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Childcare cost question

I looked all over the bump boards and couldn't really find an appropriate place for this question so here I am. If anyone has any other suggestion let me know.

 Recently a friend on FB posted she needed childcare for her 1 month old. I'm looking to pick up some extra cash and I offered to help out when it worked for my schedule. It may not work out but I'm just curious about what to charge. I will of course discuss this with her but I don't even have a clue. Im a nurse and I work nights so I can help with some of her odd hours. I likley wouldn't watch her child more than twice a week 8 hours at a time. I know some people charge per day and this could be about $20 a day. I live in Iowa btw. Would it be appropriate to charge for the day or by hour if it was only a couple times a week?

 Just curious of anyone's thoughts! Thank You

Re: Childcare cost question

  • WOW! $20 a day. I don't have a child so I might not be a help but two of my best friend's are currently pregnant.

    One is looking into daycare which is obvisously really expensive, think $120 a day for an infant. And one is looking into home care. A friend of hers is a nanny part time (she also works a customer service job) and she has one day free, so she is going to watch their baby. She is doing them a favor negoiated with her less than her normal rate and it is going to be $60 a day for 6 1/2 hours/

    Granted we live in an area where EVERYTHING is really expensive. So maybe for your area, $50 per day? Giving up two days of free time (to me) is a big deal ,so unless you are desperate for the money (which i assume you aren't since nurses, esp overnight nurses, get a great pay)...then i would make the money worth your time to watch the baby 16 hours a week....don't forget if she sent her to a daycare it would be MUCH more expensive and at home is always a better choice (less chance of getting sick etc) plus you have the expertise of being a nurse. Don't sell yourself short.

  • I have been a nanny and believe me that no matter what you are paid there will be times when it does not feel like enough! I was paid $60 a day by one family, $10/hour by another.  I would talk to your friend and figure out what works best for your situation. She may pay you every day or weekly depending on how often and for how long you watch her child. Honestly $20 a day for 8+ hours is very low and you would not be out of line asking for up to $60 a day.

    ~Emily~
  • I def agree that 20$ a day doesn't make it worth it. I was only figuring it at $20 bc a friend said she paid about 100$ a week for childcare and we just broke it down from there.

    Thanks ladies!

  • When I was a nanny I made $10 an HOUR. Your time is definitely worth more than $2.50 an hour - I imagine you're CPR certified and if anything were to happen to the child your medical background would be overwhelmingly beneficial.

    Check out local babysitting/nanny boards to get a better idea about your area, but $10 an hour was less than most nannies in my area were charging 2 years ago, so I imagine you could do up to $15/hr (unless you want to cut your friend a deal) 

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  • I think 60$ per day make sense.
  • We live on the border of IL and IA, so our cost of living may be similar to yours.  The average daycare around here for a newborn is $3 an hour.  If you do in home daycare, it is less than that. Around $2 an hour.  Not sure if your area is LCOL or not, but ours is and those are the prices we are looking at.

    Also, I used to nanny in the Chicago suburbs and got paid between $10-$12 per hour. So it all depends on your area and the cost of living.

    If I were you, I would charge by the day.  That way if she only ends up using you for 6 hours instead of 8, then you aren't losing any money.

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  • We send my DD to daycare, but when daycare is closed, she goes to a babysitter who charges $40 per day. But, she also takes care of other children. I think it would be better to charge by the hour since you are taking care of just her child and have your other job. $10-$15 is average, plus you have important skills like a CPR cert, which is very valuable. Since she is a friend, you should charge closer to the $10/hour as that is the lower rate.
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