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

*Three up all night

Have you had a look on any childcare/ babysitting websites to see if they differentiate between kids being awake and asleep?

Looking after an awake child for a few hours doesn't make you a Nanny, how ridiculous! The role of a Nanny isn't decided on whether the children are asleep or awake!

Where I live and work, £15 is a standard nanny hourly rate for day time care. When looking at babysitting, I would always go expecting to "work", taking a few games and activities with me and I would see an evening with sleeping kids as a lucky bonus, I wouldn't go with the expectation that I would be sat on a sofa all evening and then want to charge extra if I have to do any childcare.

@HelenWheels Three of them 😂

I'd not hire a babysitter that came to babysit and then went off complaining her charges were not in bed so that she can catch-up on social media.

When I babysat I would charge the same for everyone, more after midnight. But sometimes this require doing bedtimes, sometimes not. They're paying you to look after their child, asleep or awake. Nothing to stop a sleeping child waking up and needing to be settled for the rest of the evening.

Am I the only one thinking that I can’t believe you expect to get paid £15 per hour to watch tv… would you also expect to get paid more if there was an emergency you had to deal with or a child woke up crying?! Seriously, as a babysitter you should expect to have to interact with children not charge more when you’re required to!

Why do you think there should be? You've already set your hourly rate and now because a child is awake, you think you should charge more. It's hardly taxing stuff what they are asking of you is it?

Your implying your up till all hours preparing food, organising games and are run ragged.

Be picky.
Never had an issue getting a sitter for our youngest dd. Effectively an only child who would chat nicely, play a board game and go to bed.
We booked through Sitters. I think there both sitter and client can put "never again" against their record.

£15-18ph are nanny rates round here (fairly expensive area), so I don't think you can charge this and then be upset that the kids are still awake and you can't watch TV in peace. I pay this for daytime babysitting, which involves taking my DC to the playground or for a walk and then making them a snack and doing activities with them. And my kids stay up late and wake up late during the holidays - that's just our family routine. Having said that, I would have discussed all this with you at the time of booking so you would have known (and had a chance to turn us down!) in advance.

Yes so she's charging cheaper to sit and watch tv/eat snacks....as a babysitter

She should charge more for bring actual childcare

It's not to watch TV though is it? It's the compensation for giving up her evening. It might be a Friday or Saturday night, but she can't go out with her friends or spend her time comfortably in her own home. That's what they're paying for, surely?
Plus it's evening work so more expensive than daytime.
Minimum wage is nearly £12 so it's not much over.

I’d say the charge should be the same, and know that it’s all part and parcel of the job. You take the highs and the lows. You charge £15 an hour, let’s say you do three hours one night in a home where the kids are wild and you have to entertain them a lot and you come away with your £45 feeling a bit frazzled… but then the following night, different home, kids are already in bed, you don’t hear a peep from them and you come away with £45 after three hours of watching TV doing sweet nothing.

You can’t charge different amounts.

it’s not perfectly fair but, if you are a teacher, would you charge a premium for teaching a large tricky Year 7 class over an easy Year 12 or 13?,

it is just luck of the draw and you have to hope you don’t get hard children most of the time.

That sounds like way more work so I would charge more or not work for the family again, it's their call.

@handpicked81 Its not just about the being awake or not though?

People should read the OP.

OP is NOT wondering about a child/children who may wake up and need to be settled back down. She asks about a situation where she is EXPECTED to undertake "nanny" types of activity and care.

Baby SITTING is sitting and being there in the event of a child being sick, waking up, crying, and emergency etc.

Nanny is different, playing with the kids, preparing food, doing games, getting them ready for bed, reading a story, settling them down. etc.

There is a world of difference between sitting and nannying IMO.

Yes interact......not make food and organise full on games into the night

There's a difference

I agree. In our area it is normal to charge less for sleeping children and more if awake.

"£15-18ph are nanny rates round here (fairly expensive area), so I don't think you can charge this and then be upset that the kids are still awake and you can't watch TV in peace."

A nanny would be working full time though. Don't people often charge more per hour for a job that is only a few hours? It has to be worth their travel time and travel costs, etc.

What food did you cook?