No Babysitting At All This Week - Please tell me I'm not the only one.

[nannynick]

I am doing no babysitting at all this week.
Is it just the time of year do you think, or is this a trend that I'm going to see for a while?
Am I the only one finding that there is little babysitting work around?

I've dropped my price... not sure it will make a difference though - can but try.

I think its where people are away at the moment i have not had any new enquiries for last couple of weeks,

I am booked night nannying at the moment so am not doing any babysitting.

I am babysitting tonight 7.30 for 2hrs while they play tennis and they are happy to pay my 4hr minimum

I have turned down work friday as im out

I also have got work for next week, as well as did a wedding creche saturday just gone

it is always a bit quieter july/aug as familys go away - tho hasnt seemed to hit me yet.......

Oh Nick - I hope it's a short lull in children (not like mine was)

The short lull seems to be going on a while now. With luck Sept/Oct will see more demand.

fingers crossed

I have only my personal experience to go on but we have not used a babysitter for several months partly because we have been away for four weeks over school holidays and also because there were so many school-related events, birthday parties etc in the weeks leading up to the holidays. However, we are also definitely going out less because economies have to be made somewhere and I don't feel particularly deprived by not going to the cinema if the upshot is not spending approximately 20 pounds on babysitting in addition to the tickets.

Nick how much do you charge now, just in case I'm feeling flush enough to go out?

i have not babysat in ages and i really need the money, may have to rejoin the dreaded sitters, if things don't improve

I'd wonder how much work Sitters are getting... for those who are registered with Sitters, are you getting as many text messages with work requests as you did previously?

Hey Nannynick, sorry to hear this . Work my end has changed slightly I am still quite busy but I definately have less overnight work more 4-6 hour stints!

Have you tried different advertising? I was just looking at my web stats and most links have been coming through net mums!

I also flyed parent and toddlers spaces in Tesco last week which was quite successful!

nick - would you work through siters and do you advertise on netmums?

thats where i get a lot of my work, and i have been contacted several times over the summer holidays asking for my services daytime as i work part time and my ad says that

Hey there seems to be a few people hanging out on this thread that I could ask advice !

I am ofsted registered childminder, birth & postnatal doula, first aid trained, enhanced CRB etc

I would like to set up a service offering babysitting, adhoc childcare, help with housework, routines blah blah

Basically whatver help a family may need but bookable on an hourly basis so no permanent "staff" etc.

I was hoping this may actually attract some people in the credit crunch who have had to let go of cleaners etc.

Can any of you give me any constructive advice on how to go about it?

well, i work with sitters and also advertise on my own, but i'm getting 1 text every forghtnight if i'm lucky ad then its usually for that evening, so by the time you text back its gone and advertising personally hasnt got me any work at all now, the last time i had an enquiry about babysitting was 8 weeks ago

Hi nannynick,

I know you're in Lightwater - is Cobham too far for you to travel to for babysitting? If its not, let me know since have struggled to find decent babysitting in the area and would love to enjoy more evenings out, even if its just to the cinema.

I have to admit I had to find someone to take over a job I was doing every wed as I had to start night nannying has been booked since 12wk scan!! so way before started doing every wed for a family and they were well aware of this - they want me to start babysitting again asap and only see the other person as a stop gap i think.

I have so many families who book ad-hoc from where I did proxy parent work or night nanny work for them in the past.

I am taking annual leave from work on friday to nanny for a family i night nannied for 18mths ago as the little one is having surgery today and wont be able to attend nursery for 2wks but is fit enough to leave hospital after 24hrs and parents had something pre-booked fri for a long long time and she will be well - plus as a childrens nurse think should anything major crop up I will be best placed to deal with it!

Notsochilledanymore - yes Cobham is possible. I've decided to travel up to 15 miles... Cobham is about 13 miles. Please do get in touch.

Well if there any babysitters in the Reading area that fancy working this Sat (or Fri) night let me know. And I know it's the bank holiday and Reading festival.........

I babysat last Friday and Saturday and Im booked for coming Friday. Last month was quite but I guess they were on holiday and now coming back. I live in SW of London so things aren`t bad here.

Lobsters - I'm in Reading but busy this weekend. Sure Nick comes out here? Don't you Nick??

No. I don't go that side of the M4 - due to traffic conditions.

nannynick - don't blame you, especially this weekend with the festival

It's always tricky knowing how far is practical to travel for babysitting for a few hours. I currently feel that up to 15 miles/30mins travel is reasonable. Places like Reading while being in mileage, are not in travel time.
Travel today was a nightmare and I was just going between Windsor Great Park and Lyne (near Chertsey). The M25 had issues apparently and it had a large knock-on effect to all the local minor roads.

Out of interest, how far / how long travel time do all you babysitters out there consider to be reasonable for babysitting for say 3 hours?

I travel 45mins for babysitting but have been known to travel an hr but charge a slighly higher hrly rate when doing this so when travelling this far can be 70-80 mile round trip.

I generally wont travel further than 30mins but if they are further away then I charge travelling time at my usual £10ph, and I would never babysit for 3 hrs, I have a 4hr minimun