Childcare Question

My 2 year old daughter goes to Elite Children's in Plainfield and we are charged $50.00 per day. Prior to that we had my neighbor (who unfortunately moved to another state), watching her three days a week for $35.00 per day.

I would at least ask for minimum wage, which I think just went up to $7.75 July 1. Watching someone's child is a huge responsibility, and when my older daughter was taken care of by a friend, I paid her very well. She was watching my child after all, which was the most precious thing in the world to me. And I appreciated the good care she got, so I rewarded her for that. Have you really thought it through how it will be watching a baby, especially when winter hits and you want to get outside with your kids and do things? Or taking your daughter to school? Will it make things difficult? Someone else mentioned it, and I think it's something to think about.

Hello J.,

Day rates work well but it seems to me that the days may vary from one to the next, hence your comment on 3-5 days a week. This can make it difficult as I've been searching hard for a new sitter and we don't always need to use someone for an entire day if my husband's working just few hours of OT on an afternoon. But some people charge for a full day regardless if the child's there 3 hours or 8 or 10. So I would say you should decide between an hourly charge or daily charge based on how exactly you're going to be watching them. The same principle applies to a weekly charge. Since 1 week my be different than the next.

Also, hourly is good because there are going to be those days where she gets stuck in bad traffic and is there to get them 1 or 2 hours later than usual. Or she comes home early becasue she's not feeling well and will take the kids home with her. Things are bound to come up.

My gal that we use now charges $3.75 an hour but watches 3 other children along with my son. She's not licensed but has been doing it for 14+ years and has every toy, game, bouncy, walker, etc, that you can think of. Another lady I used when he was first born was licensed and she charged $5.00 an hour but also did lessons and had an entire room set up for learning. She watched maybe 4 other children at the same time. The lady that lives behind me is licensed and does learning lessons too including an in-home preschool program and she charges $45.00 a day. Also, I work with someone who has her sitter come to her home to watch her 2 children and cleans/cooks lunch/does the dishes for $10.00 an hour.

Take into consideration what you're going to be doing with her. You can commit to 1 fieldtrip a week, time outside playing everyday and when she's a little older, a weekly project on a certain topic.

I hope some of this info was helpful!

I did in-home daycare for a while, part-time as well, and charged the following rates:

infant - 1: $45 a day
1-2 $40
2-3 $35

etc.

I also used a contract, but i was working for people who didn't start out as friends (they ended up friends though :). I never charged for days off, and if the child was only there a half-day (5 or less hours), I only charged 1/2 fee. I was unlicensed but I still filed taxes, which helps out enormously at tax time (got huge tax returns back for my part-time work), and it helps out the parents as well. I loved doing it part-time! I hope it works out for you. I do recall there were times that it was really frustrating when parents are late picking up or there is, after a while, this feeling of sometimes being taken advantage of when mommy wants to "stop at the salon to get her hair done" before picking up her child, and I didn't usually charge overtime or late fees (my mistake). But, overall, it was a great experience. I'd say the best advice I got was, even if it's a friend, you still have to keep a business-like attitude about the money issue, and stick to it (nicely of course). Good Luck!!!

WOW!!! I don't know where these other ladies live but I'm in Central Illinois and a "friend" watching your kid in her home usually cost about $12-$15 a day.
And we don't charge for days the kid isn't there.
I'm so glad I don't live where these other ladies do!!!
Yikes!!!

Good grief! $3.75 per hour?? I charged parents that back when I was in high school in the late 70's. That isn't even minimum wage.

I think teenagers today are paid atleast $8.00 a hour up here in the northwest suburbs. As a preschool teacher and part-time nanny with 14 years teaching and a college degree. I charge $12- $15 per hour. Nanny agencies up here such as teachercare pay their nannies $12-$18 per hour depending on experience and number of children and so forth. Plus the family hiring the nanny has to pay for a background check and other fees so she is saving money not hiring through a nanny agency.

I wouldn't recommend being paid by the week. Your valuable time is worth more and you could be taken advantage of if she chronically picks up late and so forth.
That is nice of you to want to help your friend though. I wish you luck. Remember you are taking time away from your own kids when you agree to watch other people's children. I think you should be compensated fairly for the responsibility you are taking on. Just my two cents.

I may be a bit late but wanted to respond. Some of the prices the other ladies quoted are so high that I would have to quit my job!!! (and I make a decent wage) I pay $2.75 an hour/ $25 a day for my 3 month old. I believe it stays that cost until he is out of diapers. I pay $20 a day for my 5 year old on days that he is not in school. I live in Central Illinois - just 40 min from you. I have always said that you can never pay a good daycare provider what they are worth.

When I cared for little ones (two years ago) I charged $30-40 a day per child. The one who was a friend I chaged $30 for each child. The other I didn't know very well and charge $40 a day. Neither set of parents blinked at the pricing.

Suggest a price, and ask her if that sounds reasonable. Since you're doing it for a friend, you don't want it to be a hardship, but she'll be so happy to have her baby with someone she knows it will be worth it. You'll also have to decide if you want payment before or after and if you'll charge them for days off (when baby's sick or has vacation days). I only charged for actual days; I wouldn't like paying for days my child wasn't actually being cared for, however a lot of people do charge that way.

Our son goes to an unlicensed inhome daycare provider. She has my son and her 3 year old son. We set a daily rate which works really well at $60/day. She is very flexible with us, and does not charge if he is not there (i.e., sick, vacation, holiday, etc.).
I hope that helps.

Hi J.,
When I did childcare I generally charged $30/day for infants and then $20/day once they were no longer in diapers and being bottle fed. I charged the higher rate for infants since they needed more care than older children.
Hope this helps!!
J.

The area I live in probably charges more than yours. I currently pay $85/day for 2 kids that are ages 3 and 5. I get a family discount added in there. This same center charges about $300/week for an 8 month old, which is $60/day.

I would call around your area to other childcare providers to get an idea of what they charge. Will you supply any of the food, baby or otherwise? Be sure to factor in all of your costs to keep the child, in addition to labor.

I paid my friend $10 an hr, but found a great home daycare for $5 an hr, i live in the NW suburbs. Licensed daycare ends up being less than $10 an hr so i figure about the same.