM) [snapback]521519[/snapback]
When we had the kids in a home daycare-our next door neighbour, she charged $30/day/child and provided all the food/drinks/snacks...we supplied diapers/wipes/bum cream, and HOMO milk while the kids were on it. This price is pretty much the norm in our area.


$30 per day is the "norm" here too.