Weekend Nanny Rate

[Anonymous]

Hoping someone here can answer my question. I did a search on this forum but didn't come up with a really good formula for how to calculate this.

Our 3.5 y.o.'s regular babysitter is a lovely young woman in her mid-20s. During college, she was a summertime nanny for a family in NJ, and she is wonderful with our DD. She babysits one night almost every week for us. We pay her $13/hour.

DH and I are thinking of doing a getaway weekend from Fri-Sun, so 2 days, 2 nights - just about 48 hours. Our babysitter is more than willing to take DD for the weekend and has left the compensation offer up to us.

Truly, I'm at a loss. If we paid her the $13/hour for 48 hours, that would be over $600. Is that right? Or do nannies charge something different for the occasional weekend?

I'm sorry if my question is naive - I'm just really trying to figure out what's fair.

[Anonymous]

Ok does your child sleep thru the night?

You can pay rate for all awake hours (also include nap in those awake hours, just like a regular nanny) and a flat rate for the night. Now if your child wakes up a lot this may not work.

So say Saturday
Kid up at 7am - clock starts
Gets hourly all day
8pm kid in bed asleep- clock stops/night rate kicks in.
Hopefully kid sleeps- if not clock starts/stops for the night wake ups

I charge $100/night plus my hourly rate.

Remember to get a medical release form signed and temporary guardianship as well. Plus leave all important numbers and any emergency numbers, just in case.

On a side night- stock the fridge with some goodies. If babysitter needs to grab a midnight snack or something.

[Anonymous]

Note not night duh

[Anonymous]

I have the same outline as PP - my hourly rate for all waking hours plus a flat-fee for overnights which I can sleep through. If the child wakes once overnight I charge for that hour; if they wake two or more times I charge hourly for the rest of the night (beginning at the first wake-up).

I do not charge OT for hours over 40.

[Anonymous]

I babysit and charge $13/hour. Pay her usual rate for awake hours, including overtime past 40 hours (although I don't see any chance of your child being awake for 40 hours during this period, so should be a non-issue - just for future reference I guess). Pay a flat rate for sleeping hours (I would suggest $50/night). Should your child wake up in the night, add an extra $13 (or $26 if he's up for more than an hour etc.)

This is the standard. However, it can still add up. Since it sounds like your nanny is young, she may be open to lowering her rate/accepting a flat rate. I would suggest offering $400 for the weekend plus something like a $50 gas card if she drives, or a Starbucks card or something along those lines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok does your child sleep thru the night?

You can pay rate for all awake hours (also include nap in those awake hours, just like a regular nanny) and a flat rate for the night. Now if your child wakes up a lot this may not work.

So say Saturday
Kid up at 7am - clock starts
Gets hourly all day
8pm kid in bed asleep- clock stops/night rate kicks in.
Hopefully kid sleeps- if not clock starts/stops for the night wake ups

I charge $100/night plus my hourly rate.

Remember to get a medical release form signed and temporary guardianship as well. Plus leave all important numbers and any emergency numbers, just in case.


Agree with this poster. I work for a family two nights a week and this is our arrangement as well. My hourly rate is higher (they have 4 kids) at $20 per hour so a long weekend adds up to almost $1000. The youngest is not sleeping through the night so I'm usually up at least once, if not twice. I definitely don't get much sleep those weekends and that is probably why they pay me my full rate the entire time. I've offered to take less but they always insist.

I try to do extra things around the house to help. I often do light cleaning and try to catch up on laundry so they come home to nice clean house. When the youngest is sleeping through the night, I will charge regular rate for awake hours and $100 flat fee for each night.

I think this is a pretty standard arrangement but talk to your babysitter and see what she has in mind.

Good luck

[Anonymous]

Don't bother with a gift card here, unless it's an unexpected gift on top of her negotiated wages. I'd make this offer more as a discussion, since she's not yet sharing her expectations.