Comments | kazeldya8: baby-sitting rates

kazeldya8

baby-sitting rates

Nov 27, 2011 10:54

For those of you who do some baby-sitting, how do you determine your rates? I am a nanny and also do evening and weekend abby-sitting, and I find a huge range of rates people are willing to pay. I have over 15 years of experience, having taken CPR and first aid classes as well as classes in child development and education, and taught in ( Read more... )

Comments 3

armadis499 November 27 2011, 23:00:44 UTC

They didn't ask for the rate beforehand? $15-18 seems reasonable to me, although I can certainly understand the shock the parents must feel suddenly paying $100+. It may be worth keeping in mind that for them it's not just $100, but $100 plus whatever they spent while they were out. Still, it sounds like their fault for not asking beforehand or doing the math incorrectly. The solution may not be the rate itself, but just making sure everybody knows the terms and conditions before they leave.

kazeldya8 November 30 2011, 12:04:40 UTC

The thing is that I don't like to have an exact set rate - I mentioned that a nanny I know charges $12 for one and $15 for two kids (per hour). I prefer to let the parents choose and give them a range, but given the age of the kids, the fact that two families were paying, that the kids didn't listen very well, and that the kids aren't very verbal, it seemed to call for a higher rate. Some of the families ask beforehand, and some don't. I don't want to lose people for charging too much, but I do feel like people should take into account factors like my education and experience, the ages of the children, etc.

armadis499 December 4 2011, 01:53:50 UTC

I would think a good way to get people to consider your experience and education is to emphasize safety and security. Given your background in development and education, I'm sure there are more benefits you can provide - but I would guess that when people hire a babysitter for a few hours, they're more concerned about the security of their kids than anything else. If any crisis emerges, you'll know how to handle it. People will pay a lot for security, so you could use this. I'm not sure how to advertise it, but it seems like a reasonable angle to me. Suddenly, a few extra dollars per hour for someone who has more years experience than the parents have parenting seems like a great deal ( ... )