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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>How Much Do You Charge for Overnight Care?
legomom922 05:03 AM 10-15-2010
I have in my policy that nights, weekends and overnights are considered overtime and my rate is $10 an hr. A parent wanted me to take dcb next fri overnight and the total would be 14 hrs and $140 she said this was way too much. I explained this is my family time and it is overtime. I dont want to give up time with my family & my kids on a weekend for peanuts! I had put that in my handbook as a deterent so people would only ask me if they are desperate for care on a weekend.

What do you think? Is it too much? How much do you charge for things like this?
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AfterSchoolMom 05:07 AM 10-15-2010
I do think that's alot, but don't think that you're doing anything wrong to ask your overtime rate - she knew what she was getting into when she signed the contract. If you want to take the boy overnight, you could cut her a deal - but I wouldn't give her TOO much of one - say, $8 an hour instead of 10?

If you don't really want to do it, stick to your rate - if she's really desperate for care, she'll pay up.
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BentleysBands 05:18 AM 10-15-2010
yeah i see your post however for me that would be way too much.. .my daiy rate during the week is $20 per day or $100 per week (for one child) ..weekends are $40 per day each day needed, weeknights i charge just $10 extra so for that particular day it would be $30...i figure they are sleeping anyways so its not a big deal to me. however i do NOT take ANY child that i have to feed/change /care for overnight so mainly i only keep 2+ and up for nights.
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SilverSabre25 05:27 AM 10-15-2010
My daily rate is $30, and although I haven't done overnight care, I would probably charge the daily rate plus an extra $20 or $30--depends on the hours I'd have him.

Also, like Bentley's Bands, I wouldn't take a child overnight if they were likely to need any nighttime parenting or if they had a hard time falling asleep. I have enough on my plate with my own daughter!
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ddnanny13 06:11 AM 10-15-2010
I don't even do overnights. I have nothing in my contract regarding it. If someone asked me I would jack the rate up, maybe not quite as high as yours but still worth the while. I would also consider her reason for needing care... does she have to work or does she want to party? If the reason is legit then I would feel more inclined to cut a deal but if it's something I feel she could go without doing, stick with your rate. Hope it works out for you!
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legomom922 07:04 AM 10-15-2010
Would $7 be better? I just dont want things like this become a habit..

This is a 17 month old, and I dont know if he wakes up in the middle of the night, but after he goes to bed at 8pm, then my family & kids would have to be quiet and also stay out of there room because thats where the PNP would have to be and I would have to give him a bath, feed him dinner, breakfast, keep all the gates up etc on my family time, so I guess I would prefer not to do it because of the inconveinance & work involved.
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Unregistered 08:38 AM 10-15-2010
I also think that is WAY to much. My daily rate comes out to 25 a day so IF I did daycare on Saturday Sunday, or overnight it would be 50 per day/ 50 per night
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Live and Learn 08:44 AM 10-15-2010
I don't do overnight care at all but if it says $10 an hour in your contract you had better stick to that otherwise the family might think that everything in your contract is up for negotiation if they whine a little! If you want to do a whole lot of overnight care instead of having time with your family then by all means lower your price!
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laundryduchess@yahoo.com 09:43 AM 10-15-2010
I would tell her that yes, it is alot higher than my normal fees, but thats my overtime rate,.. if she would like to use me thats what my time is worth. Maybe suggest she leave him until 8pm, then have a grandparent or friend or relative pick him up, keep him overnight, and drop him in the morning,.. then she would be out maybe 50 extra and not the full amount. and for the record,.. personally I wouldnt bathe him,.. he can skip one nights bath. Thats asking alot.
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MyAngels 10:41 AM 10-15-2010
Originally Posted by legomom922:
I guess I would prefer not to do it because of the inconveinance & work involved.
I would stick with your contracted rate here, then. If she thinks it's too much then she will be motivated to look for an alternative. I agree with you, my family time is too important to me to give it up at all, let alone for less than $10 per hour.
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TGT09 12:50 PM 10-15-2010
I charge an extra $20 for a toddler and $15 for a school ager but that's through the week and not on the weekend. I would charge close to double on the weekend, counting friday night.

I kept a 22 month old daycare girl for an entire week for $300 and I felt like I severely sold myself short but she was my first overnight experience while doing my own daycare.

With all that being said, I actually LOL'd at you charging $140 for overnight (no offense intended)! That is outrageous to me but maybe I would feel different if I had children of my own that I was taking time away from and if I was trying to deter a family of overusing me for overnight stays.
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Crystal 02:05 PM 10-15-2010
The only time I have ever keptkids over night was when siblings were being born and the occasional favour for a parent. I have never charged anything.

BUT, I don't offer it on a regular basis. IF I did, I'd probably charge my regualr daily rate. I agree that $140 is too much, especially with the child sleeping much of the time. I'd cut that in half.
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legomom922 12:32 PM 10-16-2010
I did not want be taken advantage of with overnights, so I put it in there that it is 10/hr to deter them unless they were soooo desparate. But now, it would be kinda nice to have a few extra bucks, and for the most part the kid would be sleeping, so now am rethinking it. I want it high enough so I am only used as a last option, but low enough so I can make some extra. So I was thinking of lowering it to $5/hr. Thats still $70 for 6pm-8am, and if it is on a weekend, any hr past 8am, its $10/hr which is my weekend/night rate anyway, which is normally just used for parents who need it for a 2,3, or 4 hrs. I have to keep my weekend/night rate the same, to make it worthwhile for watching a kid on my family time for a couple of hrs. $20 doesn't sound so bad on a weekend if the parent has to go somewhere for a couple of hrs.

Does this sound fair?
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TGT09 08:24 PM 10-16-2010
I think that is much more reasonable. Good luck! It's tough watching them all day and then adding a night in there.
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momofboys 05:21 AM 10-17-2010
I have 3 of my own kids so I would have to be earning enough to make it worth the effort & the fact that my family time was now being at least partially consumed with a DC kid. That being said if I had a kid from 5 pm (my closing time) until the next morning at 8 am I would likely charge $60 at a minimum. I typically charge between $20-25 for an average 8-9 hr day so I would double it plus add an additional fee b/c regardless of it being overnight & the kids likely sleeping they would still be in my care for 15 hours!
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