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From a business standpoint - I am interested to offer more than just the regular day hours of care, seeing that there is a need for evening/night care (no week-ends - they're my official rest days, and time away from children). I don't have children of my own, btw.
I don't know much about this.
I'd like to hear all sorts of viewpoints about this, advice and cautions, experiences, etc.., Also how do you charge rates for this kind of service?
I had considered doing that as well, but decided against it in the long run. One thing that any parent can tell you is that we're no strangers to sleepless and restless nights. That was a huge consideration for me and what ultimately put me off the idea. Some people can manage well with little sleep, as can I. But I don't enjoy it one bit. Of course many children sleep all night, every night. But then sometimes that just doesn't work out. My own boys didn't sleep through the night for a few years. With getting up every hour or 2 for 3 years, you can imagine I was pretty much a zombie. Are you thinking of doing this for someone who requires regular overnights, or just occasional? I would think you'd probably be able to charge quite a bit for this as it's very specialized. I'm not sure what everyone else thinks, but I'd probably go 30%-50% higher than day rates. Another thing to consider is that for 5 days per week, you've got kids, around the clock. Is this something that you feel comfortable with? This means no 'down time'. For me, it sends a shudder down my spine, but for you it might be a perfect fit....plus, you'd be making some pretty excellent secondary coin! BUT, another consideration (and I may be talking shite here), what about taxes? I'm thinking if you pull in double your income, you'll bump up to a higher tax bracket, thereby making you pay out more.....will the amount you're left with make it still worthwhile? I don't know....these are just things I would probably investigate and consider before taking the plunge.
I guess you just have to weigh out the pros and cons and decide what you and your husband are able to cope with. Good luck with your decision!!!
I am also considering to offer this service as well. I am more wanting to provide overnight care as I still want to have a decent break between the time the regular daytime kids would go home to when I would get the overnight one/s. Still on the fence about it. I would charge my regular daytime fee, or maybe a little less.... I think...
See, I still have no idea if I want to do it yet.
In the event that I decide to provide overnight care, are there any specific places to adverrtize for this, or does anyone know the best places to do so.
Why would you charge less? It's a highly specialized service that is nearly impossible to find. Personally, I'd capitalize on that and charge more. Don't forget, if the child is awake for whatever reason, so are you.....and you still have to function for your day job ;) I have no idea where to advertise other than here and other websites like this. I would probably have a separate listing for it (almost like a separate business) that addresses only the overnight care. It might be a good idea to fiddle with the wording on your website so if anyone's looking for overnight care, your place comes up first in a search. Beyond that, I have no useful advice.
I have done second shift but only done third shift in an emergency. Worked well for me as at the time I had half day kindergarten that were with me for the morning but then went to school in the afternoon but didn't come back. So I had two kids that arrived at 1:00 to go down for nap with everyone else and stayed till 11:45. The advantage was there was no programming just play and doing whatever our family was doing. I had total permission to do or go wherever we wanted and a few other flexibles like oldest could take child to park along with siblings, that sort of thing.
I charged my regular full day rate plus a $10 meal fee. Child had two snacks, one meal, and 10-11 hours of care so about like a normal day but mostly they were hanging out as in I wasn't doing a lot with them and using very few supplies - ie no craft time.
I did it for a single parent. She had subsidy and a space in an agency home but they did not support odd hours care so her space there was considered part time as in 2 of 4 weeks a month and the other two weeks they were with me on second shift. She never did third shift.
There is for sure a demand for this service and you might find you prefer to do it full time and have your daytimes free too.
But from an advertising standpoint I would consider doing target advertising as in taking your ad to where the people needing it will see it such as asking to post a notice in the staff room at local factories, hospitals, stores open 24 hours like a pharmacy.
You might also get some space sharing this way too. I used to have two families that used one space. Both moms worked at the same vet office and shared the job so one worked M,W,F and the other worked T, Th, S and I hd both kids in care - the child of whichever mom was working. So if one needed a day off or child was sick the other one filled in and they got the daycare space. Worked really well and I had a full time space filled and they worked out who used what days.
I think you will find that parents expect to pay you LESS because, well, their kid is "just sleeping" wherein it is actually a specialized care option and that should cost more, not less.
There is no way in hell I would do this. Nope. Too much potential for hassle and what about liability? What happens when you are asleep and some dckid gets up and hurts themselves or worse? Sure, it can happen at home too but since you are paid to care for the kid you know the societal double-standard would rear its ugly head. Suddenly you are found responsible because some 4 year isn't even parented enough to stay in his bed. Now the failure of his parents are YOUR problem.
I do overnight for select families. The first time I have a new child I don't sleep well at all. Even if they sleep well I'm still very aware of them being here and find I'm constantly checking the monitor. It makes the next day hard to deal with a full day of daycare kids.
I charge a premium for after 6 and over night. I charge $40 for anything after 6. So, 6-9 = 40.00. I charge 55.00 for overnight care. And that is after dinner until before lunch. I charge more if I know the child is a bad sleeper.
I opened with the intent to do all of those crazy hours that no one else would do. I learned my lesson very quickly. LOL You have to really make sure you can handle having the kids around that much and working that much. It's not like your own kids, you are way more aware of someone elses kids being in your home.
Aside from the fact that I wouldn't want to work 24 hours and I need my family time, I would not take kids overnight for the liability reasons Judy mentioned. What if the kid sleepwalks and gets hurt? What if the kid gets up super early and wanders around and gets hurt? What if the child dies in their sleep? What if the child accuses a member of your family of doing something to him/her at night while you were sleeping? All of these things would mean the end of your career in daycare and potentially worse...even if you are proven innocent in court. It is just way to hard to defend yourself if you were asleep and did not see what happened.
When I started I offered 24/7 care. This area is tough to get clients, so I had to start with something and we also did not have our son yet. A&B is right you are more aware of others kids in your home and it's hard to rest well. One of the kids that stayed sometimes overnight was a 5mo boy. When he came I would sleep besides him. I was so afraid of SIDS (I know, there is nothing I could do about if SIDS happened) but anyways I felt like I have to keep a close eye on him. So I woke up several times to check on him. I also had a 3yo girl that jumped the upper stairs gate (nap bedroom is upstairs) to go downstairs to the play area before I woke up. I do not know how she did not hurt herself. She was happily playing when I woke up... Also, as Judy mentioned most parents want to pay less because their kids are supposed to be sleeping and you technically are not doing much other than laying in bed... This service is not valued en enough and there is too much liability.
If I ever have to do it again I will charge per hour and it will the highest rate that a experienced nanny charge in this area.