How much should you charge for overnight care?

[agalch]

Would you charge the same as during the day? Or more? Or less? Not sure what to charge.I mean it's not like i will have to do very much(hopefully) but what if the baby/toddler is up and down all night?

Any advice gratefully recieved x

Im in Scotland btw

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thanks shosha

I don't really want to do overnights at all but needs must.I can only have 1 under 5 as i have the 2 dd's now so need to find a way of earning extra cash.I have 4 dc's of my own so they obv count in my numbers and after schoolers are thin on the ground atm.

Will work out how much that will be for overnights at that rate.

Thanks again

Is there demand for overnight care? Who are your target market for overnight care (what are the parents doing for example, to need you to care for their children overnight)? How valuable a service is this to the parents?

Pricing for any service is always hard to get right and you will need to experiment a bit. Try not to undervalue the service you provide. Caring for children overnight can be difficult at times, can result in you getting No Sleep yourself. Some children sleep well, others do not. Children can be sick during the night, they may wet the bed, have a nose bleed etc. These would all COST you - additional washing, new bedding (if it's that bad it won't come out), time spent comforting the distressed child.

The last time I cared for a child overnight (in the child's own home, as I am a nanny), was in January. Worked out at 8.80 per hour. The parents were not working however, it was their one-night honeymoon.

Think about your target market and how much they would pay for overnight care. Check out the competition to see what they charge - though avoid price-matching, instead offer a better service.

Hope that's some help. Good luck.

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Nannynick

I have a friend who works in the local hospital and she knows a couple of single mums who struggle to get care for the night duty shifts.

I also have been asked to have 2 sisters overnight as their mum is also on her own with not much family support.

If it is a nightmare then i wouldn't do it.Can only try it and see how it goes.

Have you made any decision on how much to charge? Hospital workers need the childcare, but they won't get paid mega amounts. However that does not mean you should provide the childcare at low cost, instead try to find a price that everyone is happy with. Have the parents suggested an amount for how much they would pay? Does the hospital childcare co-ordinator have any suggestions on what price would be suitable?

Nannynick

I charge 3 pounds per hour during the day for full time hours.3.50 per hour for part time.

Haven't spoken to the parents yet.Just want to be fair to the parents AND make some money too.

So i don't know what to charge.I am charging the going rate btw.

agalch, i also charge £3 during day and then for overnight i charge £5.50.
I charge overnight rates from 6.30pm until 8.30am next day

I charge daytime hourly rates until 8pm, then £25 total for the night (to inclde breakfast) until 8am, when my daytime charges begin again.

wow!..i thought my overnight rate was low!!!, ill get over £70 for my overnight next weeki was told to charge £7+ when i was training!!!

Strawberrysnowflakes,do you do overnight care reguarly? I was thinking that i would charge less than my daytime rate but you have given me food for thought.

Thanks

oooh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!, its my evening, its outside 'normal hours'..i have done one so far, one next week and maybe one a week for next 9 weeks?
overnight is not something many people want to do so its up to you what you do and what you charge!

Well I have one regular 11 yr old and he's no trouble and doesn't use any of the extra resources eg paper/crafty stuff/petrol that daytime mindees do. He does his homework and takes himself off to bed when I ask him I'm very happy with £25.
This is Devon though.

I find it strange that you would even consider doing over night care for less than your day rate even your rate shosha seems very cheap.
Your day rate is set by the supply and demand of your area but i feel a night rate should reflect that fact that basically you are doing 24+ hour care.Though the children may be asleep you are still fully responsible for them and therefore working even when you/they are asleep.
Also as a parent I was/am always very more wary of the nights because 9 times out of 10 that is when they come down with an illness/nightmares/night terrors/phobias(the dark) etc etc.
And all of this on top of the fact that your family have to share their time and space with an extra person in the house.

CCP tutor suggested we copy the rate offered by nearest travelodge or similar.

don't charge less than your daytime rate; even if the child sleeps through the night you are "on guard" all evening and all night - no tipple b4 bedtime or anything you might usually do in your personal time - plus you've got all their bedding & towels/flannels to wash, hot water/toiletries for bath & any meals you may include. And as Nick pointed out there are lots of events that could potentiallly keep you up all night.

what would that be then? about £40 per night?

If our nanny does overnight I pay her the equivilant of a days rate or time off in lieu both + an extra £10. Plus a taxi home when she finishes (live out) and if he has woken between 12 and 6am another extra £10.

We have a guest bed so she sleeps there.

Generally overnight would be 8pm - 7am for us.

Ok my charges would be Double time 6pm-bedtime(say 8pm)and then again double time between 6am and 8am. Then the 10 hours between 8pm and 6am i would charge £50. So in total it would be £68. But this also depends on your daily rate and area in the country you are and ofcourse what the parents can actually afford to pay.

Added ours up and we'd pay £56 'cash in hand' for 10 hrs.
£66 -£80 if he woke up in the wee hours

I honestly would never have thought of charging more than my usual rate.

But when you think about it night shift workers usually get an enhanced rate don't they?

Will need to think some more about this.

Night work can certainly be paid more than day work, though not always of course. To help with setting prices, it can help to try to establish how much the parents are being paid, if they are needing childcare during the time they are working. If you charge more than they get paid, then it's not worth them working!

Don't undersell yourself (and the service you provide). Few people provide overnight care, so you are in a strong position to command whatever price you want. While you may want to be fair to the family, you also want to be fair to your own family.

2am and I've only just got home... time for bed me thinks!

my friends a cm and she charges £2 an hour for days which are 7:30am til 8pm. after this she charges for overnights £30 altogether. she doesn't charge extra if the child is up.

this is per child unless their are 3+ children (of same family). for 3+ children she charges £80 for overnights.

there

Don't forget shift workers/night workers usually get time off during the day to sleep.

A childminder's day is already so much longer than the hours parents are paying for - with cleaning, paperwork, coursework, planning & preparation, cooking etc.

Overnight care often means working through the night straight after a full days work and/or immediately before a full days work.

Who else would work a 24 hour shift for their normal hourly rate? And with no lunch or tea break either.

Yes, childminders do have longer days than the actual hours parents pay them for, but what they don?t have is an unpaid commute to work and back and associated non tax-deductable petrol costs.

It?s insulting to real night shift workers to similarly compare overnight childminding ie a good normal night?s sleep in my own bed, albeit being ready to get up to attend to a child if necessary, to the physical and mental stresses of having to be up and dressed and working all night.