Anonymous
Post 08/02/2017 15:36     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
$16-20 for babysitting
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2017 10:55     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
Anonymous wrote:OP here and I am sorry I didn't make my question clear. My question is: Is it unfair to charge my employer's friends less than I charge my employers for nighttime babysitting? Whether or not I am worth it or whether or not the friends who need a babysitter will pay $27 an hour is not the point.

Thanks!


From the perspective of an MB, if I found out our nanny was charging others less for sleeping kids, it would not bother me, even if I pay her the same high rate for my awake/sleeping kids. It goes without saying that I'm not going to ask our nanny to lower her rate whenever our kids are sleeping, it just doesn't work that way! Having said that, if I felt like I was overpaying our nanny (which I don't), then this would probably grate on me. But in that case, there's a bigger problem going on.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2017 23:01     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
OP here and I am sorry I didn't make my question clear. My question is: Is it unfair to charge my employer's friends less than I charge my employers for nighttime babysitting? Whether or not I am worth it or whether or not the friends who need a babysitter will pay $27 an hour is not the point.

Thanks!
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2017 22:56     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, my day nanny position is just for one child - a nearly 20 month old I have been with since birth. All of the babysitting requests are coming from my charge's friends so same age and always just one child.

I charge my weekday employers my regular $27 an hour when I stay with their DD after hours so it seems fair that I charge others the same. On the other hand it is a little ridiculous to charge that much for just babysitting when the LO is asleep.


You are paid for your expertise in caring for children and it makes no difference if the child is asleep or awake.


Of course it does. Very few parents are interested in paying for an "expert" to watch their sleeping children. The question here is what the market will bear and how much she wants this gig.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2017 22:55     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, my day nanny position is just for one child - a nearly 20 month old I have been with since birth. All of the babysitting requests are coming from my charge's friends so same age and always just one child.

I charge my weekday employers my regular $27 an hour when I stay with their DD after hours so it seems fair that I charge others the same. On the other hand it is a little ridiculous to charge that much for just babysitting when the LO is asleep.


It depends how much you want the gig. I would never pay a random babysitter (even if she was a super-qualified nanny for not my kids) $27/hour to babysit my two kids. I would certainly never pay that for hours my kids were sleeping. (And I'm not cheap. I pay my nanny $21/hour plus true OT; she's guaranteed 50 hours, so any extra babysitting hours are paid at over $30/hour. But she's my kids' nanny and that's the difference.) So, I think it's 100% fair for you to say that's your rate; I think it's very unlikely they will pay you that. MAYBE if the kids are awake so they are actually taking advantage of your expertise; NO CHANCE if they're sleeping unless maybe on a one-off/urgent basis. So, if you want some extra cash, I'd say $20/hour; that's the high end around me for 1 kid babysitting (Capitol Hill, DC).


Thanks, PP. But would you feel bad if you found out that your nanny was charging your friends so much less than you for babysitting?


It wouldn't bother me at all. I pay my nanny a premium because she's my nanny and because of OT laws. Also, my nanny is by and large watching my kids when they're awake.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2017 19:30     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, my day nanny position is just for one child - a nearly 20 month old I have been with since birth. All of the babysitting requests are coming from my charge's friends so same age and always just one child.

I charge my weekday employers my regular $27 an hour when I stay with their DD after hours so it seems fair that I charge others the same. On the other hand it is a little ridiculous to charge that much for just babysitting when the LO is asleep.


You are paid for your expertise in caring for children and it makes no difference if the child is asleep or awake.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2017 14:22     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, my day nanny position is just for one child - a nearly 20 month old I have been with since birth. All of the babysitting requests are coming from my charge's friends so same age and always just one child.

I charge my weekday employers my regular $27 an hour when I stay with their DD after hours so it seems fair that I charge others the same. On the other hand it is a little ridiculous to charge that much for just babysitting when the LO is asleep.


It depends how much you want the gig. I would never pay a random babysitter (even if she was a super-qualified nanny for not my kids) $27/hour to babysit my two kids. I would certainly never pay that for hours my kids were sleeping. (And I'm not cheap. I pay my nanny $21/hour plus true OT; she's guaranteed 50 hours, so any extra babysitting hours are paid at over $30/hour. But she's my kids' nanny and that's the difference.) So, I think it's 100% fair for you to say that's your rate; I think it's very unlikely they will pay you that. MAYBE if the kids are awake so they are actually taking advantage of your expertise; NO CHANCE if they're sleeping unless maybe on a one-off/urgent basis. So, if you want some extra cash, I'd say $20/hour; that's the high end around me for 1 kid babysitting (Capitol Hill, DC).


Thanks, PP. But would you feel bad if you found out that your nanny was charging your friends so much less than you for babysitting?
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2017 13:41     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, my day nanny position is just for one child - a nearly 20 month old I have been with since birth. All of the babysitting requests are coming from my charge's friends so same age and always just one child.

I charge my weekday employers my regular $27 an hour when I stay with their DD after hours so it seems fair that I charge others the same. On the other hand it is a little ridiculous to charge that much for just babysitting when the LO is asleep.


It depends how much you want the gig. I would never pay a random babysitter (even if she was a super-qualified nanny for not my kids) $27/hour to babysit my two kids. I would certainly never pay that for hours my kids were sleeping. (And I'm not cheap. I pay my nanny $21/hour plus true OT; she's guaranteed 50 hours, so any extra babysitting hours are paid at over $30/hour. But she's my kids' nanny and that's the difference.) So, I think it's 100% fair for you to say that's your rate; I think it's very unlikely they will pay you that. MAYBE if the kids are awake so they are actually taking advantage of your expertise; NO CHANCE if they're sleeping unless maybe on a one-off/urgent basis. So, if you want some extra cash, I'd say $20/hour; that's the high end around me for 1 kid babysitting (Capitol Hill, DC).
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2017 14:35     Subject: Re:"Babysitting"
OP here. Yes, my day nanny position is just for one child - a nearly 20 month old I have been with since birth. All of the babysitting requests are coming from my charge's friends so same age and always just one child.

I charge my weekday employers my regular $27 an hour when I stay with their DD after hours so it seems fair that I charge others the same. On the other hand it is a little ridiculous to charge that much for just babysitting when the LO is asleep.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2017 10:32     Subject: "Babysitting"
I'm an MB. I would never pay $27/hr for babysitting, though perhaps some would.

If I use our former nanny as a babysitter we pay her $18/hr.

Almost all of the time though I use high schoolers and pay $10-12/hr.

So a lot depends on the age of the kids, the time/duties involved, and what the parents are willing to pay. But unless you'll be doing laundry, meal prep/clean-up, bathing/feeding/entertaining/teaching, then I think $27/hr is awfully steep. Good for you if you can get it though!
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2017 09:34     Subject: "Babysitting"
Some nannies have a set rate regardless if it's one or two children. Some nannies charge per child.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2017 09:32     Subject: "Babysitting"
Is your day job for only one?
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2017 09:00     Subject: "Babysitting"
Yes, it should definitely be at least the same as your regular hourly rate.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2017 07:15     Subject: "Babysitting"
I am an educated and experienced nanny who works full-time during the week at $27 an hour. Recently I have been approached by a few parents of my charge's friends about weekend babysitting which might be nice to bring in some extra money on occasion. What hourly rate should I quote for one child? Should it be the same as my day rate?

Thanks.