My parents agreed to take care of my 3 month old baby boy two days per week when I return to work. The other two days I will hire a nanny, as my parents are very active and lead a very rich social life outside of us and our two children. I will stay home one day per week. My parents live in our neighborhood and will walk to our house to watch our baby. We will provide everything needed to do childcare (clothes, toys, diapers, etc.) My other son, now 5 years old, attends full-time preschool every day so he will not be part of the picture. My mother recently indicated that because this is a big time committment, she would like to be paid and wants to charge the same hourly rate as our professional nanny. If it were up to my Dad, they'd do it for free, but he says he has to go along with Mom. I have to admit, I'm a little hurt and upset by this, especially since my divorced brother used to live in their house with his kids for free when his boys were little and they never charged him for childcare. But at the same time, I realize it's a big commitment and my husband and I want to be fair. Before they raised the issue of money, our plan was to take them on family trips (my parents have always wanted to visit Rome and we were going to pay for their trip and go with them as they would not go to Europe alone and we have been before) or out to special dinners or buy them special presents, massages, ballgame tickets etc. This is what we were doing with my other son when they watch him on an as-needed basis (but very often because they live so close). Does anyone pay their parents to babysit the grandchildren on a regular basis? If so, do you pay the same rate as professional childcare? How much? Any help and guidance about this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Hi Adrienne, This is the first time I have ever heard of a grandparent wanting to be paid to take care of their grandchild. Here's the things I would look at, A Nanny or a Daycare provider are licensed, so you are paying for a licensed individual, A Nanny, that is what she does for a living, so she gets an income. I'm a Daycare Provider and i charge 120.00 a week regaurless of attendance, because they are paying to for a slot for their child. The grandparents don't do this for a living, your not paying for a slot cause it's at your house, you are providing everything they need to care for this child, what is the money for their time? they should look at spending this time with their gradchild a luxuary, I would not pay them anymore than 20.00 a day if you have to pay them, Honestly what i would do I would either find a good Daycare, or use the nanny only
Hope this helps. Julie L.