Charge more for children who don’t go to bed?

[Alwaysforgetthecrackers]

I do babysitting/childcare over the summer in a busy, tourist area.
The majority of the time I’ve always had 1-2 children and when I arrive, they’re in bed sleeping and stay asleep for the evening, parents give me the remote, kindly say I can help myself to food and all is great.
I recently sat for someone who had three very active boys, they were still up when I arrived, wanted constant snacks mum asked me to make and tidy things away. They all had different bedtimes, mum wanted me to play games with them, put them to bed etc, little one fought with me on this and eldests bedtime was literally just before they returned home, so I spent the rest of the evening getting him snacks, tidying after him, playing games.
I’m ok doing this…it did make me wonder though, should this be the same charges as basically sitting with the child already in bed?
Also, nice as this mum was, she initially queried the price being a bit expensive, whereas all
others have been very appreciative

so OP after all the discussion

will you start charging differently according to level of care required?

Exactly what I think. I have both babysat and paid babysitters. When babysitting, the parents always made sure their kids were in bed, and when using babysitters, I did the same thing. I would never in a million years, expect a babysitter to deal with 3 rambunctious kids, for the same rate as 3 well behaved kids in bed!

@maldensol Hi, yes I think so, likely based on age and number of kids

@primetimerenew I would assume older ones would be awake and for longer and more of them would equal more work. I see what you’re saying thought, this is why it’s so hard to actually differentiate between families

I think you need to set what you are prepared to do for that amount and if it’s less charge less, if it’s more charge more

I have 2 who are now teenagers but are 12 months apart in age so almost like twins.

we used to go out around 6.30ish when they were 5/6 and they didn’t go to bed until 7.30, lights out at 8

They would mostly be bathed and in PJs when babysitter came. She would play with them, get them hot milk and a biscuit and read them a story. Get them into bed and check on them regularly. That was the agreement.

If it was more than that (eg needed to clean up after them, get them ready for bed etc) I would pay more.

Be clear what you offer - eg you dont clear dinner tables, you don’t make snacks (but will offer fruit) you will read stories and play quiet games etc etc and if they want more they pay more!

For £15 an hour I would expect you to look after an awake child or children, play with them, maybe even make their dinner and help with homework. That is what babysitting is in my opinion. If I book someone through an agency, that is the normal rate for the daytime as well as the evening.

The name of the service is 'baby sitting.' Meaning, you're supposed to sit with the sleeping children while their parents are out.

Try looking up the definition of babysitting. It's the care of a child/children whilst their parents are out, usually for a short period of time. Nowhere does it state at night or that the child should be sleeping.

The difference between a babysitter and a nanny is that the nanny usually has a contract/set duties and isn't normally adhoc. Nothing to do with having to entertain the child more or because it's during the day.

This…. £15 ph is loads. We pay way less and our kids are awake and active. Think £15p/h for watching TV is really expensive.

The origin of the term "nurse" is suckling infants but we don't expect nurses today to still do that ..

It's not even clear that's where the term babysitting comes from

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/459598/what-does-sitter-refer-to-in-babysitter

If babysitters only look after sleeping children at night, then what's the term for people who provide ad hoc short-term care for kids during the day. Our carers have always referred to themselves as "babysitters".

I've done loads of babysitting over the years and so has dd1. It's the nature of the job that sometimes it's just sitting in a house with sleeping children and sometimes it's more full on. After the first time with a particular family you could choose not to work for them, or tell them your rates have gone up, knowing it'll be hard work. But I don't think you can start from a two-tier charging system. What if the kids who always sleep through suddenly wake up having a nightmare, wet the bed, throw up? Do you suddenly charge the parents more because you've had to do some work? The whole point of babysitting is temporarily doing the job of a parent and parenting is notoriously unpredictable. Dd1 started saying no to a family because every time the kids would be a complete pain and she'd struggle for hours to get them in bed. Other families she's happy to do bedtime. You're self employed, you can pick your jobs.

I've bathed kids as part of my babysitting role, yes. For many it's an integral part of bedtime. Either you trust someone with your kids or you don't. There's no "well I'll trust this person to keep the kids alive but they still could be a paedo so no bathing". With younger children nappy changing or potty use is also a normal part of childcare. If you don't trust the person to do that you shouldn't be leaving your kids with them at all!

And do you pay tax on this income? I've asked that a few times but I don't think you answered - sorry if I missed anything.

If it's just cash in hand that makes it far more causal and it isn't really a properly professional service. As such, you shouldn't get into the fine detail of what you will or won't do in terms of fees. Just keep it simple with maybe a small amount extra per child, and don't take on any babysitting that you personally think will be more work than you want to do.

If you want to go down the road of being highly specific about the service you're offering with associated fees then set yourself up properly and pay income tax just as the people hiring you probably do. You can't really expect anyone to treat you as a deeply experienced professional for this kind of work if you're just getting cash in hand.

@twodowntwotogo I’ve said above

Would you charge more than agreed with a parent if the child was asleep when you arrived but woke up & you had to care for them for a few hours. You need to charge a standard hourly rate whether the kids are awake or asleep when you get there. When you babysit you agree to care for the child not just watch them sleep. If they wake up & you have to look after them you can't then decide because you can't watch TV & eat snacks all night that you can charge more.

@Alwaysforgetthecrackers I used to work for an agency babysitting in hotels for wealthy types on holiday. Bearing in mind I was a registered childminder at the time so just doing a bit extra for extra cash.

I arrived at the job to be greeted by the couple who were just arriving in the car park with the kids and all their stuff. The woman opened the boot and wordlessly put her bags down at my feet, smiled and walked off.

I stepped around the bags and followed to the room. This, according to the complaint the agency received about me, was the first sign of my Bad Character.

The kids and parents seemed to have no intention that anyone was going to do any sleeping at all that night. Considering my own, same age kids had been put down to bed before I left for the job, I found this surprising and said so. They responded, 'we thought you were going to play games and sort out dinner?' They also tried to query the price, but I said I wasn't in charge of the price since the contract was with the agency.

I think they thought they were hiring a clown for the evening, not a person to ensure their children were safe and happy and got a good night's sleep. I played a couple of games, sorted out food and then insisted, since it was 10pm, that they went to bed.

The couple were surprised to find the kids asleep when they got in at 11.15. This was also earlier than they said ad they stated they would only be paying up to that time, of course.

They rang the agency the next day to complain and refused to pay full price per hour because they thought I wasn't 'fun' enough.

I learned a lot on that job about how some people with money view the staff. Also I never ever did it again and only babysit for people I know now.

@NameChangeAgainto Thats awful, especially the bag drop!

@Alwaysforgetthecrackers The bag drop told me everything I needed to know really! At the time I actually didn't even twig that she wanted me to pick them up - it just didn't occur to me that someone would expect me to do that. It was the look on her face when she turned around and saw that I hadn't picked them up that made me realise. And then I was like, oh OK, that's new! I also thought, this might not go the way either of us are expecting, and I was right

@NameChangeAgainto So cheeky that anyone would even think that 😅

Higher charge for 3 kids you need to parent. It's a marketplace and you can charge differently for fundamentally different jobs. They don't have to hire you and you don't have to accept the booking l. Rich people are often rich for a reason. I've met loads who haggle everything. Lesson learned for next time - ask how many kids and what they expect you to do, will they be asleep or will they go to bed without fuss. Mine aren't brilliant at bedtime so it's a fair question to ask a parent. They can lie to you, but legally it's a contract and their in breach if they do. (You're obvs not going to sue, but it helps to establish terms in any transaction like this). Good luck.

Agree - the worst I’ve encountered was a toddler who would nod off on the sofa and parents would carry him up when they got back .
Not boisterous though !
Deffo wouldn’t do that again !

At £15 an hour, get the kids played with and yes put stuff away lol. Your on an east ride if your on £15 an hour and your sat eating their food watching tele 😂😂 it’s like you want to be paid a decent wage but not do any work

Yikes, £15 per hour to sit and watch TV?! Yeah YABU.