Our daughter is now 2 yrs, 2 mths old. So far, any vacation time has been family vacations - all have been wonderful. Even though we would have appreciated even one night away from our daughter as a break, we have not been fortunate enough to have a family member capable of watching her. Well, now we have #2 on the way (april '11) and would love to have a few nights/days away before he/she arrives (without our daughter - adult only vacation).
We have had a tremendous sitter for over year - works 15-30 hours per week for us. She has done everything - food, day trips, bedtime routine, baths, etc - our daughter loves her! We would be very comfortable having her stay with our daughter for a few days while we vacation (about 3 hours away). Here is the question - what rate do we pay? The standard hourly rate we pay now (that adds up quick 24 hrs)? Or, a set rate for x days/nights? She gets $12 hour now. Has anyone had experience with this?
Please don't suggest grandparents (only one left, elderly); husband 's siblings not local; they have no vacation time avail within next 4 months for us to fly them here, same with mine.
I have a friend that used to do this with the kids she babysat.. If the children were really young she charged $100. per day and stayed at their house. She said they usually also left her $25 per day for food.. and told her to make herself at home.. This included feeding their pets.. No dog walking..
She had cared for these families before so they were used to her.
When I was in this exact situation (sat for the family 15-25 hours/wk, paid $12/hour) I got paid $200/day plus gas and grocery money when I stayed with the kids while the parents went out of town. This worked out to more-or-less my usual rate for the hours I was awake. For partial days (arriving and departing), I got my usual $12/hour rate.
I provide extended overnights for the foster system, and they pay me $100 a day for older children. My friend provides overnight foster care for infants and toddlers, she gets $250 a day per child. I also have private clients that I charge $100 a day for overnights, but not for a full 24 hour period. I have a private caregiver that in emergencies will take my child overnight, and I pay her $100 to take her from 5pm to 7am, so it is not even a full 24hours.
While it may seem silly to pay someone for sleeping, that is not really the case. You are paying that caregiver to be on call to wake up and take care of any emergency or non-emergency that might happen. I definitely do not sleep as heavily when I am responsible for someone else's child. In fact, the first few times I did it, I could not sleep at all. Also, you are paying her to stay put at your house. If she were not providing overnight care, she would have the freedom to come and go as she wished in her non-working hours. But because she is obligated to stay at your home for the safety of your child, she is technically working even while sleeping. So I think to say that she would be just be sleeping anyways is a tad disrespectful about the value of her time.
I have another friend who works in a residential program with elementary age youths, and works four 24 hour shifts in a row. During the day, she receives her normal salary, which is about 18.00 an hour. At night, for the time she is sleeping, she makes half her wage, or at least minimum wage.(whichever happens to be higher) If she has to wake up for any reason at all to provide care, that time awake is logged at her full salary. Perhaps you could do something like that. As good as your caregiver is, a two year old may have extreme anxiety after the first night if she has not experienced the pattern of an extended trip, and may not be able to be soothed to sleep the next night.
Your caregiver deserves to be paid as any professional would if she is as good as you portray.
Hope this helps and hope you have a great getaway!
I think the best thing to do in this situation is ask her. It's silly to offer her 12 dollars an hour while she's sleeping. But be fair about your pricing and ask her what she thinks... I think it's fair not to pay her 288 a day if you're spending a longer time away from your little girl. Suggest a number that you're comfortable with and go from there!
Congrats on baby #2!
