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24th Jan 2023

Woman fumes as mum charges per hour to babysit, including late pick-up fees

Callum Boyle

The woman was shocked to hear her mum’s demands

Childcare can be tough. Finding the right person to look after your child at an affordable price isn’t something that comes easy.

More often than not, parents will rely on other family members to help them out but for one woman she was left shocked after he mum demanded a fee of £15 an hour to babysit.

The woman, who lives a 15-minute drive away, posted her experiences on Reddit but opted to remain anonymous. She explained that she asked her mum as he doesn’t have much happening on a day-to-day-basis so can help, but still charges a fee to look after her grandchild.

In the post, she wrote: “She said that she will charge me $20/hr [£16] for each hour she takes care of the baby, plus late fees if we are late for pickup.

“We must provide her with a car seat, stroller, bottles, and pretty much double of everything we have at our home to compensate for taking the baby to her house.”

She also explained that she would struggle to be able to afford the hourly fee and is worried that her family could be plunged into even more debt.

“I’m on the fence about enrolling my baby into an infant daycare instead as the cost will overall be lower and a little closer to our home,” she added.

“Due to our jobs, we cannot work from home so we are in desperate need of childcare. Everyone else in our family works full time so they cannot help us as they have a similar nine to five schedule.”

Some people replying to the post expressed their sympathy for the mother while others defended the grandmother.

One person wrote: “She’s completely judging her by saying she should have a ‘traditional’ home and stay home instead of work.”

Another said: “Sorry to be blunt and rude but maybe don’t have a child if you can’t afford to take care of them. And if your plan was always go back to work you should of discussed that during the pregnancy with your mum.

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