OK, I'm certain that everyone would have different expectations and priorities, but here's what we did...

We had a babysitter come to our house. I was not happy with the idea of my child being in someone else's home - I wanted by child to be cared for in his own environment, sleep in his own bed at rest time etc. I would also be concerned about how safe someone else's home would be and whether the carer would become distracted by their own housework, telephone calls, tradesmen... If I was going to have my child cared for in someone else's home then I would probably use FDC where I know that the council carries out inspections and the home is scrutinised.

I always paid cash in hand. Would be happy to transfer directly into our carer's bank account (would probably be easier!) it is up to the babysitter to declare their income and pay tax. We did not claim any child care rebate (I think you can claim even if the carer doesn't have a provider number???) and... I doubt the income was declared. Enough said.

I would not personally want my babysitter to bring their own child. I would prefer that the carer focus solely on my child. By introducing another child a whole lot of issues are raised... is the other child well behaved, violent, demanding, good at sharing. Will the other child be noisy and keep my child awake when it's time to nap? Because I want my child cared for in my home, will the carer's child respect our house? Will that child be comfortable in someone else's home, even with his/her mum there? What if our rules are different? My kid knows the rules, but another child has different rules. Anyway, only me personally, but no, I would not want the babysitter to bring their own child UNLESS the babysitter was a friend and I knew the child and had seen the child interact with my own and knew that our rules and parenting were similar. But I would be very hesitant to have a friend as a paid babysitter... business and pleasure...

If you did find someone who was happy to have your child there as well I would think that you would have to charge less, as Marcellus said. And you may well find that many people are happy to have your DS around to play with their child if it makes your services more affordable!

Having your own child would be an advantage as I would expect that you are comfortable and confident with children, BUT the biggest nightmare of a BS we had was a woman who had raised her own children and therefore thought she knew how to care for my son better than I did. I found myself in a huge power struggle with her as she disregarded how I wanted things done... she was a mother with more experience than me so she knew what was right for my son... NOT!!! She was CRAZY though... Sooo... yes and no. I think it would depend on your attitude and personality and your willingness to care for the child in the way the parents want you to.

I did not expect my BS to do any housework as I preferred that they focus solely on my child/ren (my DD also during school holidays). I did expect that they cleaned up the kids lunch dishes and placed any dirty clothes in the dirty linen, tidied toys the kids had finished playing with (with the kids help!!) that sort of thing but nothing else. The crazy lady insisted on doing housework regardless of how many times I told her not to. Came home one day to find the clothes folded and the dinner on. My 18 month old DS had a massive bruise on his forehead that she couldn't explain - she was too busy doing the housework!!!

Sarah, this is just my experience and expectations... I'm sure that everyone else is different and I hope you can find an arrangement which suits you. Good luck!!