Overnight sitter pay

[suzi]

Do you offer a flat rate? Adjust your rate for "sleeping hours"? Have a trip in the next couple of weeks and wonder how to handle this.

[nrp]

We usually just offer a flat rate for an overnight stay, usually calculated based on the normal rate for all the hours the kids are awake, and then some additional amount for when the kids are sleeping. I think last time we did something like $200 per 24 hours. Our nanny was making $14/hr at that time, I think.

[StantonHyde]

I pay $15 an hour for when they are actively caring for kids (e.g getting kids ready in am, picking them up from school, afternoon and evening routine) plus $5 an hour when the kids are asleep (so $45 a night just to sleep at my house). It's not bad if a trip is in the middle of the week. It is more if it takes up weekend time because there is lots of kid time. But I have some great people who will sit and if that means I can enjoy my vacation, it is worth it.

[ha98ed14]

If the person is going to be with your child for more than 24 hours, I would think of it holistically, not hour by hour, what the person would be doing in that moment. You want them to be fully there, engaging positively with your kids. I *really* think paying them enough helps them do it.

Not sure what the rates are where you live, but I think $100 for each full 24 hour period they are with the child is the bottom of what I would offer if the person is caring for the child in your home.

[vonfirmath]

I pay $15 an hour for when they are actively caring for kids (e.g getting kids ready in am, picking them up from school, afternoon and evening routine) plus $5 an hour when the kids are asleep (so $45 a night just to sleep at my house). It's not bad if a trip is in the middle of the week. It is more if it takes up weekend time because there is lots of kid time. But I have some great people who will sit and if that means I can enjoy my vacation, it is worth it.

So if the kid wakes up in the middle of the night and needs care, do you pay them more for that night since they didn't get their sleep they were expecting?

I'm thinking esp. about a night when your kid throws up in bed. The sheets need washing, the kid needs washing. You get everything changed. Etc. When I got paid for childcare over night (almost 20 years ago, it was on a regular basis. Someone who worked as a night nurse), it was more than I was paid for the same amount of time during the day. I arrived at 7p, gave the late night snack, got the child into bed, then slept on the couch until needed/mom came home from work in the morning.

most nights it was fairly easy. A few nights were pretty hectic. A child that wakes up in the middle of the night and mom is not there can be pretty hysterical!

[erosenst]

We've always paid full rate for hours a sitter would 'normally' be awake and/or babysitting for us (ie til 10p or so) and half rate for sleeping time (til 6a or so).

I understand the PP's point about night wakings - but fortunately DD goes to bed very early (7:15 still at almost 7 years old), so there's full pay for a portion of the time that the sitter isn't doing anything directly for her. In addition, she never wakes during the night. On the off chance that DD were to wake up ill, I'd increase the pay then.

I also think that hiring a night nurse is different than an overnight sitter. I expect a night nurse to be awake all night, and expect that she will have active work to do at least part of the night.

[babyready]

I did some overnight sitting in college and I remember just getting a flat rate. It was basically and per hour rate when they were awake and a much smaller amount during the night.

I think I would assume that everything would go smoothly overnight. As a parent, if I returned home and found out that it had been a horrible night with a sick kid or whatever, I would pay them more than originally offered. But that would not be the norm, at least not in our house. But if your kids wake up a lot at night or whatever, you may want to offer more.

[LBW]

We recently paid $100 per child for two sitters on New Years Eve. They watched my boys and my sister's girls at one house for ~18 hours.

[sste]

We did something similar to stantonhyde and we threw in a little extra tip because the person was excellent.

My concern about this type of sitting arrangement, esp. if it is more than 1 day, is not only not knowing what to pay but also that the sitter does not get a break. I can't function in a childcare situation for more than 24 hours without a break. Neither can DH. Maybe it is because our kids are still quite young and my DS is one of those kids that has limited interest in playing alone. But, if we did something like that for more than a day, I would need to hire a second sitter to come in for two hours and give sitter #1 a break!!

[elektra]

My concern about this type of sitting arrangement, esp. if it is more than 1 day, is not only not knowing what to pay but also that the sitter does not get a break. I can't function in a childcare situation for more than 24 hours without a break. Neither can DH. Maybe it is because our kids are still quite young and my DS is one of those kids that has limited interest in playing alone. But, if we did something like that for more than a day, I would need to hire a second sitter to come in for two hours and give sitter #1 a break!!
This is what I am doing for an upcoming trip too. I have two sitters coming and going in a bit of a confusing schedule, but I wanted to make sure they both got plenty of breaks!

[StantonHyde]

My kids sleep through the night and are rarely sick. I would pay extra combat pay for a night like that. I alway tip 10% anyway. For a 9 day trip, it was a little over $1,000 and that was with the kids being in day care 9-5, 5 days a week. For a once every 5 year trip to Europe, it was worth it!!