moms who watch other kids for extra $$$

I was thining of watching another baby in my home for some extra $$, so I had a few questions.
- do you need to be licensed?
- did you advertise or was it someone you knew?
- How much do you charge?
-Are you happy with the arrangement?

Besides the $, I also like the idea of having another baby around for Maddy to interact with.
Any ideas/advice would be much appreciated. Thanks so much !

Re: moms who watch other kids for extra $$$

My friend watches my DS for me since I have come back to work. She also has a 3 1/2 year old son and another child on the way (she is due in May). She comes to pick my DS up in the morning and when my DH gets up from sleeping (since he works nights) he goes to pick him up. I pay her $150 a week even if some weeks are 3, 4 or 5 days (it depends on DH's schedule). It has been working out great for us.

Re: moms who watch other kids for extra $$$

With my first son, I had a friend watch him. You don't have to be licensed for that - I think you can watch up to 3 kids without having a license.
I also paid $150 a week - for 5 days. I only paid for the days she watched him though.

Re: moms who watch other kids for extra $$$

we should start a little "babysitting swap" on here, where we watch eachothers kids in exchange for watching eachothers kids

ive heard of it being very successful.

Re: moms who watch other kids for extra $$$

I watched my nephew for a while. It ended up being for free, unfortunately. My bil and sil originally didnt like the idea of paying a relative so since we both had our real estate liscenses we agreed on splitting the commission for the deals. I would watch my nephew and my Bil would get the real estate deals. Well the real estate market took a nose dive and we only had a few deals close yet I was still wathcing the baby. Since I cant afford to not make any side income I had to stop watching him full time and try to find something part time. I just watch him now when its really needed.


That being said, if I was getting paid on a regular basis I think that it would have worked much better for me and I would have continued with it. Its hard staying in the house all day though, sometimes you get stir crazy. I tried to bring them out for walks in the double stroller and I had an extra car seat so that we can occasionally go to the park.

Re: moms who watch other kids for extra $$$

A few things to consider:
You should be licensed and take CPR classes if you are watching children on a regular basis.

If you claim the income the parents can take their tax deduction, if not, they can't. My friend's SIL used to give 3 weeks of free care to make up for the parents not being able to take the tax credit.

If your child is sick the other parent still needs their child to go to daycare. how do you handle that situation? what is you are sick? you need back-up. most parents are working so they depend on the care you provide.

you need to make sure you have the proper insurance in case a child gets hurt (on accident) in your care. You do not want to be personally liable.

$250 is the average for fulltime center daycare. You need to figure out what you provide and what parents need to provide for their children. what is your overtime charge?

You want to make sure that you get paid even when a child is out sick. You are running a business and you need to have rules that the parents agree to ahead of time.