Childcare- What Would You Do????

Honestly you are way under-paying your current person even for a home daycare. You realize you are paying this woman like $3.75 an hour, right? I mean I know its a family friend, but this person is caring for the most important person in your life for less than half minimum wage. Usually in a home daycare setting you pay less because the cost is split among many children, but it sounds like yours is the only child this woman watches. At my home daycare I charge $50 a day which is reasonable, but that is for no more than 9 hours of care a day. A person that comes to your home to watch just your kids is a private nanny and I would not think would work for less than $10/hr at the absolute minimum, but again that is way below what most people would pay for this kind of care. I really think you need to take a good look at what you are asking from these people (12 hours of great care for two children!) and what you expect to pay , and realize that the two don't add up. I understand that most people cannot afford to pay private nanny rates or centers and that is why I would recommend a small home daycare setting, but you will still need to pay more. This woman you have now could make a better wage busing tables at the local Denny's with half the responsibilities and stress that it takes to care for a child. Please know I don't mean to be harsh, just want to maybe open your eyes a bit about what childcare costs. Trust me that if you cut corners and have some underpaid person watch the kiddos, they will feel underpaid and will act as such....your kids will be the ones who suffer. Good luck.

**After I read your edit I want to clarify that $45 a day would be fine, but not for the amount of hours you are talking about. 5:45 is very early, even for a center. And most centers wil charge more if your kids are there more than 45 hours a week (or 9 hours a day). Plus you usually get charged more if your kids are part-time. I know Texas is not the same as Chicago in terms of price, but still. Also $45 a day is more reasonable if the woman is watching more than just your child. That is a going rate for childcare split between many kids, I can't believe that is the going rate for a private nanny one-on-one with just your kids.

Why not give your current babysitter a raise so she will not have to look for part-time work. What you are paying her is very little, for such a long day. I would first see if a raise would give her the extra money she needs to continue caring for your child/children, especially since you are happy with the care she has given your child which to me is priceless. How confident are you that your housekeeper will be loving and patient with your children?

do you trust the lady who cleans your house? being a good housecleaner does not make her a good nanny. i think you were paying your friend about 4 dollars an hour to watch your daughter. that's very little. your friend probably didn't say anything about the low pay but anyone else will. you should set a weekly amount for both children now. or you could put your daughter in daycare and have someone watch your newborn. your toddler will be bored if at home with a person she barely knows and an infant. i don't know but i'd say about 10 dollars an hour at least.

I'd absolutely see if a raise would make a difference. That's a very long day for $45 dollars. I bet she might have even been fishing for more money, and may be why she's "undecided" about what she's going to do. I've paid babysitters about $10 an hour, which I think is the going rate, at least for the college age people I get. I think its a lot, but that's about the minimum that I've seen. I'm not sure that chosing the house cleaner to watch the kids is the best idea.

The average fee for a fulltime nanny, who is watching two kids is between $400 and $600 per week, depending on what other duties they perfom(cleaning, laundry, etc). I would recommend paying your family friend more, rather than ask the cleaning lady. The other woman seems to just need more money, so I would give her a SIGNIFICANT raise. To watch both children, she should get at least $75 per day. These are the people who care for your most treasured little ones, so the happier you make them, the happier your kids and your family will be. If you do ask the cleaning lady, I would consider paying part of her gas, as well as a regular salary. She may not be able to hold the same hours as your current care giver, too, because she has so far to drive, so you may want to consider that as well. Good luck to you!

Well, a typical licensed daycare center gets $250/week for full-time toddlers and $300/week for full-time infants [in Minnesota...I'm not sure about Texas], which is $50 or $60 a day PER CHILD. I think my son's daycare charges $200 for part-time toddlers [3 days or less] which is $67/day. So I think $75 a day per child would be very fair since it would cost less to send both of your little ones to a center for -3- days [also considering the fact that she has to drive so far, and you also have the convenience of her coming to your home and her teaching Spanish -bilingual daycares are much more expensive-, plus at daycare centers they have other staff there to help and can have bathroom breaks and adult company, plus it being only 2 days a week you would pay more anywhere]
ETA: after reading your "what happened", I think if that is the going rate, then stick to it. I'd make it $50 per child [$100 per day, which is about $9.10 an hour for the 11 hours she will be needed]. I wish daycare was that cheap here!

You do not want your house keeper watching the kids in my opinion. Something will suffer, and since her area of expertise seems to be the house..I wouls say leave it at that. As for the amount that you are paying..guess it all depends. You do have long hours, so I would agree that paying her more is a good idea, regardless of what she has asked for. You would have to pay an in home nanny a lot more anyway, so it could be a compromise. Esp. if she only watches your children. I have watched kids and not charged enough for sure. The way home day care providers make over minimum wage is to charge less and have tons of kids. If you could avoid that, I would try! Even if you do lose the current sitter, I would still not ask the house keeper to babysit..I would want a well qualified sitter personally. Good luck..I am sure this feels like a very tough position to be in!!

Sounds like your friend is doing you a favor by letting you know that the day MAY come when you have to find other arrangements for your kid(s). How much more were you going to give your friend to watch #2? That's a pretty good indication of what to pay the new caregiver. Maybe try the new lady a day or two here or there at your home and see if it works out OK. I would also ask the new caregiver what she would like for watching the kids and cleaning on the days she is there...