Over night childcare

[Parsley1234]

I have been asked by a friend to have her 11 year old son a few nights a month. I would pick up from school at 5, drop to football or activities then tea and bed in the morning breakfast and drop to school. The school is 4 miles away and I have a 13 year old boy too, the boy is well behaved and polite. What should I charge ?

Would the boy come to your house?

Does your son go to the same school?

Is she providing food/paying for his food or will that be included in the overall fee?

Whereabouts in the country are you?

Are you looking to just cover your costs or is it more a job (so you need expenses plus a profit)?

Thanks for replying Nuff

He would come to our home, not at the same school, food and travel included. I am in Gloucestershire and it is a job. I've quoted one amount but I'm second guessing myself now as the mum seemed really pleased and my friend said it was too low. It will be 10+ nights per month

£80 per night?

Really Can that seems so much I've said £40 so as not to drip feed I thought I would be happy with that as its pretty easy work ? Thank you hoping for few more replies

So you don't have him 9 to 5 , that leaves 16 hours a day @ £4 per hour £64 a night . I'd round up for food and petrol so £70 a night .

I would charge £85 a time based on that, but I'm in London so possibly slightly less where you are.

I am assuming that he goes to bed at 9pm and sleeps through the night and wakes at 7am.

We used to pay £100 a night for our usual nanny to stay over. Central London price.

I would say £80 a night too.

The thing is it's unsociable hours.
A lot of chindmiders charge a higher rate before 8 and after 6.
The £4 doesn't even take account of that, that's a standard day rate.
She is your friend though so that complicates things.

2 nights a week (approx) is quite a big ask. What is the impact on your ds and the rest of the family? I think I would be charging more because of that. I'm assuming you are not a cm nor a nanny. Also do you need to be registered in anyway or have insurance?

I based my £85 on;

5 waking hours at £8
1 waking hour at £10 (the drive to school)
£20 overnight fee (because you're in your own home)
£15 for food and petrol

Thanks so much for replying everyone seems like I've undercharged myself. I am hoping to retrain to offer proxy parenting and maternity nannying next year and I think this will be a good start. I probably need to accept this booking fee as agreed and be wiser next time - I can't really ask for additional money I don't think

I would say an hourly rate for 6 hours (5-9 and 7-9) then it's more being "on call" which where I work is charged at 3%. So say you charge £8 per hour it's 8×6=48 + 1:50 on call supplement so £50

Is it relevant to quote what I pay for home dog-boarding, which is £20 per night. How much more for a child, with food and transporting about and so forth.
Oh, and the fact it's a human being!

Boarding schools near we live charge £60-£70 a night. That's without any travelling.

10 days a month is a lot to ask though.

Just keep an eye on the expenses! And maybe have a discussion after a month if they get high. He is 11 so should be fairly easy. But I pay £40 (London) for a few hours babysitting so no wonder she was happy! It's a tricky one. Younger kids are harder work but then are asleep more, but more chance of your sleep being disturbed. So there is no magic number.

Yes I think I will say I am happy with £40 to start with but if travel and food get more than I bargained for can we reassess ? Does that sound reasonable ?

At any point you can say it doesn't work for you at that rate. I wouldn't give the possible reasons upfrontbas ultimately it'll be about you valuing yourself.

That's a lot of nights.

Thank you for everyone's replies I will see how it goes I've been thinking about how I can increase income as well as a potential new career until next year when a lot changes. This could be a good start it's not indefinite it's to help a family out and will give me an idea if it is something I could do.
From what I've gathered on this thread £70/£80 would be the optimum price for overnight childcare offered in my home.

I charge for something very similar £50 per night. I see it as easy money. It's over £400 a month. Child is no trouble and as they're older so I have a proper sleep at night. I was considering renting my spare room out instead (we need money) but this works out so much better and they're not here every day. I'm in Surrey (London side but in the outskirts). I'm a registered childminder. Hope this helps.

That's great lovely - I see it that way too and instead of having someone here every night it's not and will give me a chance to see if I like doing it.

I was going to say £50 given his age & ease of care however you may wish to revisit after a few weeks and add a bit for fuel (there & back) .