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freaking out about childcare

yasdnil0284yasdnil0284 member
in D.C. Area Babies

ok so my hubby and i are not even pregnant yet, but i keep hearing what people are paying for childcare and it's quite daunting.

we live in alexandria, and honestly are trying to determine if having a child here is even feasible for us.

does anyone have any suggestions?  has anyone done a nanny share? if it's not too personal, can you give ballpark figures for what you pay monthly?

i figure we better calculate this out before even thinking about getting pregnant.......

thanks in advance to anyone that responds!

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Re: freaking out about childcare

  • SofkaSofka
    we are in Loudoun and pay $1440/mo for the 18-24mo room. The 6week-18mo rate is over $1700/mo. This is full time, 5x/week. Rate will drop a little after DD turns 2 y.o.
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  • mek10976mek10976
    There is a big price difference between in-home daycare and centers.  Centers are expensive - on average $1500/month.  Our in-home is $900/month.
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  • HikerBride07HikerBride07

    Our in home is $225/week or around $900/mo (months w/five weeks suck).  The two centers that I would have chosen from if I could afford it are between $1600-1800/mo which is not feasible with baby #2 on the way. 

    I'm still trying to think of ways that we can make it work financially so we can put DD in the preschool of my choice.

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  • yasdnil0284yasdnil0284 member
    wow that is a big difference.....in-home sounds like we might actually be able to swing it........any tips for finding a good in-home daycare?  i suppose internet is probably the best bet
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  • ArtslvrArtslvr

    It's a fair question to ask yourselves.  Daycare in this metro area is not cheap. 

    In 2007 I took a poll on here about how people found their childcare and how much they pay.  I polled again in 2009. I made a spreadsheet with the responses - should be somewhat helpful to get ball park.

    I'd say the choices you have from cheapest to most expensive goes like this: in-home, nanny share, center, nanny.  Roughly. 

    Link to spreadsheet:  https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0Aj1JxqE0aW0JcDZMaFhsTkk5RmRVMmNWeTBrQ05aZVE&hl=en&output=html

       

     

     

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  • suecadencesuecadence
    In my experience, a nanny share was going to be a bit more expensive than a center.  In DC the going rate for a nanny share when we were looking into it was around $1600/month.  The daycare we used from 4 months to 18 months was $1400/month.  We are transitioning this week to a new center which is about $1200/month.
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  • slukd79slukd79 member
    We currently pat $1330/mo for a center spot for an infant in Rosslyn.
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  • victoria1212victoria1212 member

    I live in Alexandria and looked at 10+ in-home daycare and did not find any that I would place my child in (and that had an opening) for less than $300 per week. The Bright Horizons in Crystal City is $404 a week and the Bright Start in Cameron Station is $400+. Both those centers have a very long waiting lists (14-20 months) and if you don't get in as an infant it is even harder to get in later. For nanny-shares that we looked- it was $15-20 per hour split between the families so if you need 40 hours per week it was around $400 plus taxes.

    I don't want to scare you but while this area has a great variance in costs- if you live close in and work close in or downtown- it is much more expensive than if you live further out.

     

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  • Hey JellisyHey Jellisy
    I find Infant Toddler a little more expensive than standard in home rates, but if you check out their website, you will get a good idea on what in home providers go for. 
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    From December 29, 2011
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  • AdkAngellAdkAngell
    imageArtslvr:

    It's a fair question to ask yourselves.  Daycare in this metro area is not cheap. 

    In 2007 I took a poll on here about how people found their childcare and how much they pay.  I polled again in 2009. I made a spreadsheet with the responses - should be somewhat helpful to get ball park.

    I'd say the choices you have from cheapest to most expensive goes like this: in-home, nanny share, center, nanny.  Roughly. 

    Link to spreadsheet:  https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0Aj1JxqE0aW0JcDZMaFhsTkk5RmRVMmNWeTBrQ05aZVE&hl=en&output=html

       

     

     

    Thanks for sharing this spreadsheet! My husband and I don't really know where to start but would prefer a nanny or nanny-share but have heard how competitive the nanny market is in Arlington. These response help provide some perspective and the links are helpful too.

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  • MrsSstrugMrsSstrug

    one thing to consider trying to setting up a 'baby budget" on your current expenses and try living on that. i always have a $1k a month line item mind for baby costs (we are not TTCing but trying to get our heads around the costs).  we have tried putting that amount of money away per month in a savings account as if we have to make a daycare payment (some folks may pay less for daycare but i don't think a $1k a month cost is out of the question around here). we haven't been able to make that full payment yet so no TTC for us.

     

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