Daycare Question

mandyroy · June 2013

Alrighty, I am currently in the search for daycare when I go back to teaching in the fall. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all the choices, daycare center, home daycare, nanny, babysitter.... Anyway, for those of you using daycare, how did you make your decision, and how much are you paying a week.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!!!

tilsonc · June 2013

I work remote (in my house) so I wanted LO to go somewhere. We also wanted somewhere close where DH could drop off on way to work. Cost is $273 a week for full time. We checked into a nanny and they want $12/hour for 1 child. It is more expensive and it would be hard for me to work and have them around the house at the same time.

llarkinburns · June 2013

LO is at a daycare center one of two babies. Full time is 150 a week. I chose based on gut instinct and accreditation. He's been there four weeks so far and is doing really well. It's smallish and they do lots of educational stuff with the older kids. The place has been in my community for 27 years and came highly recommended too, which helped us make our decision. Side note the most expensive daycare in my area was 220 a week.

jmdahn · June 2013

We do daycare at an in home location. It is 175 a week for 1 and 275 for 2. Our Ms Cheryl is amazing and is part of the family now!!!

jahjbmr · June 2013

Ours is a home daycare and our families are friends. It is 100 a week for 1 kid and then 50 more a week for each additional kid.

PipSqueak0313 · June 2013

LO is in a daycare down the road from where I work. A few of my coworkers have their kids there too. We get a discount so we pay 180 per week. Normal rate is 200 per week which seems to be the standard price around here. As an added bonus, the daycare does do cloth diapers so I can save extra by not having to buy sposies for daycare.

I figure it is a good sign when I see the older kids wanting to stop by to say hi or bye to their old babyroom teachers as they arrive or leave for the day.

ShadyKull · June 2013

We are doing a nanny, but only because we only need it for 2 days per week (my mom and MIL are covering the other days). If we had to do full-time, he would probably go to a day care because hiring a nanny ain't cheap (especially a good experienced one). Then next year, we will most likely put him in day care so he can get the social interaction that it provides.

ETA Sorry, forgot to include cost. We are paying our nanny $12 an hour, but that is a good bit less than she usually gets, so we will probably up that to $15 or $16 an hour sooner or later if all goes well with her.

ejs1of3 · June 2013

We go to a church daycare and we pay 140 a week for 3 days. It is about 200 a week if we went 5 days. We can pick how may days and only pay when she goes which most daycares wont do.The price does down as they get older.

RibbitGrl930 · June 2013

I searched for reviews/complaints and took tours to get a "vibe" off the places and staffs. Ultimately, the decision was made for me when a spot opened at one of them. We pay $150.week.

wholenewworld · June 2013

We are going to go with a center. It will be 370/week for FT, which is ridiculous and more than our mortgage! However, the least expensive center in our area that we found was 315/week and I felt uncomfortable with the quality of care there when we toured. The reason we chose the place that we did was because we got a good impression from both of the caregivers in the infant room and they had no swings, bouncers, exersaucers, so I knew my kid wasnt going to be stuck in some contraption all day. We toured another, more expensive center where all three of the infants in the room were in some sort of "device" when we walked in... Not cool.

Good luck with your decision!

ETA that we also looked up the violations of all of the child care facilities that we were interested in. Not sure if you can do this in every state, but it was crucial in our decision.

caladpi02 · June 2013

We are doing an in home which is 1510 a month for five days with food. Centers here are 1800 to 2100 a month for infants and nannies are 18 to 22 an hour, not including the extra percentage for payroll and taxes, etc. gotta love San Francisco.

LexpectoPatronum · June 2013

Not sure where you live, because day care costs vary widely state to state. We looked into it before our baby was born and inhome was 250/week with hours that would have been very difficult for us. Day care centers were anywhere from 300500/week. Ultimately we decided it was cheaper and better for our family for my husband to be a stay at home dad. We live in Minneapolis. I believe MN has some if the highest day care costs in the country. Average price for is is about 14,000/year if I remember correctly.

RibbitGrl930 · June 2013

wholenewworld:
We are going to go with a center. It will be 370/week for FT, which is ridiculous and more than our mortgage! However, the least expensive center in our area that we found was 315/week and I felt uncomfortable with the quality of care there when we toured. The reason we chose the place that we did was because we got a good impression from both of the caregivers in the infant room and they had no swings, bouncers, exersaucers, so I knew my kid wasnt going to be stuck in some contraption all day. We toured another, more expensive center where all three of the infants in the room were in some sort of "device" when we walked in... Not cool. Good luck with your decision! ETA that we also looked up the violations of all of the child care facilities that we were interested in. Not sure if you can do this in every state, but it was crucial in our decision.

Just out of curiosity, what is behind your aversion to "contraptions?" I'm not criticizing or arguing that aversion. I'm just wondering what objects you have to devices like swings and exersaucers that it played such a big role in your decision?

spring_time · June 2013

I am not using daycare for this LO, but I sent my DS to daycare when he was a year old. We used a center for about three months, and switched to a home daycare. The only advice I can give is to go with your gut. I went to all the interviews fully armed with a list of questions. The reality is that most of the questions are already dictated by law or licensing for daycares. You might find a few slight variations, but most of the answers are the same.

At first, my DH was very opposed to an in-home daycare. I visited probably about 10 centers. I went with the one that answered my questions and felt the best to me, but I never felt truly comfortable. I cried nearly every day. After a few incidents with the center, I convinced my DH to let me try an in-home daycare. I spoke to several providers, but knew who the person was going to be after my first conversation with her on the phone. After all my research and information gathering, it came down to that gut feeling of who would be best for my family. The only time I cried with her was the day I pulled my DS out to SAH.

My reasons for liking the in-home daycare:

1. The person you pick your child up from is the same person you dropped him off with. At the center, I usually picked him up from floaters and they had to rely on the basic notes left by the providers.

2. You always know who is watching your child When problems arise, you can work on a plan together and know it will be implemented.

3. Smaller groups of children = less illness

4. You get to know the other families in the daycare. At the center, there were biters and DS was constantly being bit. There were never details and I never knew if it was the same kid biting. At the in home daycare, there were issues like that, but I knew if one kid bit my DS, I also knew (based on personalities) that he probably did something to her the day before. It was more like sibling tiffs, rather than strangers attacking my "innocent" baby.

5. There are also a variety of age ranges in one group. DS learned from the older kids, and learned how to care for younger kids. He already knew how to treat a baby when DD arrived. At a center, they are generally grouped by age.

6. Mine provided flexibility in days and times, some do not

7. Flexibility in the day based on the group. At a center, they followed a schedule every day. That is great for predictability. However, at the home daycare some days they might spend the whole day outside, some days they might do crafts, some days it was a walking trip to the park or McDonalds playland. There was variety.

8. Special needs were taken care of. There were several extreme food allergies, and she was able to cater specifically to those children.

9. I just plain liked the home atmosphere

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