Need some help from parents!

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

I will be returning to work the end of January, when Baby Skoorbette is 6 months old. A neighboor of ours is willing, and wanting, to take care of Leah while I am at work. I work 3 12-hour shifts per week and every third weekend. Since Skoorb is home by 4:00-4:30, she would only have Leah say 10 hours per day, max of three days per week.

So my question is: how much is reasonable to pay her? What about taxes and do we do that or just pay "under the table?" What is normally done?

Thanks!

 

[Oger]

Where I live the normal pay for a child three and under is $10 an hour, now mind you I live in a rich state. (CT)

 

[woowoo]

3 10 hour days
$100 around here

Edit:Under the table

 

[Gibson486]

under the table....

 

[broon]

Originally posted by: woowoo
3 10 hour days
$100 around here

Sounds fair to me. Is she caring for other children too?

 

[Drakkon]

is it just your kid or is she running a daycare service?
The norm for just having a friend seems to be $50 an day around where I am, but that doesn't cover meals, diapers, etc, and all of its done under the table if its not a true daycare operation.

 

[waggy]

$100 is very fair.

around here we were looking for the same type of thing. BUT we were getting prices of $200-300 for 30 hours a week. I would jump on $100 a week for it!

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Oger
Where I live the normal pay for a child three and under is $10 an hour, now mind you I live in a rich state. (CT)

Is that under the table?

Is it just a neighbor/friend or are they licensed?

 

[Bryophyte]

I don't know, I've never paid a babysitter.

 

[Oger]

Is that under the table?

Is it just a neighbor/friend or are they licensed?

Under the table, I do not trust the day care centers in my state, too many Catholic priests run these centers.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

off the books, and I know that around here my brother pays about $7-8 an hour for a sitter when they go out.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
off the books, and I know that around here my brother pays about $7-8 an hour for a sitter when they go out.

yeah same around here.

though IF you are having them watch for 30+ hours usually they will drop the price some (though most tend to raise the price since they are still babies). But they still charge $5-7 (~$10 for under 2).

when i was looking i started thinking of starting my own day care center. IF i did it out of my house i could have 3 kids.

still thinking of doing it. just havent decided yet.

 

[Darilus]

Is this going to be a source of income for the woman, or is she just being friendly? If she's just trying to help you out, a token payment (say $100/week) is probably ok. If she's actually looking for extra cash, you probably need to go at least $150/week. Consider that good daycare is about $1200/mo here in Seattle, for anything under a year old, and that's usually 3-4 kids per adult.

 

[new2AMD]

I pay my sitter $30/day for watching my 6 month old. She watches her 2 days a week for the most part.

 

[Ogg]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
I don't know, I've never paid a babysitter.

Hey we would be glad to babysit for you and hubby.......although Ill probably want to look through your underwear drawer!!!:Q

Would that be allright?

 

[blackdogdeek]

my sister-in-law was paying their babysitter $10/hr to watch their 8 year old son and 4 year old daughter.

she would watch them the whole day(approx. 8-9 hrs). they would give her money to pay for any food she bought for them.

everything was off the books.

 

[ATLien247]

I would pay an amount where you are not upside down on child care expenses. By upside down I mean if you're paying more for child care than what you earn by working.

In my case, it was cheaper for my wife to stay home with the children than it was to pay for decent child care.

Or maybe it just seems that way since I prefer her raising our children instead of someone else...

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: Oger

Is that under the table?

Is it just a neighbor/friend or are they licensed?

Under the table, I do not trust the day care centers in my state, too many Catholic priests run these centers.

Ducking to avoid every holy roller swooping down on this comment

Ausm

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: Ogg

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
I don't know, I've never paid a babysitter.

Hey we would be glad to babysit for you and hubby.......although Ill probably want to look through your underwear drawer!!!:Q

Would that be allright?

:| Last time, you stretched out my lace teddy.

 

[woowoo]

Originally posted by: ATLien247
I would pay an amount where you are not upside down on child care expenses. By upside down I mean if you're paying more for child care than what you earn by working.

In my case, it was cheaper for my wife to stay home with the children than it was to pay for decent child care.

Or maybe it just seems that way since I prefer her raising our children instead of someone else...

Same here
Wife has been at home for 4 1/2 years
She will start working after little woo goes to school.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Most daycare charge about $200-$300/wk for infant care. They have the cost of overhead to consider.

Also, if you pay under the table, you can not claim the up to 5K in dependant care costs against your taxes.

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Okay, she is a friend who lives 2 houses down from us. She used to be a paramedic and is now a stay-at-home-mom. She has two children of her own, 4 and almost 2 and the 4 year old is in school three days a week. She takes no other children and mentioned to me that she would love to take Leah, if I was looking for someone.

I was thinking 100/week but was wondering if that was too little or not!

 

[new2AMD]

Originally posted by: MomAndSkoorbaby
Okay, she is a friend who lives 2 hours down from us. She used to be a paramedic and is now a stay-at-home-mom. She has two children of her own, 4 and almost 2 and the 4 year old is in school three days a week. She takes no other children and mentioned to me that she would love to take Leah, if I was looking for someone.

I was thinking 100/week but was wondering if that was too little or not!

2 houses or 2 hours?

 

[PowerMac4Ever]

I recommed forming an S Corporation and hiring the sitter as an employee. Make sure you pay the unemployment taxes, etc etc

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Originally posted by: new2AMD

Originally posted by: MomAndSkoorbaby
Okay, she is a friend who lives 2 hours down from us. She used to be a paramedic and is now a stay-at-home-mom. She has two children of her own, 4 and almost 2 and the 4 year old is in school three days a week. She takes no other children and mentioned to me that she would love to take Leah, if I was looking for someone.

I was thinking 100/week but was wondering if that was too little or not!

2 houses or 2 hours?

Edited. Can you say TIRED NEW MOMMY?