Infant childcare cost - mild vent.

[Murphy101]

So friend asked if I'd be okay with my teen daughter watching her 2 month old grandbaby at my house.

 

I said we'd talk about it and after taking to dh and the teens, we decided to say yes on condition of $40 payment. I think $40 for 6 hours is cheap childcare.

 

Friend seems shocked. She offered $20.

 

Grrr. No. Thanks.

 

I sorta have this home schooling 7 kids thing going on and my own 6 month old. Feel free to find cheaper last minute childcare.

 

If we thought this would be an occasional thing, we'd probably do it for free, but I highly suspect if we were free, we'd be doing this rather frequently.

 

And I'm real damn tired of everyone presuming that my dd16 can of course be their babysitter. Frequently without even asking me first and then getting in a snit when I say no. No. She can't. She has better things to do than live up to a stereotype. And no, she does not take care of all her younger siblings. She's changed about three diapers in her entire life. She's never given a baby a bottle or handled colic or much of anything. Because she is not the mother, I am. And no, having her babysit for free or dirt cheap is not somehow doing her a favor bc they are giving her practice in how to be a mom someday.

 

/end rant, ramble whatever this was.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Murphy101

[Butter]

Other than the rich people my kids have baby-sat for, 6 hours for $20 would be about right...

[freesia]

Other than the rich people my kids have baby-sat for, 6 hours for $20 would be about right...

 

It must depend on where you live. I've never, ever paid less than $5 an hour and where we are now it's $10 plus.

[goldberry]

6 hours for an INFANT for $20?  No way.  That's slave labor.

 

Unless just doing it as a favor.

Edited April 20, 2017 by goldberry

[Lawyer&Mom]

We pay $20 an hour over here...

[Jean in Newcastle]

My dd15 gets $12 an hour.  x 6 hours would be $72.  And this is not from rich people but not poor people either.  Lower to middle middle class.  But I suspect a lot of it depends on the going rates in your region.  We do live in a HCOL area. 

[Sandragood1]

I paid d $10 per hour for dd16 back when she was little. I can't imagine what it is now. HCOL area with many working moms and teen kids to busy with activities too babysit much.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Sandragood1

[ErinE]

Other than the rich people my kids have baby-sat for, 6 hours for $20 would be about right...

I've lived all over the US, rural to urban and never paid less than $7 per hour. Mothers helpers might get $20, but it would be four hours at most, they'd be younger (not 16), and I would be there with them to assist.

 

  [ e=happysmileylady" post="7555595" timestamp="1492725480]

In our area, a price of $100 a week for full time infant care is probably low end of average so that works out to about $25 a day, for a good 8hr plus day. $150 would be the high end of average. Now, in a high end center one could easily pay way more than $200 a week.

This would be one person watching multiple infants, plus they would be paid at least minimum wage. Most of the centers I dealt with had a 1 adult to 4 infants plus a floater who worked between multiple rooms in case an adult needed a break.

[MotherGoose]

 

In our area, a price of $100 a week for full time infant care is probably low end of average so that works out to about $25 a day, for a good 8hr plus day. $150 would be the high end of average. Now, in a high end center one could easily pay way more than $200 a week.[/q

 

That seems crazy low. Unless the person is caring for many infants at once. I mean, minimum wage is $8 or something an hour. One infant times 8 hours is $64. I pay $10.

[Random]

 

If we thought this would be an occasional thing, we'd probably do it for free, but I highly suspect if we were free, we'd be doing this rather frequently.

 

 

 

^ This is the heart of the issue.  Sounds like you made a good call.

[Guest]

People are nuts. My DD is a newborn care nanny and - okay, yeah, she is more trained and specialized, but still - she earns $19/hr.

[eternalsummer]

That's insane.  She's 16.  If she wants a job, she can get one for $10/hr (depending on location).  

 

And, let's be honest, it does not take that much practice in changing diapers and carrying babies around to become competent at it.  She does not need the practice for motherhood, hahaha.

[Loowit]

My DD gets $10 per hour, though sometimes negotiates when it is an all day thing.  I think that $40 is very reasonable for 6 hours, especially for an infant.

[SebastianCat]

I don't think we ever paid less than $10 per hour for babysitters.   I think you made the right call.

[Ailaena]

Just yesterday, i spoke with a lady of a 7-month-old who offers high school kids $15/hr in hopes that they actually show up sometimes. They're probably @$90-100k household, and we are in Denver. I can't fathom somebody offering $20/6 hours. That's insulting 🙄 Shoot, I can't fathom you guys willing to do it for $40!

 

Wait, I just saw it was at YOUR house. Still insulting. Maybe more so because you'd have to be integrating another child into your house for 6 hours.

[Farrar]

You can't find childcare even for as little as you asked for around here. No way. $20 for SIX HOURS? That's less than $3.50 an hour. That's insane. And insulting to your dd.

 

We live in a high COL area, but I've never found anyone to babysit for less than $20 an hour.

[Murphy101]

Other than the rich people my kids have baby-sat for, 6 hours for $20 would be about right...

That is flat out nuts. 30 years ago I made more than that babysitting. In Oklahoma, which I don't think anyone considers rich HCOL pricing for most things then or now.

[JudoMom]

What a whackadoodle.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

At your house. Ye gods.

 

For reference, a quarter of a century ago, I was paid more than that in a low COL area (midwestern suburb) where teens babysat all the time so there was a lot of competition. I would get $20 for about four hours, at their house, with access to snacks and TV. And frequently, if the parents came home in a good mood, and baby was happy (or sleeping) and the house had been tidied, they'd add another $5 as a tip AND drive me home.

 

[73349]

Why do people think they can offer less than minimum wage for work?? And especially the important work of caring for a baby they love?

 

I was quoted $1800 a month for infant care here almost ten years ago. And I personally would not care for an infant for under $12/hour; I pay 12-15 for an experienced person with an elementary-age child. I'm glad you didn't let her take the job.

Edited April 20, 2017 by whitehawk

[Artichoke]

$6.50 an hour for infant care is a bargain. Prices here begin at $10 an hour and usually add $3-$5 more per sibling per hour. We're in a middlish cost of living area.

[TravelingChris]

I can tell you I was getting more than that in the early to mid 80s.  At their house and not infants but children that didn't even need diaper changing.

[Butter]

If we thought this would be an occasional thing, we'd probably do it for free, but I highly suspect if we were free, we'd be doing this rather frequently.

 

She wants your homeschooling daughter to baby-sit her baby for 6 hours regularly?  Not just once?  That would be a definite no regardless of how much they'd pay.

 

Multiple kids, my kids get paid more.  For a single kid that would be pretty much right on.

 

When I was a teen (90s) I baby-sat two kids 9 hours every Saturday.  I got paid $18.

[SparklyUnicorn]

She isn't being reasonable AT ALL.

 

 

[Murphy101]

She wants your homeschooling daughter to baby-sit her baby for 6 hours regularly? Not just once? That would be a definite no regardless of how much they'd pay.

 

Multiple kids, my kids get paid more. For a single kid that would be pretty much right on.

 

When I was a teen (90s) I baby-sat two kids 9 hours every Saturday. I got paid $18.

You were getting screwed if that's all they paid you for that.

 

I made a minimum of $20 to show up! I got $3 an hour for kids in diapers and $2 per kid not in diapers. Sometimes I'd give a discount for a sibling group, but even so, I never left a house with less than $30.

[SparklyUnicorn]

 

When I was a teen (90s) I baby-sat two kids 9 hours every Saturday.  I got paid $18.

 

I had a summer babysitting gig once in the 90s.  40 hours for $150 in their home.  Kids were older.  No diapers..no nothin.  Just had to make sure they didn't get hurt and had breakfast and lunch.

[Ottakee]

Why do people think they can offer less than minimum wage for work?? And especially the important work of caring for a baby they love?

 

I was quoted $1800 a month for infant care here almost ten years ago. And I personally would not care for an infant for under $12/hour; I pay 12-15 for an experienced person with an elementary-age child. I'm glad you didn't let her take the job.

At least in our area the parents are often only making minimum wage or maybe up to $10-11/hour.......wages are low and jobs are scarce even if you have skills or a college degree.  

 

Just for perspective, the job my husband did 25 years ago with full benefits, 2 weeks paid vacation, and bonuses now pays LESS per hour (not even adjusted, just purely LESS per hour) now than it did back then.

 

As a special ed teacher with a 5 year degree, I am getting $12.50/hour for teaching the most severely disabled students in the county.....which included all personal care, feeding, monitoring oxygen, suctioning, etc.

 

Foster care rates in our area are $17.24 per DAY for a child ages 0-12 which must cover their care and needs.

 

I would love to see more being paid and certainly in more affluent areas it can be but there are so many people struggling to survive on full time jobs that pay far less than you are quoting.  They don't love their children any less.

[SKL]

Yeah, I think $40 for reliable care for a two-month-old is reasonable.  But, when I was a teen, I probably would have taken $20 also.  :P

 

At minimum wage here it would be $48.

 

Granted, a 2-month-old isn't mobile, but ....

[EKS]

12 years ago we paid $10/hour.  I suspect it's more like $15 now.

[MotherGoose]

I would be happy to help someone out for free periodically.

[SparklyUnicorn]

At least in our area the parents are often only making minimum wage or maybe up to $10-11/hour.......wages are low and jobs are scarce even if you have skills or a college degree.  

 

Just for perspective, the job my husband did 25 years ago with full benefits, 2 weeks paid vacation, and bonuses now pays LESS per hour (not even adjusted, just purely LESS per hour) now than it did back then.

 

As a special ed teacher with a 5 year degree, I am getting $12.50/hour for teaching the most severely disabled students in the county.....which included all personal care, feeding, monitoring oxygen, suctioning, etc.

 

Foster care rates in our area are $17.24 per DAY for a child ages 0-12 which must cover their care and needs.

 

I would love to see more being paid and certainly in more affluent areas it can be but there are so many people struggling to survive on full time jobs that pay far less than you are quoting.  They don't love their children any less.

 

I think in some circumstances it is ok to pay less than minimum, but that is way less.

 

Plus, I'd expect lower with a day care where there are multiple children.  If someone wants private one on one care and thinks they are going to get it for $3 something an hour they are out of their mind. 

Edited April 20, 2017 by SparklyUnicorn

[Shellydon]

Infant= $20 per hour here. 

[Murphy101]

At least in our area the parents are often only making minimum wage or maybe up to $10-11/hour.......wages are low and jobs are scarce even if you have skills or a college degree.

 

Just for perspective, the job my husband did 25 years ago with full benefits, 2 weeks paid vacation, and bonuses now pays LESS per hour (not even adjusted, just purely LESS per hour) now than it did back then.

 

As a special ed teacher with a 5 year degree, I am getting $12.50/hour for teaching the most severely disabled students in the county.....which included all personal care, feeding, monitoring oxygen, suctioning, etc.

 

Foster care rates in our area are $17.24 per DAY for a child ages 0-12 which must cover their care and needs.

 

I would love to see more being paid and certainly in more affluent areas it can be but there are so many people struggling to survive on full time jobs that pay far less than you are quoting. They don't love their children any less.

I agree with this. I don't think they don't love their kids. I do think that more and more people are starting to seriously consider if a job is worth having. I don't remember people thinking that when dh and I got married. A job was almost always worth having. Now, even with just one kid, it literally might not pay to have both parents work if there's nothing left after work.

[Jean in Newcastle]

At least in our area the parents are often only making minimum wage or maybe up to $10-11/hour.......wages are low and jobs are scarce even if you have skills or a college degree.  

 

Just for perspective, the job my husband did 25 years ago with full benefits, 2 weeks paid vacation, and bonuses now pays LESS per hour (not even adjusted, just purely LESS per hour) now than it did back then.

 

As a special ed teacher with a 5 year degree, I am getting $12.50/hour for teaching the most severely disabled students in the county.....which included all personal care, feeding, monitoring oxygen, suctioning, etc.

 

Foster care rates in our area are $17.24 per DAY for a child ages 0-12 which must cover their care and needs.

 

I would love to see more being paid and certainly in more affluent areas it can be but there are so many people struggling to survive on full time jobs that pay far less than you are quoting.  They don't love their children any less.

 

Which is why prices are regional.   But if the price regionally is much more, then it isn't right to offer so little.  Esp. if the person can afford it. 

 

I have offered to help out friends on occasion for free.  But that is "me" and not me offering my dc's services.  If dd wanted to offer her services for free that would be up to her  But I would be careful not to be taken advantage of and I would protect my dc from that as well. 

[SKL]

It might be cheaper in a daycare facility, as they have min-wage (or close) workers at a 4-to-1 ratio for infants.  But you have to pay by the day or week to get a cheap rate.

 

I would let my 16yo babysit for 6 hours "regularly" (assuming that meant weekly-ish, not daily).

 

When I was 14/15 I worked full time caring for 3 kids all summer (at their house), and weekends during the school year, including an infant starting when he was 6 weeks old.  16yo isn't too young for that if she is otherwise inclined.

[Farrar]

You were getting screwed if that's all they paid you for that.

 

I made a minimum of $20 to show up! I got $3 an hour for kids in diapers and $2 per kid not in diapers. Sometimes I'd give a discount for a sibling group, but even so, I never left a house with less than $30.

 

Ditto. I also don't think I ever left a teenage babysitting gig in the early 90's in the low-to mid COL area where I lived without at least about $25 and usually a great deal more - and for way less than 9 hours usually. There was one single mom I babysat for across the road who was dead broke whose kids were borderline disturbed that I gave a discount to because I felt so bad for her and even she paid me way more than that. I'm sad to say, but I think Butter's teenage self got majorly taken advantage of.

[Murphy101]

I would be happy to help someone out for free periodically.

 

*I* would and *I* have absolutely and happily done that and will again.

 

But I don't expect nor demand my daughter to work for my friends grown kids for free. That would be not nice imnsho.

[Butter]

You were getting screwed if that's all they paid you for that.

 

It's what *everyone* got paid, so, no, I wasn't getting screwed.  It was simply the going rate in the area.  $2/hour for up to 2 kids and then 50 cents an hour for each additional kid.

[gardenmom5]

$40 for 6 hours of a two month old is dirt cheap.

she's welcome to find a nanny for $3.33 an hour.

 

eta: around here - infants have higher care costs.  older kids, fine.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2017 by gardenmom5

[SparklyUnicorn]

It's what *everyone* got paid, so, no, I wasn't getting screwed.  It was simply the going rate in the area.  $2/hour for up to 2 kids and then 50 cents an hour for each additional kid.

 

yeah that was a similar rate when I babysat too

 

the $150 full time gig was a massively nice deal for me!

[Frances]

It must depend on where you live. I've never, ever paid less than $5 an hour and where we are now it's $10 plus.

My son is now 23 and we never paid less than $5 per hour. My niece in a very small town in the Midwest routinely makes $100 on a Saturday night and the one school age child is sleeping most of the time.

[MegP]

The nanny jobs around here are about $15-20 per hour. That is caring for one infant, not more than one child.

[MotherGoose]

*I* would and *I* have absolutely and happily done that and will again.

 

But I don't expect nor demand my daughter to work for my friends grown kids for free. That would be not nice imnsho.

I wasn't insinuating that you were at all. :). I just felt that after my previous post saying what I did pay, and saying I thought you were getting ripped off, I would also say that I do have a heart and would help someone out :). This person you are talking about has no clue about babysitting rates and your daughter deserves much more.

[momacacia]

OP, you're absolutely right. That's a great deal here in the Midwest, fairly average COL area.

[AimeeM]

Yikes.

I wouldn't be comfortable with my almost-16 year old sitting a babe that young, for that long -- and she has a ton of experience with diapers, babies, tots, and special needs. Well, I take that back -- I may be fine with it if she knew the baby really, really well. 

 

And we pay our sitters (for our elementary-age boys) almost $20/hour -- even the teenage sitters. My daughter gets paid almost as much for dog sitting, which only requires she check in and feed the dogs twice/daly, as your friend wants to pay your daughter to babysit a human infant :(

 

ETA: we live in a low COL area.

Edited April 20, 2017 by AimeeM

[Heatherwith4]

I live in a low cost of living area, and in 2000, I got paid more than that for watching an 8 yo at his house! Good call saying no.

[73349]

At least in our area the parents are often only making minimum wage or maybe up to $10-11/hour.......wages are low and jobs are scarce even if you have skills or a college degree.  

 

Just for perspective, the job my husband did 25 years ago with full benefits, 2 weeks paid vacation, and bonuses now pays LESS per hour (not even adjusted, just purely LESS per hour) now than it did back then.

 

As a special ed teacher with a 5 year degree, I am getting $12.50/hour for teaching the most severely disabled students in the county.....which included all personal care, feeding, monitoring oxygen, suctioning, etc.

 

Foster care rates in our area are $17.24 per DAY for a child ages 0-12 which must cover their care and needs.

 

I would love to see more being paid and certainly in more affluent areas it can be but there are so many people struggling to survive on full time jobs that pay far less than you are quoting.  They don't love their children any less.

 

I was not suggesting that not being able to pay well means they love their children any less. It may, though, mean that they can't afford to work and pay for child care. If I had been a single mom when DS was born, I would've been screwed, because my take-home pay was not far north of what I could expect to pay for child care for 45 hours a week. I would've needed help with food and rent even after dropping retirement contributions. (One reason I'm a SAHM is that it makes financial sense.)

 

But that doesn't mean that caregivers should be expected to accept less than minimum wage. It may mean it takes a group of parents to pay one caregiver. The OP's situation sounded like it's more discretionary than all the person can do, though.

Edited April 20, 2017 by whitehawk

[macmacmoo]

When my eldest was born I had a semester left of college. When I went back for the last semester my neighbor watched him with her son that was the same age. She set the price of $3 an hour. I accept her offer with the caveot of rounding to the next 20 since the ATM only gives out twenties lol.

[swellmomma]

In our area, a price of $100 a week for full time infant care is probably low end of average so that works out to about $25 a day, for a good 8hr plus day. $150 would be the high end of average. Now, in a high end center one could easily pay way more than $200 a week.

 

That is crazy, out here infant childcare is closer to $150 a week low end if in a licensed daycare.  Babysitting rate our here is $10/hr. Even at my afterschool care the drop in for someone that comes for a nonschool day (so here for over 3 hours) is $45 for the day, and that is a big kid that is independent.  $40 for 6 hours with an infant is more than reasonable.

[Wheres Toto]

6 hours for an INFANT for $20?  No way.  That's slave labor.

 

Unless just doing it as a favor.

 

Seriously.   That is way too low unless it's a mother's helper type arrangement where mom is there to change the diapers or if the baby won't stop crying.  $20 is kind of insulting.

 

Infants around here run at least $10/hour.  A daycare center might have a monthly rate that works out to be less, they usually run between $1000 and $1500 a month for full-time care.