Childcare - New Berlin,WI

Updated on April 01, 2015
K.L. asks from Port Washington, WI
26 answers

I'm watching a 9 month old for 10 hours 3days out of the week. I'm getting $50 for the 3 days I'm watching him. Should I ask for more money or no?? He's my friends son and they live right down the road from me.

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P.K.

answers from New York on

Please tell me this is a typo and you mean $50 a day. 16 years ago I did the same thing for a good friend and got $35 a day. Now I would expect $50 a day (which I hope you are getting).

3 moms found this helpful
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M.B.

answers from Austin on

My daughter pays $25 a day for childcare for a 2 year old..... and she is getting a discount........ the lady usually charges $35 a day..... she isn't registered or licensed.

Infant childcare usually costs more, by the way...

I think you should be charging more..... sounds like you are being taken advantage of.

1 mom found this helpful

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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

That's what my daughter makes babysitting for 4 hours on a Friday night. If they are paying you $50 for babysitting 30 hours they are not your friend. They are robbing you. How did you ever settle for this amount?

4 moms found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

I know they are your friends, but you are being taken advantage of and supremely undervalued. 30 hours a week for $50? If they hire a babysitter in the evening, they'll be paying $10 an hour, and you're making less than $2.

Make some calls to local day care centers and private day care providers to get some ball park figures. Then negotiate something more reasonable.

4 moms found this helpful

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

I agree that you cannot count regular babysitting daytime hours like you do date night rates. I pay $10/hour from my 8, 9, and 11 year olds date night rate, and $50 per day for the "summer rate". We have always found amazing sitters who were more than fine with this.

The thing is, we always pay for what we book in advance. So if I have a sitter for 8 hours and we are gone 5, then they actually made $16/hour. If we are gone for the full 8 they made $10/hour. Coincidentally, I ALWAYS book longer than I know we need. I think one time we took the full amount of hours.

So it's in your house and I assume you aren't licensed. I think I would say $25 per day. In-home day care centers in my area charge about $200 per week, so that's only $40 per day, but they are providing arts and crafts, snacks, schedules, experience, education, etc. So I think $25 per day is fair.

3 moms found this helpful

M.M.

answers from Chicago on

Um....I used to pay $120/day for 10 hrs of childcare - for just one child....

3 moms found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

$1.67/ hour!!! You can do anything else for more money: server in a restaurant, Target, anything else!

3 moms found this helpful
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J.T.

answers from Dallas on

I hope you mean $50 a day..,

3 moms found this helpful

J.S.

answers from St. Louis on

1.67 an hour, what do you think?

Listen I am not saying take them to the bank but 150 a week is only 5 an hour.

3 moms found this helpful
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M.D.

answers from Detroit on

I'm sorry, and sure you moms won't like my comments, but depending on what you do at home (you are at home) no overhead costs, employees, insurance, etc that day care centers have to pay out. I also would consider my friends income and take that into considertion, because while $150 per week is only $5.00 per hour that would be $600 per month and if she only made $1200 per month that would be half of her income. I also know that many people do take advantage of people and think it should depend on the situation and what you have going on in your life. Hopefully you like the child, are earning a little extra money and don't have to leave the comfort of your home. Should we not help each other if we can and not worry about what someone else is getting. If the amount of money bothers you or friends have said you are being ripped off you are listening to them and not really doing it for a friend because it shouldn't matter then or bother you.

2 moms found this helpful
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R.B.

answers from Dallas on

My first comment is to others not you. You can not compare date night babysitting rates to in home childcare. In home childcare means the provider is caring for children from multiple families and or their own child. Totally different then paying a nanny or babysitter.

I'm hoping they are paying you $50 a day. Are you licensed or listed have you checked the state requirements? Are you CPR certified ? Are you trained on the state minimum standards?

I'm assuming they are dropping the baby off at your house otherwise you'd would have said that your are a nanny.

In my area 25 to 30 a day for toddlers and up. infants are about 35 to 40 a day. Call a few mid range day cares (not the top dollar ones) and get their weekly rate....Divide that by 5. That will give you an idea of the max you could possibly charge if you have more business then you want. Are you licensed? If so also compare rates to other in home licensed child cares.

2 moms found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

I wouldn't take less than $25 a day to watch an infant, and that would be my "favour to a friend since I don't have anything better to do" rate.

2 moms found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Houston on

You are roughly making $1.67per hour. Yes, you need to ask for more money. Was this a short term arrangement? If not, I would let your friend know that your rate must go up.

If money is not an issue and you are enjoying the baby, then I would continue but if not...its up to you. How on earth did you arrive that his low amount to begin with?

2 moms found this helpful
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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

We have paid our niece more than that for a date night. She averages $10/hr for one elementary school aged child. I realize they are friends, but I think you need to renegotiate.

ETA: Even if you consider daytime rates to be different than date night rates, I still got $100-$150 per week for watching two elementary school aged kids for the summer when I was a teenager...quite a few years ago. So if you are not making at least $100 a week, I'd still say you are being vastly underpaid. The OP did not say she was watching lots of kids - just the one, which was partially why I mentioned our date night rates. She's not getting $50 from this family and $50 from someone else. Our drop in rate at the daycare was $75 per day.

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M.G.

answers from Portland on

My friend charged $25 a day (about 10 hours) to watch her friend's baby same age as yours.

2 moms found this helpful
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A.M.

answers from Chicago on

I paid $250 for 5 days from 7 to 5.30pm in 2007. The hourly rate should be anywhere from 8 to 10 dollars, u can give a discount to your friend, but what you are getting right now, does not seem right by any standards.

2 moms found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

Is that $50 power day? Or $50 total? If it's total then your getting ripped. You are making approx $1.50 per hour. Who set the rate? Have the hours changed since the rate was set? All things to consider. I would talk to them and say sorry can't do it for this.

2 moms found this helpful
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A.M.

answers from Hartford on

Depends on where you live, we are paying a summer nanny $70 per day/$350 per week which comes out to be like $7 an hour.....Some nannies make upwards of $400 per week during the summer. This is high school/college age.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.F.

answers from Houston on

I really think it depends since you guys are friends. Does she have a good job that she can afford to pay you more? So many moms are desperate for childcare but people want almost as much to care for kids as the mother can make so they can't afford it. If it's a helping a friend out while you make a little extra money too situation than great. If it's too much for you then yes you are not getting enough. Date night rates are not the same as all day childcare rates. I would think $25 per day is fair and you can't really break it down per hour for one kid that's why people watch multiple children.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

My childcare is $200 per week, so that's $40 per day. But it's a true learning center, with activities planned- story time, planned sensory activities, and no TV ever, even in the infant room, and it's not at a home so the teachers are only taking care of the kids, not also cleaning their house during nap time, or prepping dinner, or taking the baby along to grocery shop, etc. And all the teachers have degrees in early childhood education. So, all this to say that I think $50 per week may be low, but $50 per day, which some others are recommending) would be much too high.

1 mom found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Most places for drop in care (non contract) would be $65 to $75 dollars per day.
You are way under rate at this point.
Definitely a bargain for them but your time is worth more.
Call around asking current rates in your area and come up with a number that is more reasonable.
You might still want to charge a little less than others but not by as much as you are right now.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

I guess it depends what you're purpose is in watching him. I took care of an infant for a few months at a rate of about $1.60/hr which is the amount of childcare aid they were getting.

In my case, the intention was that I was helping them out while they made long term arrangements. I never intended to be a permanent caregiver but it started dragging on and I realized they had stopped looking at childcare options because there is no place they could have got away with paying so little. I had to give them notice, because it had gone from me helping a friend to the friend taking advantage of me.

If I was babysitting to make money I'd be charging at least double what you're getting, so $100/wk. That is only $3/hr and a deal compared to what someone would pay at a daycare around here. One of the reasons I left my full time office hours to work part time at home is because putting my son in full time childcare would have eaten up over half my paycheck.

1 mom found this helpful
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H.W.

answers from Portland on

You are getting $50 for a total of 30 hours work? Oh, dear, no... this is a bad deal. Yes, you need to negotiate something more reasonable with your friend. Even at $4 an hour, you'd need to go up to $120 in pay. It's your decision of course, as to why you are helping her out like this (favor, one-time hardship,she wants some 'me time') but if it were me, I wouldn't do it for so little.

1 mom found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Good grief... My 20 yr old daughter gets a minimum of $100 a night for babysitting 1-3 children, depending on the family. She babysits about 2 night a week and has $100 minimum cash... That's 5-7 hours!!!! Not 3 freaking days!!!

Daughter does not set any rates... This is what she is given!!! Her clients love her and how she interacts with their children.

Buck up and state your fees . Only you can allow someone to take advantage of you!!

Stop being a doormat. You are being used but I hope you already know that fact.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

A child normally comes into care around 7:15-7:30am then goes home around 5:30pm. So a 10 hour day is right on the mark but most of my kids were actually in care for 10.25-10.5 hours per day if the parents had to drive very far or if they had heavier traffic sometimes.

So 10 hours is exactly normal.

If the parent was taking the infant to a regular child care center they'd be paying more. BUT that person is a professional with licenses and training and certifications and perhaps even a degree in child development.

Child care providers do NOT make minimum wage especially just watching one child. If they did no one could afford them because that person would be taking their entire pay check.

No one can afford to pay you minimum wage to watch children. Except where you are working in a facility where there are a bunch of kids in one classroom.

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I suggest you call around and ask what the daily fee for an infant is. Pretend you are thinking about going back to work and have a 9 month old. You want to know how much child care would be before you start looking for work.

Then you can see what fully qualified licensed child care costs. Unless you have similar education and qualifications I suggest you price your care services for less than they charge.

If you out price your competition I can pretty much guarantee these people will take this infant to another place because it's cheaper.

In Oklahoma an infant brings in about $25-$30 per day and YOU provide meals and snacks for the older infants. They provide formula and diapers and wipes and meds for diaper rash and stuff.

I think you should talk to them about raising the price once you find out what the other places around you are charging. I think your price should be around $100 per week.

The main reason is if they took the kiddo to a licensed child care provider and they are low income they could probably get child care for free or about this same cost for the whole month.

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J.K.

answers from Los Angeles on

I understand he's your friend, but $50 is too little. He should've offered you more to care for his child. You're basically getting paid $16.67 per day for 10 hours of work. That does not sound reasonable to me.

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