nanny/housekeeper- how much can I expect to pay

amother

Tue, Jun 03 2008, 12:52 pm

I'm due in a few weeks and Im starting my search...wanna get a general idea of what is a reasonable amount to pay, because I dont want to be taken for a ride!!
Basically:

-We live in Flatbush.

-I dont want a live-in. Just not comfortable with the idea. BUT, I need someone for alot of hours (about 9.5 per day, 7 to 430) given my commute.

- I dont mind not jewish/hispanic/russian/whatever - as long as they speak BASIC BASIC english and I can communicate w/ them on a basic level.

- I would pay cash

- I would want them to mostly be taking care of my baby, but also housekeeping work, such as washing and folding laundry, linens, putting away, washing dishes, sweep/vaccum, etc, while the baby sleeps, so that I can kill two birds with one stone.

I am thinking this all should cost about 350-450 per week? Ive had people ask for crazy amounts like 700 because they are "bonded" (no clue what that means) and I was in SHOCK. Is 400 reasonable or am I totally out of my mind? Can I get for even less?

any input will be greatly appreciated Smile

amother

Tue, Jun 03 2008, 4:58 pm

amother wrote:

I have a babysitter at home (in Flatbush) for around 40 hours a week and I pay about $410 (cash). It is possible to find, and the summer is probably the easiest time to find a babysitter.

great. thanks for responding. that was kindof what I was expecting so I was shocked by what some of the people I called were asking for (700 for one kid?). does yours do cleaning? thats relatively important too. because if not im gonna be spending another 50-100/wk on a cleaning lady....dont wanna do that....plus, babies sleep, ALOT. so that means that if shes not doing tidying up stuff for me, im paying her to sit around for a good portion of the day, which I am very reluctant to do...

RachelEve14

Wed, Jun 04 2008, 3:16 am

amother wrote:

I have a babysitter at home (in Flatbush) for around 40 hours a week and I pay about $410 (cash). It is possible to find, and the summer is probably the easiest time to find a babysitter.

OP, as a former cleaner and babysitter, for the sake of your baby and your clean house, you have to think about how much you want the sitter to do and what kind of things are her job. My cousin went through this recently and decided it was better to just pay a cleaner to clean and the babysitter to babysit.

Most babysitters consider baby's cleaning as part of her job, so the baby's food / laundry / toys / etc. and possibly some light housework (dishes). But if you want her to clean bathrooms, do your laundry or cooking, wash floors, etc in her "spare" time you may both wind up dissapointed. Also, it's a very short amount of time a baby is mostly sleeping, soon IIY"H your baby will be a growing / mobile older baby, child and napping only 2 - 3hours a day or so. Any person you are hiring for 9.5 hours a day is also entitled to a break, to have her lunch, etc. And while some babies sleep a lot, some do not, and you have to decide what is going to be more important. If she feels you are going to be upset if the bathrooms aren't cleaned, she may be tempted to just put the baby down for a nap he/ she doesn't need so that darn bathroom can get done. I wound up quitting a job and the people were really upset, but she expected me to work 10 hours straight and get a lot of cleanign done while her baby was sleeping and I just couldn't do it. Her baby needed to be held a lot and didn't sleep much and it just didnt' work out. So I woudl think carefully before double teaming up the babysitter. Obviously she has to pick up the baby's toys and make sure the floor is clean and wash up after herself and the baby. Teh baby's laundry is also part of her job, but think about what you want long term for your precious baby and for your cleaning situation before you put her in a job only a superhuman could do. You don't want a situation where the babysitter is neglecting your baby or leaving him to play on the floor alone when he's not happy because she is worried about getting the bathroom clean and still having time to wolf down her lunch.

Good luck finding someone. B'sha Tova Smile

amother

Wed, Jun 04 2008, 9:21 am

Second Amother here -
OP:
A babysitter in the house will not replace the need for a cleaning lady (or a good cleaning job done by yourself) every week or two. I don't know of anyone who has a babysitter who cleans toilets or mops floors. What my babysitter takes care of is washing dishes (all, not just bottles), laundry, food prep for the kids, and general tidying up. Right now, my babysitter is watching my 2.5 year old and my 8 month old in the morning, and she picks up my 4 year old from nursery in the afternoon. There's not much tidying up that she can do after 2:00 as all the kids are very hands-on in the afternoon. When she was only watching one during the day, while the other was in day camp (before the baby was born), my home was a lot neater, as she had more downtime. All babysitters deserve a break at some point while the kids are napping (again, with an infant, I would not want my babysitter on the phone/watching tv/whatever for the 5 hours the baby is sleeping during the day).

You need to make clear what your expectations are when you interview babysitters. Our cleaning expectations, which we communicated were: laundry, dishes, messes the kids make.

amother

Wed, Jun 04 2008, 11:22 am

OP here, to the last two posters, thanks for letting me know. I really just want someone who can fold the laundry, wash bottles (we only have one dishwasher), put away dishes, more the "tidying up" parts of the cleaning.
vacuuming my husband actually does (he says he enjoys the noise or something, he finds doing it relaxing! lol! his mom said it was a dream when he was a kid he used to vacuum for her every friday!), and the bathrooms, sure, Id be willing to pay someone 50 dollars say every other week, to come do the things like that. But the laundry and stuff, I dont want that sitting around all week, I wont be home, and I think its reasonable to ask someone to fold and put away the laundry (that I wash all myself) while I am gone. no?

RachelEve14

Wed, Jun 04 2008, 12:00 pm

OP, as far as the laundry the baby's laundry definatly her job. Your laundry I think it really depends on how much time (I'm assuming she's not ironing, just folding / putting away?). If it's a matter of hanging 10 shirts and 5 skirts once or twice a week I think sure you can ask, that doesn't sound like too much, but if it's a lot or you have to run to 10 different places to put towels, skirts, shirts, kitchen things, baby things, etc. it could become an issue. You have to remember in the beginning they sleep a lot and don't make a lot of mess, no toys to pick up, etc, but as they get bigger they sleep less and make more mess. So now it's just washing bottles, but soon IY"H it will be picking up toys, maybe gathering play dough together and cleaning the play dough toys, cleaning food of the floor and high chair, cleaning art projects up, etc. the older baby / toddler is sleeping less and also making more mess. I know sometimes now picking up the ballagan from my 3 older kids will take a good 45 min, and that isn't counting washing dishes, and that can be his whole nap, kwim? I think if you do want her to do your laundry also, have 1 load a day for her to fold / put away. One load isn't overwhelming, but if you have 2 or 3 loads together it could be. Really you have to interview the person, lay down the expectations, and see their reaction. My cousin wanted someone to do her laundry, do the tidying up, and wash up dishes in the morning. She wasn't able to find someone to do all that for what she was offering to pay, so she wound up with someone who was a babysitter, but willing to do extra jobs for $10 an hour, so if she really wanted teh kitchen cleaned she would ask the babysitter if she was willing to clean the kitchn that day for an extra $10 (which shortened her break) and also she would only ask her to do extra jobs on a day there weren't baby jobs to do (ie, no baby laundry to wash that day)