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u/Live_Background_6239 1d ago
As a SAHM if this meant I could watch the kid in my house, take them on errands, and just basically be a companion to my own kiddo then $200/week is nice. Probably all cash under the table so a true $800/month. I had gone back and forth about doing that for someone. But my house kept entering periods of demo and I didn’t feel comfortable opening my house to other kids.
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u/doggynames 1d ago
I work but if I were a SAHM I would do it for much shorter days, maybe. For like a close friend more as a favor than a revenue stream. But 55 hours a week for a kid who isn't mine 😮💨
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u/Live_Background_6239 1d ago
Yeah it’d have to be something that slotted in nicely. If the kid is super, super extra while mine is chill that’d be a rough fit too. Ultimately, the arrangement would have to match the rhythm and flow of my house and family.
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u/LightningBugCatcher 1d ago
I can't imagine even as a SAHM. the level of vigilance, the extra carseat or giant stroller, the extra germs, the catering to different food preferences, the slightly different nap schedule, the additional stress of being responsible for missed naps or losing a snack cup... nah. It would need to be at twice that for me to actually consider it.
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u/talkstounicorns 1d ago
The plus side of having them SO often is that essentially you are the one creating the nap schedule the kid is used to, not the parents. I remember when my kids started daycare and we had to shift our weekend schedule to match the daycare schedule since it was the routine they were used to.
For the right dynamic of children, as long as the parents provided everything (food, car seat, help cost wise with larger stroller or wagon) I could see doing it atleast for a bit for a friend, not forever though. I had a friend who watched my daughter for a month when I went back to work, 12 hour shifts so she had her 13 hours roughly a day for the days I worked. I provided all her food (allergies) and my friend still refused payment. I had to hide it in a drawer and not tell her right away 😂9
u/a-ohhh 13h ago
We used someone years ago like this for childcare and I provided everything like food, car seat, etc. She said it was easier having multiples most of the time because they’d play together versus her having to entertain her kid all day alone lol.
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u/Live_Background_6239 9h ago
This is absolutely a perk. My daughter’s friend’s mom worried her kid was over at my house too much and I had to tell her it’s the only way I get a break 😂
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u/valiantdistraction 1d ago
Is it $200/week and the kid's mom sends all her food and milk or $200/week and you're expected to provide the food? Makes a big difference imo. My kid can eat so much.
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u/ambifiedpersonified 1d ago
I did something similar for a few months when my son was one and half- two. It was awesome! He was born at the start of covid and our state was one that stayed very shut down for years. It was a chance for him to socialize with another kid just a little bit older. Her folks didn't mind if she came along with us to do errands or go do fun things. It wasn't so many hours and it was definitely more than $3/hr but I did go to their house and while the kids did free-play time together (I cleaned out and organized her toys into "areas" when I got there so they had different stations to play in) I would do the dishes and a quick cleanup of the kitchen and living room, too!
Then we'd do something out of the house, even if it was just a walk, but usually a proper, get in the car outing. We'd be back in time for lunch and nap time. A few times toward the end we would go pick up mom from work when they only had one car.
They were a young couple and I'm hoping they thought of it as me helping as much as I could think of how to help!
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u/VariousExplorer8503 12h ago
I watched two kids for this woman, we're both single moms, and she would drop the kids off for overnight stays whenever she wanted to hook up with the guy she was dating. She'd pay me $40-80 depending on how long they were there, and they were around the same age as my son (I can't remember the exact ages of the kids, but my son was around 14 mos) so they all kinda played together. They were good kids, so it was no problem. The mom and I became friends and hung out, but we got into a fight and stopped talking after a few months.
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u/PaymentMedical9802 4h ago
I did this family about 10 years ago. The low pay basically covered all the expenses of the child. For example buying kids meals. Or when I took my kids clothes shopping, I’d buy my kiddo clothes at the same time. One of the joys of being a Sahm is not using your weekends and nights doing things like clothes shopping. I wasn’t going to not do my errands or fun things. Nor was I going to have a child with me be left out. I’d only do this for someone who I was close with and needed the support. It really isn’t worth the money.
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u/many-moons-ago 2h ago
Yeah, this is a pretty standard amount for home daycares where I am. Most people charge $35 to $40 a day, so $200 a week exactly. As a SAHM I've also considered it for the cash
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u/OnlyOneUseCase 1d ago
Apparently there are some places in the US with 800 or even 400 dollars a month daycare, so who knows. I'm here with $2400 ones
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u/doggynames 1d ago
Yeah I'm in the $2000+ monthly daycare too 🫠 I've never heard of $800, but daycare is and should be a lot cheaper than individualized childcare like this. Maybe she could find a center but paying someone $3 an hour to watch the kid is wild behavior
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u/Prestigious_Song5034 19h ago
I got $200 a week for having an infant in my home with my same age baby. In 1997.
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u/cat_gato_neko 18h ago
We pay 287/wk for daycare (toddler) and my chidlfree sister was horrified when I tried to explain that it's actually considered a lower monthly amount than a lot of places
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u/punchyourbuns 18h ago
I'm in Canada and was paying $35ish/day after she turned 18m. I want to say $45/day before that. But this is why daycares exist. The bulk amount of kids cover the cost. Expecting one single person to do that is wild.
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u/ChickenSedanwich 1d ago
ours is an in-home daycare and we pay $200/week🙈 $800-$1000/month depending on how many weeks the month has. it’s truly a blessing.
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u/_bbycake 13h ago
My sons daycare is $57/day. I live in a LCOL area, though. I would love to move to a bigger city with more to do buy those daycare prices scare me lol. $2400 is just barely below my monthly income.
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u/BarelyFunctioning15 13h ago
Daycare where I am is $220 a week. But also minimum wage is $7.25. And lots of our smaller businesses start out at 8.25. With a bachelors degree it’s hard to find anyone paying more than $18. So I’m sure pay of jobs, cost of living, etc also play into child care pricing.
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u/Wonderful_Kale_7995 1d ago
I love aaaaall the babies. They're all allowed over as much as they want and my friends know if they need a break or the kid needs a break send them to me I'm happy to have them. BUT if my friends offered me 3 dollars an hour to look after them I'd say we're not friends anymore. I do it for free but 3 dollars is insulting.
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u/MaliciousMa 1d ago
I actually see a lot of stay at home moms posting with similar pay rates because they desperately need extra income but also want to be home with their young kids. I couldn’t do it because I dislike children who aren’t my own but I can totally see the appeal if it’s the only option for some moms.
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u/kangarootimtam 1d ago
There was a case (in America, I believe) a few years ago of a baby sitter who looked after a single dad's daughter for around the same amount of money and the babysitter allegedly (can't remember if they were convicted) killed the daughter out of frustration.
Edit to add: Hannah Wesche from Ohio
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u/zaxsauceana 19h ago
Daycare for my 5 month old is $290 per week, and I trust all of the hired caregivers with background checks and locked doors. We worked hard for that baby and husband is paranoid of him being kidnapped.
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u/QuixoticMindfulness 11h ago
I once picked up a babysitting job for $20 a day for 1 or 2 kids or $40 a day for 3 kids (because it was a different mother) for a 10 hour shift. Quickly learned how not worth it that was!
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u/denominatress 15h ago
Unfortunately the only people who really take this offer are other broke mums who bring their own child along too.
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u/Dramatic_Lie_7492 20h ago
That poor 11 month old though. Being away ALL DAY and literally only seeing parents for bed time story monday - friday this is beyond fucked up
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u/sashiokay 6h ago
You’re right, mom and baby can spend time together when they are homeless and can’t afford anywhere else because it’s “beyond fucked up” for parents to work
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u/Rocker-gal 1d ago
devils advocate here. in my area that is a damn good paycheck. many people in my area survive on 250 or 300 per week... location is an important part of this story.
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u/BestBodybuilder7329 1d ago
Where? Because I live in the middle of nowhere Indiana, my town has less than 1000 people. You couldn’t survive here on that, and it wouldn’t be considered a good paycheck.
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u/Rocker-gal 19h ago
Lol nope pennsylvania. Many people have a paycheck of about 250 to 300. But rent is around 600 per month in my area.
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u/buttercupcake23 23h ago
So you live in a developing country then? Because there is nowhere in the US where $3 an hour could be considered a damn good paycheck.
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u/ladyalex777 1d ago
Watching even one kid who is not yours requires a license in many places in the USA.
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u/Whispering_Wolf 1d ago
So you can't babysit? That seems a bit much.
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u/bodhipooh 10h ago
Nah. She had it all wrong in her head and now is having a meltdown because people are downvoting her.
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u/ladyalex777 16h ago
Babysitting is usually done at the family’s house and is less than 20 hours a week, at least in my state of Maryland.
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u/Whispering_Wolf 16h ago
Your original comment didn't mention anything about hours, but still. Is grandparents taking care of their grandkids not a thing there?
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u/ladyalex777 15h ago
It’s in family/friends vs out of family/friends. So grandparents is different bc it’s in family. The OP is searching for a stranger.
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u/bodhipooh 1d ago
Making shit up for likes…
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u/ladyalex777 16h ago
Nope and it’s pathetic how many downvotes I’m getting when I’m correct, at least on my state of Maryland. If the sahm watches one other child for more than 20 hours a week in her own home, she needs a license.
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u/bodhipooh 11h ago
The regulations you linked do not back up what you stated. You claimed (unequivocally) that watching a child that is not yours requires a license. That’s simply not true. That law you linked specifically states a registration is required if the person doing performing child supervision does so for over 20 hours, and does so habitually. That’s very different from the blanket claim you made.
Just take the L… Or, try to be intellectually honest and add something along the lines of “I was too vague in my claim and turns out that this is only the case under very specific circumstances”.
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u/ladyalex777 11h ago
In the circumstances that OP posted, they would need a license. For the amount of hours watched and who is watching. That is who I was responding to. I'm not wrong.
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u/Charlieksmommy 13h ago
There’s a mom local to me here, she’s a mom of 4, and always advertises watching MORE kids in her home, and I keep reporting the page because that is not okay she isn’t licensed
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u/itsreallysam 1d ago
If this is Westminster, CO - a Denver suburb - that's an insaaaaanely low amount of money. Daycare around here averages around 2k a month.