Asking for advice/ shared experiences/ recommendations on mother helpers
Dear Neighbors,
I was hoping you could share you knowledge/experiences with Mother's Helpers. We are considering having someone help us with baby laundry, some light house cleaning and cooking for 2-3hrs three times a week. When looking around, it seems that this falls into the category of "Mother's Helpers". Has anyone hired someone on this role? How did it work out? Did they come around while everyone was in the house? Or only when the house was empty? How much do you pay? What is a reasonable pay for this area? (I have found very contradictory messages online as to whether they should be paid more or less than a babysitter) Has anyone tried having a teenager on this role? Any advice on that?would teen parents support this? Do teens get paid the same as older adults? And how did you find this person? Any advice/sharing stories and knowledge/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Natalia
Parent Replies
hi - my 13yo daughter is a mother's helper. the family who hired her has a 9mo old and 2 1/2 yo, and met our daughter while she was volunteering at her old daycare. she helps them out 2x / week, each time for 2-3 hrs, with the tasks you mention above. there is usually a parent home, but i think on occasion the mom has left her with one child for a short time. i think the rate should be less than what you'd pay a high school or older babysitter. i'm happy to share more, feel free to contact me.
We hired someone exactly for this role when baby #2 was born, about 20 hours a week for 3 months. We found her on care.com. She was 23. We paid $16 per hour, gave her an extra car we had for her to use (not just st our house) and used miles to get her tickets to Dominican Republic. We did these things bc $16 felt low. She did every chore I asked, was dependable, played with my 4 year old when I needed, and was college educated.
I now have a 17 year old and a 13 year old occasionally come play with the 4 year old while I’m with baby, for $10-11 an hour. They only play, though, not clean and with only one kid at a time.