What to charge for 4 hours of care??

[skyee]

What to charge for 4 hours of care, temporary until the summer? I have no clue what to charge.

Thanks Ladies

[Momof4]

I used to offer 1/2 days at $25/day but I won't do it any more because it's too disruptive to our day. If it's temporary then that's not so bad for you.

[Spixie33]

I have done 1/2 days in the past also and it was at 1/2 the full time rate. Anything less than 5 hours is considered a half day and anything over 5 hours was a full day rate.

I agree with Mom of 4 that 1/2 days can be disruptive. The worst is when they arrive just for lunch and then are expected to go for nap time at your home. That is a lot of hard transitions for the child to go through in a short time i.e arrival at daycare, lunch, cleanup and then nap. The last thing the child wants to do is sleep when they have arrived just a short while ago. They want to play and be active with their friends and play with the daycare toys.

A morning 1/2 day might be better. I have never had that. lol

[jodaycare]

I charge $25 for 5 hours or less. I agree with the others that mornings might be better if you have a choice.

[notaunicorn]

if it includes food I charge full day rate. however temporary for you so you might charge 2/3

[Mum2Boo]

I would charge a half day rate too.
Is the half day in the afternoon? & if so will the DCK need an afternoon nap?
I had a 16 month old who would arrive just in time for their afternoon nap on their half day. Needless to say it was difficult to get them down & I wouldn't do it again. In fact I have a note in my policy document stating that if the child is a "afternoon napping" child then I will not take them on for half day afternoons :/

[Momof4]

The reason my half day rate is high is to discourage it. People can pay another $10 and use the entire day which is much better for everyone. I had a family in care who used 6 hours/day on a regular basis and paid the same rate as the people using a 9 hour day. I considered a 1/2 day 4.5 hours or less since my full days are 9 hours. I also have a rule now that children must be dropped off by 9am when we get busy and can't be picked up until 3pm when naptime is over so there you have 6 hours.

[playfelt]

Depends a bit on what 4 hours child is there as in what services beyond supervision will they need ie snacks, meals, crafts, bedding for naps, etc.

The fact it is temporary means you do have some flexibility in the sense that you are only committing for a short time. My daily rate is $40 and I would probably charge $25 based on the hours wasting the day. If it includes a lunch and one snack then $30 is more reasonable as in $25 for care and $5 for food.

[mom-in-alberta]

Based on a $40 daily rate (as mine is), I would also do between $25 and 30. Probably $30, because chances are good lunch would be included, too.

[DeeDee]

I don't don't do half days. They pay $30 no matter how long their child is there. That way most people don't want a half day. I find it just disrupts the whole day.