I used to be a nanny charging $17 an hour.
Now im a Mom who works PT.
If someone asked me to do this I wouldnt expect $17 an hour now I have my own child.
I would probably do it for $12.

As a Mom I wouldnt pay more than $10 an hour for someone to watch my child in this type of arrangement.

Share rates of $9-$10 per hour would be the starting point for an arrangement like this, but you can probably charge a little more than that (say $11-12) because the hours are few and the other Mom already knows and trusts your childcare abilities. You could also add on a meal charge if you'll be feeding both children whatever you would ordinarily feed your child.

Anonymous wrote: If I were a SAHM, why the hell would I want to watch someone else's kid for less than what people now earn working at McDonalds?

If you are a SAHM, then you wouldn't even be thinking about getting an actual job, of any kind (including one at a fast food place). The benefit for the OP is that she CAN earn a bit of extra money helping her friend out but it most likely would be more of what she would be doing with her kid anyways (or if she had more than one). She would probably feed the same types of snacks, take them to the same places she might normally take her child, let the 2 play together like it was a playdate, etc. She COULD be doing all of this with her child alone, and not be making ANY money at all. That is an option. Stop trying to compare it to any other kind of "job" as it really isn't like anything else and you cannot compare it to the rates for other jobs either. If the mom was to pay her much more than $10/hr, then the mom could just as easily find a PT nanny to take on the care and have full individualized attention instead of just a SAHM that is a "warm body" with a built-in playmate (OP's child).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an unlicensed, casual home daycare situation, not a nanny, and the OP's own child is involved.

$8-10 / hr

+1 I agree, the other posts are ridiculous! You're not a nanny, you're a casual friend helping out...

I also agree with this rate.

Anonymous wrote:Best to have her Send food to avoid her critiquing what you might feed your child.

FYI, not everyone is like that. Let's not jump to judge something we know nothing about.

When I cared for children in my licensed home, I enjoyed the food preparation with the children helping as appropriate. If I had let parents pack up the food, that opportunity would have been missed. Also, many parents appreciated not having to deal with this.

I don't think anyone is consciously trying to inflate rates or be misleading, I think this is just not something many of us have direct experience with so it's difficult to figure out what fair pay would be.

OP I think you should ask your friend what she was hoping to pay, ask for a range, decide if it's something you're comfortable with, and make a counter-offer from there.

Best to have her Send food to avoid her critiquing what you might feed your child.

OP, as usual the rates are all over the map, $8-20/hr. I suggest first asking her what range she has in mind. Take a day or so to think about what she says, and go from there. Ask what she thinks her proposed range would include. You should decide how to best handle food.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would someone do it for 10 /hr? Because it is an extra 10,000 a year (assuming even just 4 hrs a day) that the SAHM gets for doing the same thing but with one extra child along - and a playmate age one at that. Not a bad deal as extra pocket money. Obviously by something that works for someone needing to pay the bills on a Nanny's salary though.

+10 so rational. Exactly.

Agree

Anonymous wrote:Why would someone do it for 10 /hr? Because it is an extra 10,000 a year (assuming even just 4 hrs a day) that the SAHM gets for doing the same thing but with one extra child along - and a playmate age one at that. Not a bad deal as extra pocket money. Obviously by something that works for someone needing to pay the bills on a Nanny's salary though.

+10 so rational. Exactly.

Anonymous wrote:$10/hr because this is casual babysitting.

Yup.

Anonymous wrote:This is an unlicensed, casual home daycare situation, not a nanny, and the OP's own child is involved.

$8-10 / hr

How would you define a nanny, pp?

Why would someone do it for 10 /hr? Because it is an extra 10,000 a year (assuming even just 4 hrs a day) that the SAHM gets for doing the same thing but with one extra child along - and a playmate age one at that. Not a bad deal as extra pocket money. Obviously by something that works for someone needing to pay the bills on a Nanny's salary though.

Anonymous wrote:$10/hr because this is casual babysitting.

How is it casual? Because they are sort of friends? If it's an every day gig it's beyond babysitting.

$10/hr because this is casual babysitting.