ad hoc minding/babysitting

[jessixx]

Hi all!!
I'm new here, only been minding 6 months and love it so far. I've had lots of enquiries from friends and other local mums about babysitting. Understanding it would probably only be a few hours in an evening as as frequent s about once a month- what do you think my responsibilities would be in terms of tracking and play planning. I feel like it would be nigh on impossible so wondered if anybody could advise. I wouldn't really even want to enter into a contract for such occasional work, especially with friends.

Tthanks in advance
Jess xxx

[watford wizz]

I guess it's your personal choice. Are you friends seeing your childminding service as "babysitting". So often working for "friends" becomes difficult, you need to set the tone. I offer overnight/evening care but just berceuse its at night doesn't mean my terms and conditions change. If it's only minimum hours I would do an ad hoc contract plus all normal paperwork. If it's regular hours or an add on to daytime hours I include it on my contracts. Nobody will respect your professional service if you don't respect and value yourself (learnt the hard way). You also need to make sure you are protected legally and insurance wise. Overnight care brings its own risks and needs careful thinking about.

[tess1981]

The more I read about childminders offering babysitting services after a week of working with children the more I applaud you.... It would be the last thing on my mind. I had a parent yesterday could she get me to babysit her children on a Saturday while she goes to a family party. Would start about 6 and not finish til about 1 or 2am. Rather than say Hell no I don't want to see children at the weekend (that's all children in general not just hers) I told her I will check my diary as I think I'm away but my 18 yo niece would pull her out. She knows the children as well. And thankfully I didn't have to make a weekend away up I am going away... I will continue to use this excuse each time a parent feels I have nothing better to do on my weekends than continue to work.... I like my families to know I have a busy social life at the weekends do they will not want to ask

[Jods]

As like Tess no thank you, thankfully I have girls who ride and compete so my weekends are taken up doing horse shows etc, so come evening time too wiped and ready for the wine!

I do offer it as I also offer overnight care, however it has been pointed out that I am far to expensive (well that being the point have deliberately priced myself out) xx


Good luck it's not my cup of tea, however plenty do do it and enjoy it xxx

[lollipop kid]

Hello,

I note you mention ad hoc childminding and babysitting. To me, they are completely different things, and should never be confused. Ad hoc childminding happens in your own home. Babysitting happens in the parents home, usually on weekend nights. Both benefit from the use of a pre-agreed contract and record-keeping to keep everything professional. I also recommend keeping a note of any monies received for these and entering them on your tax return spreadsheet.

Ad hoc childcare: I occasionally do this. I've just had a lady visit me asking me to give her a letter to cover ad hoc care that her child had with me in July and August 2013. I gave her receipts at the time and didn't hear anything further until she popped by yesterday asking for the letter confirming amount paid for this period. Thanks to good record-keeping, I typed the letter up for her last night and am waiting for her to collect it later today at some point (as I have a child-free day). I also know that I declared this money on my tax return for that period, as I mark up and tick off each attendance register month with the appropriate tax return year that I entered it on, and this is ticked off. (But that's just my way of working.)

Babysitting: I babysit for minded family children but only on a Friday or Saturday night, and usually only if they've booked me a couple of weeks in advance (as I hate having these sprung on me), and there are occasions when I've had to juggle requests from different families who want the same night.

I charge £x for the first 3 hours, then £5 per half hour (or part) thereafter. If the parent insists on paying me in childcare vouchers (I had one family who always did this), then I add 20% to their bill for inconvenience. (I had a family who always did this. I had to walk about 3 miles to their house and back, which was fine on the way there, but a nightmare on the way back late at night! You can insist on taxis, but this night, it had snowed heavily. They just said Thanks, saw me out, and didn't give a fig about how I was going to get back. Not even the buses were running. Took me about 45 minutes, unpaid, plus I had to wait several days for the voucher payment to reach my account. I stopped babysitting for them after that.)

At the start of each babysitting session, I use a PACEY 'Babysitting Checklist' form (which is especially handy where I've been asked to babysit for families I don't know, who have come to me through recommendation. I don't do this very often, any more though). This helps to keep everything on a professional footing.

As well as spelling out start time and end time of session, full address of session and contact details for both parents, it also has a space for medical notes/allergies/pets/expected visitors etc. - lots of useful information that may not necessarily have occurred to you before the session.

I would recommend getting a batch of these.

The reason I only babysit on Fridays or Saturdays (not both in the same weekend, I hasten to add!), is that I want to be alert for the babies I care for during the week, and I find that I am shattered the next day after a babysitting session, so I don't do any night preceding a normal childminding day.

I would also say to beware of people wanting to swap a minded session for a babysitting session. I stupidly agreed to this one time to let a single mum have a night out (as I felt a bit sorry for her). I told her my charge was £x (equivalent to my after-school rate), and she could stay out for as long as she wanted, using an unused pre-paid after-school session to pay for it. I arrived at 7pm and she returned at 5am!!! Boy, did I feel stupid - but it was a lesson learned.

Just sharing these tips with you, as I can sense your enthusiasm, which is lovely, but be aware - so will the parents and you don't want to be taken advantage of!!!



All the best,

L

PS: No tracking or play planning is required for this under EYFS. Just find out what the child's interests are and go from there.

[Kbrands]

Hi all!!
I'm new here, only been minding 6 months and love it so far. I've had lots of enquiries from friends and other local mums about babysitting. Understanding it would probably only be a few hours in an evening as as frequent s about once a month- what do you think my responsibilities would be in terms of tracking and play planning. I feel like it would be nigh on impossible so wondered if anybody could advise. I wouldn't really even want to enter into a contract for such occasional work, especially with friends.

Tthanks in advance
Jess xxx

I offer babysitting as well as childminding.

I don't do contracts, they say when, I turn up, do a few quiet activities (most usually just require a story) and put them to bed. Def don't do dev tracking for them, totally not necessary. The only piece of paperwork I do is a v quick risk assessment, this is a requirement of my insurance company. Oh and I give the parents a reciept and keep a copy myself for tax purposes.