Should I pay my babysitter more money in emergencies?

[Kitoma]

My partner and I are both working full time, our baby is 14 months and in the nursery from 8 to 6. He gets sick a lot and sometimes we have to work late. We have a babysitter but she’s often not available when we need her. I think my kid is starting to prefer familiar faces, so don’t want to get a new sitter each time.
Should I offer my sitter more money to come and sit my child in an emergency, if she’s not available? How much more should I give? What if she’s going to take advantage of me the next time? so confused!

Is your sitter medically trained? Could she cope with a change in health needing a blue light to hospital?

Er, how many mothers are medically trained? Most people can cope with calling an ambulance in the very unlikely event that someone takes seriously ill. I don't see how a competent babysitter is any more or less able to do this than the average mother. I definitely did not get a "medical training" brain insert along with the positive pregnancy test.

Besides, children are often too "ill" for a nursery to accept them without really being very ill at all (slight cold, threw up 24hrs ago but now feels fine, etc). Why shouldn't they be in suitable alternative childcare in this scenario? I don't think the OP's current childcare strategy works or that she should try and get the current babysitter to do more hours, but I don't think all this "how could you heartlessly leave your SICK CHILD in childcare" is justified.

TiramisuQueenoftheFaeries...

medically trained - the op is asking someone to take responsibility for their sick child, not the parent doing so and not specifically someone with any child illness experience. If you care for sick children you are increasing your chances of something seriously going wrong. If you have ever had to deal with febrile convulsions in a 2 year old who came to you just with a cold you would understand how scary that is even if you have training. If you have had to care for a child having their first asthma attack which was supposedly a bit of a cough and cold you will also know this could result in severe consequences......as a parent you have no choice and get on maybe all turns out well but their is nobody other than you to blame or sue. But if your child then suffers a life changing effect they have to sue the carer who was paid to look after them or have no financial support for life. Hence the reason I questioned it.

Chicken pox can have serious and life threatening complications, then d & V your asking a student to risk getting it and not being ablke to go to college and to cope with upset clingy children and dose them with medication that could potentially cause side effects or overdoses....their is a reason why paperwork for medication is compulsory in registered care....being that children have died being given it by the setting as parents forgot they had given it before or had not previously tried it and the child had an allergic reaction.
Sick children are much more risky to care for and the baby sitter will be unlikely to have the insurance to cover themselves for it. But I guess that's okay to potentially ruin someone's future to save a few pennies or holiday entitlement.

Have you dealt with a sick child who wasn't too bad when mummy left but is now screaming clingy vomiting and an temp over 40 that you dot know well and cant calm and mummy is not available for an hour or more? Its horrendous distressing and very upsetting for the child who then gets more and more distressed. Especially as the day draws on they get more tiered and as is the nature of even a cold it gets worse at night.

So you want to pay someone more money to skip a class to watch your sick child because you won't skip work?
Why does your work trump her studies given that the child isn't even related to her?
Unfortunately kids get sick. It's part of life. All childcare comes with it's own problems. I.e. nannies could get sick (I rarely take time off!) Or if child is sick nurseries often won't take them.

If a person is busy /at classes then more money isn't going to help

Children do pick up bugs a lot when first go to nursery

If you are often late then see if a nursery worker can take home and babysit

If they are ill and you are both at work then try a local nanny agency but likely to be different people

Can I just say, for a person (Childminder) to look after a child in their own home, they have to be Ofsted registered, with a paediatric first aid qualification, Public liability insurance, Safeguarding training, if you drive a car within your childminding role, business car insurance.
Childminders also take many other courses as part of their CPD, ie Food Hygiene, Health and Safety, Prevent, to name a few.
I also had /have a Level 3 CYPW (children and young people’s workforce qualification).