Typical cost of Mother's Helper in NoVA

[Anonymous]

What is a typical hourly cost for a mother's helper in Fairfax? I'd be working from home while they watch my infant and toddler (3yo at that point). Mostly they'd play with the toddler. Neither child has any specialized needs.

[Anonymous]

Virginia minimum wage is $12.00/hr. A mother's helper is usually a 10-12 yr. old and you could probably get by for $10/hr.

[Anonymous]

That’s not a mother’s helper, that’s a nanny.

[Anonymous]

A mother's helping is usually a preteen learning how to babysit around 10-13yo. I would say $12hr is fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A mother's helping is usually a preteen learning how to babysit around 10-13yo. I would say $12hr is fair.

OP has an infant and a toddler who need to be watched while OP is working. A 10-13 yo can't do that!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A mother's helping is usually a preteen learning how to babysit around 10-13yo. I would say $12hr is fair.

OP has an infant and a toddler who need to be watched while OP is working. A 10-13 yo can't do that!!

New poster here
A 12-13 year old surely could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A mother's helping is usually a preteen learning how to babysit around 10-13yo. I would say $12hr is fair.

OP has an infant and a toddler who need to be watched while OP is working. A 10-13 yo can't do that!!

New poster here
A 12-13 year old surely could.

What??? Even if it weren't against child labor laws, and even if you found a pre-teen capable of providing childcare to 2 small children, shouldn't a 12-13 yo be in school??

[Anonymous]

OP are you looking for a tween or teen to play with the kids while you are working for like 2-3 hours a few times a week or are you looking for an adult to care for two children for 15+ hours a week during normal business hours? Those are very different price ranges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A mother's helping is usually a preteen learning how to babysit around 10-13yo. I would say $12hr is fair.

OP has an infant and a toddler who need to be watched while OP is working. A 10-13 yo can't do that!!

New poster here
A 12-13 year old surely could.

What??? Even if it weren't against child labor laws, and even if you found a pre-teen capable of providing childcare to 2 small children, shouldn't a 12-13 yo be in school??

OP works from home. The 12-13 year old wouldn't be "alone" with the kids because the parent would be in the next room. Mother's Helpers don't work full time during school hours --it's just a couple hours after school or on the weekend type thing. Since OP specifically asked for a "mother's helper" and not a "nanny' she knows that she must work with the kid (mother's helper)'s school schedule, so OP must have very flexible work hours.

As far as "child labor laws"---I don't know. I've often "hired" the 12 year old neighbor to come over and feed our cats while we've been on vacation. It never occurred to me that it was a violation of "child labor laws." Same with hiring a young teen to mow the lawn or shovel snow from the driveway. I think of "mother's helpers" along the same line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP are you looking for a tween or teen to play with the kids while you are working for like 2-3 hours a few times a week or are you looking for an adult to care for two children for 15+ hours a week during normal business hours? Those are very different price ranges.

And very different job titles. An adult working during normal business hours is not a "mother's helper" (middle school age neighbor child who comes over for a couple hours while the parent is still home.)

[Anonymous]

My daughter gets $15. And she is always being treated to Starbucks and Chipotle’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A mother's helping is usually a preteen learning how to babysit around 10-13yo. I would say $12hr is fair.

OP has an infant and a toddler who need to be watched while OP is working. A 10-13 yo can't do that!!

New poster here
A 12-13 year old surely could.

What??? Even if it weren't against child labor laws, and even if you found a pre-teen capable of providing childcare to 2 small children, shouldn't a 12-13 yo be in school??

OP works from home. The 12-13 year old wouldn't be "alone" with the kids because the parent would be in the next room. Mother's Helpers don't work full time during school hours --it's just a couple hours after school or on the weekend type thing. Since OP specifically asked for a "mother's helper" and not a "nanny' she knows that she must work with the kid (mother's helper)'s school schedule, so OP must have very flexible work hours.

As far as "child labor laws"---I don't know. I've often "hired" the 12 year old neighbor to come over and feed our cats while we've been on vacation. It never occurred to me that it was a violation of "child labor laws." Same with hiring a young teen to mow the lawn or shovel snow from the driveway. I think of "mother's helpers" along the same line.

Agree child labor laws don't really apply to very casual, short-term jobs like you describe. But since OP said she was working, I assumed this would be a bigger commitment than that. Agree we need to know OP's work schedule to advise. I don't know of many jobs that are just a few hours a week, which is why I was saying I didn't think a pre-teen could do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you looking for a tween or teen to play with the kids while you are working for like 2-3 hours a few times a week or are you looking for an adult to care for two children for 15+ hours a week during normal business hours? Those are very different price ranges.

And very different job titles. An adult working during normal business hours is not a "mother's helper" (middle school age neighbor child who comes over for a couple hours while the parent is still home.)

Home and available as well, not working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you looking for a tween or teen to play with the kids while you are working for like 2-3 hours a few times a week or are you looking for an adult to care for two children for 15+ hours a week during normal business hours? Those are very different price ranges.

And very different job titles. An adult working during normal business hours is not a "mother's helper" (middle school age neighbor child who comes over for a couple hours while the parent is still home.)

Home and available as well, not working.

The parent doesn't need to be within arms reach, staring intently at the 12 year old for it to be a "mother's helper." It's fine for the parent to work (or wash dishes, or workout in the basement, or sit and read a book.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you looking for a tween or teen to play with the kids while you are working for like 2-3 hours a few times a week or are you looking for an adult to care for two children for 15+ hours a week during normal business hours? Those are very different price ranges.

And very different job titles. An adult working during normal business hours is not a "mother's helper" (middle school age neighbor child who comes over for a couple hours while the parent is still home.)

Home and available as well, not working.

The parent doesn't need to be within arms reach, staring intently at the 12 year old for it to be a "mother's helper." It's fine for the parent to work (or wash dishes, or workout in the basement, or sit and read a book.)

Did you miss that one of the kids is a baby? Idk, maybe I'm over-protective, but I don't think I'd leave my infant with a 12-year-old while I went out and did yardwork, chores around the house, or worked on my computer in another room/floor of the house for a couple of hours.