Reasonable Rate for in Home Child Care?

You should be listed with the state even if you only keep one child. I am in Allen and I only keep from 7 to 5:30 and my charge is $45.00 a day or no more than $175.00 a week. I have been keeping children for 36 years. Any questions please contact by phone, ###-###-####.

We paid $50 per day (not hourly, but averaged 8-9 hours/day) for 1 child. Now that we have 2, we pay $75 per day.

Athough it was a daily rate, we agreed from the beginning that this was for a standard workday - basically between 8AM and 6PM on weekdays, although the exact number of hours varied day by day. If it was outside of those times we paid $10 per hour. So, for example, if she worked 9AM-7PM because of a late meeting, we paid $50 for the day plus an extra $10 for staying an hour past 6:00.

We also agreed in advance that if we cancelled her for the day, we still paid her (because it wasn't her choice that she didn't work that day). If she cancelled on us for the day, either in advance or at the last minute due to illness, then we did not pay her (because we had to pay for backup childcare).

ADDED: There is a big difference between you and a daycare center. Centers are often open longer hours, they have back-up childcare on-hand, so if a teacher calls in sick, someone else steps in and the parent doesn't have to have her own backup plans. Daycares usually provide a structured curriculum (mine even has a curriculum for the infant room). They are licensed and accredited. They have toys, cribs, and other baby gear on hand, and don't ask the parent to provide it. They have to buy very expensive insurance. So yes, there are a lot of reasons why daycares are often more expensive than a nanny. I'm also guess that $289 per week was for 5 days, and you are only taking care of the baby 3 days.

And, the question you didn't ask the daycare - how much do they pay their teachers? They may charge $289 per week, but I can guarantee the childcare providers who work there don't bring home $289 per week. Even those who have have in-home daycares don't actually make the full amount that they charge, because they too have other administrative expenses. Likewise, even a nanny, which is often through an agency, has to pay the agency a fee.

I am a little concerned that you've already agreed to take care of the child but the subject of money has not yet come up. I am a childcare provider, I charge $40 a day. I am open from 6:45am to 5:15pm. Get some guidelines ironed out or you may be taken advantage of!!

M

A., I am a licensed provider and I care for up to 6 kiddos in my home. You are right, if you will only be caring for the one child in addition to your own you should receive a higher rate, closer to what a nanny would charge.

I ran an in home daycare for 4 years, so I will tell you what I charged in my area. I usually charged by the day, only by the hour if it was less than 5 hours a day. I charged $27/day for toddlers and they were in my care anywhere from 7 - 10.5 hours a day. I did care for a newborn and charged $30/day. I think if you end up trying to charge your friend hourly, you will come across as trying to nickel and dime her and it could cause strain on your friendship. It's expected when watching kids, you'll have them for upwards of 10 hours a day since most parents work for 8 hours and then have to commute as well, or take a lunch. If you only have to watch the baby for 8 hours sometimes, well then, that's a bonus for you. Good luck!

I would call around to some daycares in your area and get an idea of what they charge.....then find a number you're comfortable with that's *under* that.

For example. The daycares in our area charge about $1000 per month for 40hr/week infant care. If I were to take on a friend's baby to care for, I would probably charge about $800 per month. Then it makes it worth it for HER to have your watch her baby and you still get a decent income from it.

I would charge by the hour with an expected minimum and maximum number of hours per day or week. That way you're not resentful if your friend asks you to keep her child for a few extra hours here or there, and she's not paying if the child doesn't come to your house.

Nannies for one child usually charge $12 - 15 per hour, but they go to the family's home. For a drop off, it's less, perhaps $8 - 12 per hour. You also need to factor in who is providing food, diapers, toys, etc. I would assume your friend does; if you do, you might want to charge more. People who charge $40 a day are caring for multiple children and can offset the lower price by the sheer volume of families paying.

The math works out to approximately $192 a week if you say three eight hour days at $8/hour. That's slightly above minimum wage, but still saves your friend money from the daycare that would charge her for a full week even if she's only using three days.

Thank you for the responses so far. May I ask those that are only charging $40-50 a day if you also watch other children? That amount just seems so low to me. I am not licensed in my state as I am not a daycare provider. I think of this as more as a nanny role. I am licensed for CPR since I was in the medical field for 20 years. I called a daycare in town and she charges $289 a week.

My daughter's in-home daycare charges the same for an infant and toddler, $25 a day, whether your there or not. When we started there, it was $20 a day, so I got grandfathered in when the price increased. I don't mind paying for when she doesn't attend because it's guarantying me a spot there and she won't think about dropping us. At the beginning of each month, we are also asked to bring, 4 rolls of toilet paper (before she potty trained, it was a bag of wipes), 1 box of kleenex and 1 roll of paper towels. I personally don't think it is expensive, for I know my daughter is comfortable there.

I agree with some of the other ladies, you should charge per day, not per hour.

good luck!

Are you licensed? If not I'd charge a lower rate. I got non-licensed care for my kids for $15 per kid per day when I was working on call. It was a grandma that I knew, loved, and trusted. But she started taking on too many kids, so we stopped using her.

Our in-home provider charged $200 per week for infants, $150 per week for 2-5, and $125 a week starting at 5. School-aged kids not there full-time pay $25 per day, or $15 per half day - if we were to need her for Christmas break or something and she happened to have room.

So I would think you should charge a weekly rate, regardless of whether the baby comes or not. I'd say for up to 30 hours, charge $125 per week. That way you get paid even if she decides she doesn't need you that day, meaning you aren't sitting around waiting on her to decide if you get paid or not. My sitter gets paid 5 days a week and sometimes we don't use her at all - it's just the right way to do business.