What is reasonable

[PM74]

I have no idea re usual charge - can I check what you would expect to pay for a childminder for 24 hours? For context my son goes to nursery & I need a childminder for 24 hours out of London for a family wedding, one of the nursery staff has offered - their hourly rate is apparently £15 & they are looking for more for the overnight, so will probably be looking for £450 approx to mind him in a hotel (sleep over with DS in the same room). Son will be 1 year old. Can anyone guide me on this?

That'd be a nanny not a childminder, as it's not in their own home. For that, as a nanny, I'd ask £10 per hour for waking hours and a flat fee for the overnight- depending on how long DS tends to sleep, if he is wakeful etc. Maybe £50 for the night? Something like that. Plus as it's away from home I'd ask for transport costs as I don't drive, but I'd go the cheapest way! Don't know if that helps any but to me that looks a lot of money.

£15 an hour sounds like loads - that is probably more than double they get in the nursery and more than most top-end nannies!

For 24 hours I would think around £8 an hour from 7am (or whenever you ds gets up) til midnight, then £30-£50 sleep-over payment. So maybe £180 for 24 hours - £200 tops if you are feeling generous. That seems pretty good to me for cash in hand!

I've never met any proffesional nanny charging £15 an hour, especially not for sleeping horurs! £10 is the norm round here (London)

That does seem like an awful lot of money. Am I reading it right that you are taking your ds and the sitter with you, so ultimate responsibility (in the unlikely event of a problem) you would be there anyway ?

Thank you - yes, we will be in the same hotel (with the family), just different rooms - I thought it seemed a lot!!

Thanks - think they may have seen me coming! They initially said that they charge more than the others in creche (15 ph ok) then said they need travel paid (ok) then said they need more than hourly rate for sleeping as they won't properly sleep (despite fact that my son sleeps through from 9 to 7)! I felt bad trying to bring down the cost of someone looking after my child!!

I am a nanny The rate for 24 hours for my friends and I would be around £200 .We charge our usual £8 - £10 per hour for the day and night charge of £40 -£50 ,She is asking for too much in my opinion,where is your wedding going to be?

In Berkshire

I'm sure you'd get an agency nanny for far less than that - however are you keen on this one because your son knows her? ANyone else at the nursery who may do it for a more reasonable fee? If this nanny has to pay someone else to look after her own children for example, she may be trying to charge you that much to make it worth her while. Doesn't mean you have to pay it though.

I'll do it for £250!! £450 is a crazy amount! That's more than my weekly wage. I charge £10 per hour at weekends and I have been a nanny for 26 years.

I would offer her what you can afford (£200?) and if she doesn't want it then I'm sure you can find someone else for that money - she probably won't want to lose out on the money.

You could probably hire a paediatric nurse with 24 hours for £450 ffs.

£450 she's having a laugh.

i'd do it for £200

How about having her just during the day then getting sitters in for the evening in your own room? I've done hotel sitting jobs I really enjoyed it! And just paid the usual six or seven an hour as it's through agency www sitters co uk . There are always lots jobs for hotels and wedding and you would get someone local . they are very use to putting children they have not met before at ease and are usually child care workers during the day too . Just a thought! I'd expect to arrange a flat fee of max 150 tbh

Thank you, appreciate the info- will say I can't pay 450!

I think you should stick to paying a lot less. Let us know how you get on though please!!

It sounds very expensive!!

However i see the point of charging more than home because the baby might be unsettled in a new environment.

Still £250 should cover this, max £300.

So, update ... Spoke to him on wed (male childminder in crèche) and said I couldn't afford 450 & apologised for agreeing to it, said I could go to 250 and didn't get a great reaction. So left it that I would get someone else and said sorry again for booking / cancelling! Just hope he isn't mean to my son in creche now! Having thought about it (with your updates which I appreciate) I think it was mad to ask for 450 (wih travel cost on top!) so am sure he is a bit unhappy to lose out on that kinda money for one overnight work!

If you're still looking, this is the type of thing I'll happily do, and secondly would be happy with £200-250! I am a nanny with almost 5yrs exp, including sole charge of quite a few 1yr olds and wedding creches. You can email me on nanny dot beth at hotmail dot com and I'd be happy to send my cv, references, meet up with you, etc.