Baby Sitting Questions?

Question

I am a Swim Instructor and one of my parents asked me to baby sit, I agreed because I have been teacher their daughter for a while now. The girl is 3 yrs old & very stuborn; I know what to do to get kids to listen in the pool, but what if I run into this same problem while sitting?

Also, how much should I charge. I've had a lot of my parents ask me to sit for them and they offered anywhere from $15 to $30 an hour. I live in NYC and the clientel I work for is upper class (if that is what you want to call it), I teach spoiled rich children, some of their parents are celebrities, but I don't know what to charge.

I've baby sat before in Florida but mostly for parents around the neighborhood and I was younger and they only paid $5 or $10 an hour. So I have experience in sitting, definantly dealing with children as they are a major part of my profession, but in this particulare case I'm lost. This is a child of a priveledge background I'm not sure how to discipline

Suggestions

Answer 1

30 at least!!!  I mean the whole purpose of you being there is to get away from this child! If you charged 50 and this child was a brat and money was no problem that I wouldn't bat an eye paying for it myself!  TAKE IT!

Answer 2

Every area is different on their baby sitting rates. What means a lot to me is to know that when I am away from my child that I have peace of mind with where he/she is at and who they are with. For this I will pay more...if the going rate is $30.00 then they will pay $30.00...I just hope they have a better job than me...lol!!

As for the disipline. Have her sit. Tell her that she is in a time out. I have a nephew that I watch a lot who is three. I give him three chances to listen if he doesn't he has to sit for a few seconds. After a few times of this routine he knew that I wasn't going to give up and now if he knows he is to the point that he is going to have to sit he tells me "I want to be good" over and over but if he has been told three times then I stick to it so that he will listen next time and he has to sit. I always make sure that he knows before I sit him down and when he is getting up that he knows why he sat. Some people have a time-out chair I just sit him down wherever we are at. Good luck. For $30.00 an hour I would be able to put up with a lot from her....

Answer 3

I would charge 15 dollars an hour and if they ask why so much just say thats the normal price for younger kids and if they say can u lower it u can say maybe 13 dollars or 12 dollars its up 2 u.

Answer 4

I would say $10.00 would be fair

Answer 5

See how much the parents offer you to babysit, and try to find fun things for the two of you to do while together, and by all means know what the limits are, and any emergency phone numbers. Happy Babysitting!!!

Answer 6

Why did you agree when clearly you seem you don't want to babysit her? You say she is stubborn and is a problem and that she's a spoiled, rich kid. Sounds to me you'd rather not look after her; as if you dread the very thought. So, tell her parents that you don't want to babysit her.

Answer 7

Handle the child the same way that you do in class as that is what she is used to and what she expects from you.  As for the money, I pay my 18 yo cousin $10 an hour to sit and were in Miami.  Charge accordingly, I would say easily $20 PH.

Answer 8

Well I was always payed 10$ an hour and I live in florida. I've never babysat for rich kids or anything. I might charge about 20$ an hour then. It sounds resanable. Or you can aske how much they want to pay without trying to be rude.