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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

We're going to ask our nanny to babysit - what's the going rate?

13 replies

SleeplessInSuburbiton · 01/12/2011 23:54

Would appreciate some guidance as we're still new to the nannying world. We're going to ask our live out nanny to babysit and I have no idea what the rate should be? Same as her nannying rate or below? Thanks in advance.

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mranchovy · 02/12/2011 01:05

Depends really. If the children are going to be in bed so you could just as easily have a babysitter at £6ph then it doesn't make sense to pay her £10 (or whatever), but you need to be careful how you approach this with her.

OTOH if you have a baby that she will need to feed, put to bed, deal with when he wakes up etc. then her normal rate is probably right.

ScarfOfSexualPreference · 02/12/2011 18:38

I get paid more for babysitting, I'm a live-out nanny. I didn't chose my rate though, it was in my contract that I get £10 per hour for all out of hours babysitting. I get less per hour for overnights. I would recommend that you do discuss it before the evening itself, and that you have it to hand to give it to her after. Can get annoying when my boss says 'I'll pay you Monday' or whatever when I may need the money for the weekend and I hate having to ask!

Karoleann · 02/12/2011 20:57

I really begrudge paying full rate for watching TV! I've always paid £8/hour after the children have gone to sleep - so for little babies I pay full rate (£9-10) until their bedtime and when they're older I pay less.
My wonderful, wonderful nanny though emptied the dishwasher at 9.30pm on Wednesday and I paid her a bit extra.

Original poster

SleeplessInSuburbiton · 02/12/2011 21:19

Thanks everyone for the input, I'll probably go with close to her nannying rate as the LO sometimes needs to be settled. Appreciate the advice re having the payment ready!

OP posts:

Blondeshavemorefun · 02/12/2011 22:34

I charge the same whether daytime or evening babysitting as is still my time

OrwellianNightmare · 03/12/2011 10:54

We included six nights of babysitting per month in our nanny's contract (with a 'gentleman's agreement' that less than half of those would be weekend nights!

It we needed more than six nights of babysitting we'd pay her at her usual overtime rate.

ScarfOfSexualPreference · 03/12/2011 12:27

Well, as to being paid for watching TV- I see babysitting (when its for my actual employers) as a continuation of my day. I get my ironing done, do a wash, sew on any buttons, put the bin out, tidy the kids toys, fill then empty the dishwasher.... it also tends to be just a follow-on for my day, as in the parents will pop home to get changed but I'm still in charge of the children, put them to bed etc. So to me its turning a 12 hour day into a 16+ hour day so I feel the slight extra is justified! But on the other hand they do have a tendancy to round down so recently 4 3/4 hours was paid as 4.

nannynick · 03/12/2011 13:37

get my ironing done
Don't you mean get their ironing done... or are you taking your own ironing with you?

catepilarr · 03/12/2011 14:07

i think ScarfOfSexualPreference means 'my ironing' as in 'my-to-do ironing.

nbee84 · 03/12/2011 14:09

Orwellian - is your nanny live-in? It is quite normal for live-in to have babysitting in their contract. As a live out I would not agree to regular babysitting in my contract and any that I did do would be at my normal hourly rate.

OrwellianNightmare · 03/12/2011 19:35

Yes, as you supposed nbee84, she is live in. She will frequently just chill with a glass of wine/watch TV/go to bed/be doing her own thing in the evening once ds is asleep, and we often put him down to sleep before going out, so when she's already in her own home it's not that great an effort: it just stops her going out. We agree babysitting well in advance though, and as I said, would never block book her weekends!

ScarfOfSexualPreference · 04/12/2011 13:02

Yes my to-do work ironing! When the baby doesn't sleep I don't have the time to iron during the day, I really hate doing it with the baby crawling around, it feels unsafe. No way I'm lugging my own ironing to work at 7.30am and leaving it there on the off-chance they ask me to sit!

I've always had babysitting in my contract when I did live-in, even when I was in seperate accomodation. I think without that plenty of employers wouldn't want a live-in with all associated costs/loss of privacy.

confusedpixie · 04/12/2011 15:13

Babysitting was in my last contract but that was live-in. One of my employers pays me £8ph as opposed to £10 for babysitting but it's CIH and I class it as SE work rather than an extension of my normal working hours with them. I charge £7ph for other jobs as that's the going rate for nannies babysitting around here.

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