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What do I do for a on-call sitter for when baby #3 comes?
I have a 4 year old and 2 year old. I am 2 weeks away from our 3rd baby's due date. We don't live close to family (minimum of 10 1/2 hours) so we chose to have our emergency on-call person be someone from our church and her teenage daughter. They agreed very excitedly but we are wondering what is an appropriate reimbursement. I'll be in the hospital around 3 days probably who knows at what times... The daughter will probably be the one that will be with our girls most of the time but she doesn't drive so her mom will have to be on call for that as well. What do you all think or what have you done in the past? Thanks for any help.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jen, Mom365 Host on -
It depends. Did they volunteer to do it as a favor/girt to you, or did they volunteer with the understanding that you were hiring them?
If they're doing it as a favor, I would get the mom a $50 gas card to pay for transportation, and I'd give the girl a $100 gift card or prepaid credit card.
If they're doing it as a job, I'd pay the mom $20 a day for transportation, and somewhere in the range of $10-15 an hour for the daughter.
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Permalink Reply by samanths hines on -
I would say 400$ she will be caring for your children 24hrs. and you have 2 children not 1. 400 sound like a lot but break it down 24hr care for 3 days 400/3 is 133.33 a day 133.33/24hrs is only 5.54$! 5.54a hour is dirt cheap for 2 children especially since she has to cook,clean and possibly change diapers if you have a 2 yr old.
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Permalink Reply by EastTexasMommy on -
Depends if they volunteered. I would say a $50-100 gift certificate for someplace of dinner for mom to take the family, or my fav. A day at the spa. Depending on the daugters age. We do 50-100 and sometime break it up gift cards at Bath and Body and Victoria Secrets. If not maybe a preloaded movie card. Make it something other than money. Money goes quick and they forget the thank you. Gift cards they will appreciate it a few times.
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Permalink Reply by jnava on
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Coming from a sitter make sure your have some of their favorite snacks and food. Maybe leave some money for take out one night or ice cream. on Top of that when I had to do a weekend emergency gig. I got around 300 but that was like 5 years ago and the boys were almost teenagers. I still think today that is pretty nice(I was their once a week sitter anyway and was always treated like great ).
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Permalink Reply by samanths hines on
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I think cash is best i would be mad if someone gave me gift cards after caring for 2 children for 3 days\. It sounds from your post that you are choosing these people they did not volenteer so it going to be expensive. You have to also factor in that your children are small they are not older independent children. Some one said "Money goes quick and they forget the thank you" in my opinion they don't owe you a thank you. You owe them a thank you, 2 small children are quit the responsability and you are hiring them for a service. I think 300-400$ is more than fair. It also depends where you live some sitters in nicer areas change 225$ just for over night.
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Permalink Reply by EastTexasMommy on
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:) I was saying that the thank you gift is often forgotten. That is if they've volunteered. If she is hireing them, that is totally different. I also see that baby sitters are much more in other areas. Daycare is about 90-110 per kid M-F 730 to 600pm
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Permalink Reply by Shannon, Star Mom on
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Honestly, because this is someone you see regularly (at church)... I would just discuss the pay with them before anything is said and done. The reason why is b/c they may have a set expectation that might not quite match up with what you had in mind... and then lead to hard feelings. When it comes to doing business (meaning any sort of exchange having to do w/ money or someone offering their time for something in return) I do everything by the books b/c I have realized how quickly things can go sour if you don't have a clear understanding beforehend. Now, if they offered to help w/ no expectation of being paid... then yes I would say a giftcard would be a great idea (since there was no expectation for anything in the first place).
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Permalink Reply by Mommyof4 on -
Thanks to everyone for the replies. Baby still hasn't shown up but when it does we'll definitely be considering all the options for compensating the sitter. Everyone's ideas are great.
I'm not really sure what I should expect because the people that we chose are really big into the charity stuff and I don't want to take advantage but I also don't want them to feel like they owe me once it's all said and done either. Ugh...I'm positive they don't expect anything but I'm not a cheapskate either.
We chose them because the daughter is a super babysitter and the whole family loves our girls and is great with kids. The home is a happening place that will keep our girls occupied without any trouble - they don't need a great deal of entertainment. Our daughters are overall very well behaved and sleep 12 hours at night and take a 2 hour nap during the day. Our 2 year old is still in diapers. Our 4 year old will be thrilled to get a couple of days off of her homeschooling routine too. :)
More than likely they'll just be keeping the girls at their house most of the time though I do have a freezer packed with food for once the baby comes or to keep everyone fed while we're gone.
Well, thought I'd fill you in on the details a little more anyway. We'll work something out and hopefully it works. Thanks again for you comments, all.
BTW - they offer all the time to watch the girls whenever we want. Just seems to me like something extra should be done because it is 24/7 and I understand that it is a big job. Okay, I'm done now LOL
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