If you do a "parents night out"....

[Crazy8]

what hours do you do? do you keep children up the entire time? do they bring pj's, etc?? And how much do you charge in relation to your daily rate (since I know all our rates are different)??

I am thinking of doing a Sat. night, not sure what times, don't think I want it to extend beyond 10pm, but I'm not sure my littles can even stay up that late. Just not sure how to do it all.

[newtodaycare22]

I'm doing my first one a week before Xmas, so parents can have some kid-free shopping time! I charge 32 per day normally, for 10 hours. I'm keeping them 5 extra hours on a Friday night for 30.00 additional dollars.
Everyone is participating, so I guess it's not an outrageous price. ::

They are bringing pjs and tooth brushes. I'm keeping them til 10 but we'll brush teeth and put on pjs for a movie around 8 or 8:30. I have 3-5 year olds and I think some will stay awake out of excitement, and others will crash.

[SunflowerMama]

I do it at least every other month and usually monthly.

It's always on a Friday and goes until 8pm.

I don't charge anything extra for it and at drop off the parents just bring pjs.

My husband grabs a couple of Hot n Ready pizzas on his way home from work, we eat, play and then watch a movie untill pick up.

Parents love it and I don't mind giving them that few extra hours each month.

[meganlavonnesmommy]

I do them from time to time.
6pm until midnight, usually on a friday night. I charge $25 per child, $10 for siblings. I provide dinner (usually pizza), and then a craft and a movie. The kids come in pjs, and lay down after the movie, usually around 9pm and crash on the floor with blankets and pillows.

[small_steps]

I do them from time to time.
6pm until midnight, usually on a friday night. I charge $25 per child, $10 for siblings. I provide dinner (usually pizza), and then a craft and a movie. The kids come in pjs, and lay down after the movie, usually around 9pm and crash on the floor with blankets and pillows.

I do them about once a month or once every other month and this is almost exactly what I do. I charge a little more for siblings (usuallly give $10 off the sibling).

[blueclouds29]

I tried doing a Parents Night Out and none of my parents were interested! Ugh I was so excited to send out the flyers and not one responded

[mismatchedsocks]

I do it once in December Friday night 5pm-9pm and charge $20 and feed dinner, snack and put in movie at 730ish.

[Lianne]

I'm hosting mine this Saturday. Mine is free, my thsank you to the parents for another year together. The kids come at 4pm in their pajamas (its a pj party) and we have make-your-own pizza for dinner and we do a craft. This year we're decorating gingerbread houses (made from graham crackers) that I'll build ahead of time. Otherwise, they just play. The kids under 2yrs leave by 10pm and those over 2yrs are welcome to sleep over. In the morning the kids play, we have pancakes and fruit for breakfast and they're picked up by 9:30am.

[Crazy8]

thanks for all the input! Surprised to see so many do Friday nights, I was thinking a Saturday night would be better because then they aren't here all day AND all night. Thought I might get more takers that way, my parents would probably feel guilty leaving their kids here that long on a Friday so might not do it.

[mismatchedsocks]

I used to think like that, but sometimes its easier to keep them here, for parents and me. I dont want to work on Saturdays, but maybe some parents would like that! Maybe take a poll in your daycare?

[MarinaVanessa]

I do parent's night out on an ask-for basis. Getting several parent's to go out on the same night didn't work for me so if I'm not doing anything and a parent asks me then we'll schedule a date night on a Friday night. I usually do it from 6pm until 10 or 11pm. I charge $5 an hour with a $20 minimum. FT for me is $160 which comes to $3.20 an hour.

Most teenagers that babysit charge $6-$10 an hour so I decided to charge my regular drop-in rate to be competitive. I also don't just offer it to my regular FT, PT and drop-in clients, I open it up to other people also. Neighbors, relatives, refferals etc. Parents like the price and the fact that I am older than most babysitters and that I hold a FCC license. They like the fact that they can leave their kids with someone with experience with childcare as a business rather than just something that someone does from time to time, that I have been background checked, TB tested, CPR certified etc. Most "babysitters" don't have any of these done.

The low fee is worth it to me because I really don't mind having kids here and my family and I don't usually go out and or things on Fridays anyway. Sometimes I even do it on a Saturday night if we'll just be home anyway. We watch movies wth out own kids on Friday nights anyway so why not just add a few kids and get a few extra bucks out of it? Parents either feed their kids at home or brng them a hot dinner to eat here. I have the parents bring the kids PJs and after we clean up after dinner they brush their teeth and dress in their jammies. They play until about 8 or so then we clean up. I'll put babies to sleep around 8:30pm in pack n plays and then the older kids get bundled in blankets and snuggle on the couch. Usually they're all crashed out by 9:00pm on their own but if they're older kids and their parents are ok with it they can stay up and finish watching the movie until their parents get back.