A friend of my husbands has asked if I can take care of their new baby once his wife goes back to work?

Question

He says he will pay me to watch her , but I dont know how much to ask for. What is a fair price for babysitting a newborn throughout the week?

Answer 1

I had my three month old son in daycare fulltime at a home-based daycare and it was $150 per week. That included all his meals, but she was a business. I'd say for a friend that $150 per week is pretty reasonable. Plus, infants are fun and if you only have hers, it shouldn't be too much. You might want to work out an agreement with them about a trial period or something for three months ... just an idea.

Answer 2

Everyone here has given reasonable prices. Just remember what a huge commitment this is. You will be bound to this child like it is your own. When moeny comes into friendships, things can go bad. You might want to consider writing up a contract containing how many hours, for how many days. Like a day care you may want to set a fee for being picked up "after hours". YOu may also want to insist that the baby is bottle fed(formula or breast milk) I've heard of horror stories of moms who promised they would be to their day care provider to nurse on time, but as we all know we can't be on time all the time...then you are left with a hungry baby and nothing you can do about it. You may want to contact local daycares to see what the going price is for newborns in your area. Tell your friend to send the baby with a disposible camera so you can catch the special moments she'll miss.

good luck

Answer 3

I pay $45 a day to have my 2 year old son in daycare. The hours are 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

Answer 4

A fully licensed day care gets 900+ a month for a newborn in my area. (It goes down after they get older)

I'd say $100-150 a week would be your base price for 40 hour week, if you have your own kids to watch anyhow. It is a decent income for you and saves them money too.

Answer 5

Just make sure these people aren't good friends that you can tell them without a problem that they haven't paid their bill or you can basically keep a professional relationship with as well as being friends. I thought of doing this for my husband's closest friend, who just happens to be his boss, with his older children but we decided that the money wasn't worth the friendship in case there was a problem.

It's a great thing, though, especially if you can get the $400! Good luck!

Answer 6

I run a home day care and my price is $25 a day with 10 hours a day as my limit. After 10 hours, it's $5 an hour extra.
I can't stress enough that you have to be FIRM and CLEAR about your pricing. Friends or not...people still want to milk you for everything they can.

Answer 7

I'm doing the same thing when my baby is born, I'm planning on offering her $400 a month for four days a week, 4-5 hours per day.

Answer 8

My in home day care charges $125 a week for as many hours as I need. I don't think it is unreasonable.

Answer 9

it depends on how many days and how many hours. be sure you are willing to do this it isn't any easy task. its your husbands friend not yours, you need not lower your price.i would say $100 a day for 7 hrs. go accordingly...if she doesn't collect benefits, maybe she should stay home...why have children if your going to leave them as newborns???be sure this is what you want to do, you don't want hard feelings later....

Answer 10

if it is 8hrs/day....5 days a week...$100.

my husbands friend asked me to watch his newborn for 12hrs/day 5 days a week....and i made them pay $150.

they are still getting a better deal than daycare!