Need help coming up with rates for my home daycare

NewFamily09 · December 2011

I watch kids in my home. Right now, I am just watching a 6 month old a few days a month. DH and I are barely scraping by with just this income. We are actually losing a little bit of our savings each month and I'm about to start grad school next summer. I put an add on CL to see if I could start watching another kid. I'm just having trouble coming up with rates, because I've gotten 3 emails so far. I charge the 6 month old $50 a day. I usually do cheaper rates for full time. One woman has two girls, ages 2 and 4. I'm torn because normally I would charge $775 for the 2 year old and $725 for a 4 year old. That adds up to $1500 a month, which in my opinion wouldn't be worth it for most working moms. So I was thinking of taking off 200 and charging her $1300. Part of me still thinks that's high. It works out to almost $60 a day. The problem is, if I go any lower, I'm not sure it's worth my own time.

If you have 2 kids, how much do you pay for both of them? Do you get a discount for having 2 kids? How does $1300 for 2 kids sound to you? I don't live in a huge city, just the suburbs of Raleigh, NC. The only comparison I can make is that my neighbor across the street watches kids and she told me she charges $40 a day. I'd ask DH for his opinion, but he says charge $45 per day per kid (990 per month)and that includes food. While it'd be awesome to get that much, the parents would have to make a lot of money to afford it. What do you think? Is $1300 for 2 kids fair?

ETA: In my state I can only watch 2 kids, so if I took these two girls, I'd drop the 6 month old. The mom is a friend and I told her this was a possibility, since watching her son doesn't give us much income. She already has a backup.

saraboston · December 2011

I pay more than that for one kid

sock poop · December 2011

I pay $75 per day to our live-out nanny (cash - no receipts) and if they go to my back-up in home place, it is $50 per day for the two of them.

knbarr · December 2011

The area I'm at in Michigan that is really expensive. I only pay $380 a month for 1 kid for full time.

I guess you would have to find out what others are charging- charge that or a little less. Will it be costing you anything addtional to have a daycare at your home?

rnfromtn · December 2011

Are you a certified in home daycare? Do you have a structured schedule? Do/would you include diapers? The inhome daycare that DS goes to charges 35 dollars per day. The daycare at my work charges 85 dollars per day. I think 45 dollars a day sounds appropriate for an in home daycare.

delg23 · December 2011

It sounds fair to me but I would look into how much regular daycare costs in your area and select a lower price than that. In NYC its like 1800$ for one kid so I'd throw a party for 1300$ for two kids but I know the area I am originally from its about 800$ or even less for one kid so in that type of col area 1300 for 2 sounds accurate. And home daycares are about 50$ a day for 1 kid. And from what I know usually in home daycares do give a discount for 2 kids.

Monicagail1 · December 2011

Daycare costs are very regional, but where I live (midwest, semi-rural but 30-45 min outside 2 major cities) that would be a bit high. Around here full time licensed home daycare runs about $500 a month (or $1,000 for 2 kids, assuming no sibling discount). You didn't say if you were licensed/claiming this as income so if not I'd expect you to be a little cheaper as well.

Check on your local board. They might have a better idea of what's competitive in your area.

rlyttle · December 2011

That's way to high for my area. I pay $125/week for my little guy, but seems to be a bit low around here. I would say the average in home price here is $150/week. Obviously the DC centers being higher.

ABColeslaw · December 2011

Most of us won't be able to help you, because it all depends on where you live. I think $1500 a month for two full time kids is a steal! I live in Boston though and you can easily pay more than that for just 1 kid.

hmp1 · December 2011

When I first started looking at daycare options it seemed like a certified home daycare was about $150 a week. I go to a center and pay a lot more than that. If you are not competitive with other home daycares, why would someone pick you? I would do some additional market research and see what others charge and not charge more. I think most places offer something like a $10 discount per week for siblings.

SuperCuteBenz · December 2011

I am in the Midwest as well, and daycare for my two kids would be $1120/month. It would be $1400 for those month with more than 4 weeks.

ETA: That is with a sibling discount.

chrisncassie · December 2011

I pay $145/week for LO and DS#1 is only there after school for a few hours, he's $45/week ..

the rates at our DCP only go down like $5-20 when they get transitioned to new rooms.

NewFamily09 · December 2011

Monicagail1:

Daycare costs are very regional, but where I live (midwest, semi-rural but 30-45 min outside 2 major cities) that would be a bit high. Around here full time licensed home daycare runs about $500 a month (or $1,000 for 2 kids, assuming no sibling discount). You didn't say if you were licensed/claiming this as income so if not I'd expect you to be a little cheaper as well.

Check on your local board. They might have a better idea of what's competitive in your area.

Good question. I am unlicensed, which is why I can only keep 2 kids unrelated to me. I am totally by the book, so I report all of my income, which also allows all the parents to claim childcare expenses on their own taxes. I know some DCP's that cheat and don't report the income, but I would never even attempt to do that.

katiez411 · December 2011

I just looked up on care.com and for your area w/2 kids its anywhere from $10-$14/hr (total not per kid) depending on how many years experience you have.

Most places around here (comparable rates to NC), I would expect to pay about $700-$900/mo for my toddler and then probably half that for an older child. So between $1000-1300/month for 2 kids would seem fair to me, provided that meals/snacks where covered by the provider and any diapers were provided by parents.

NCMichelle · December 2011

I'm in Winston-Salem, NC... Both of my students go to an in-home, licensed daycare. She watches 5 kids, all under the age of 3. We pay $37/per kid for 8:00-1:00 care. She provides food, but I do diapers/wipes.

IncogNeato · December 2011

I pay $175 per week for an in-home daycare and consider it a steal.

emiliemadison · December 2011

As everyone has said, it really depends on YOUR area. Call a few other home daycares and find out what they charge for siblings of those ages. In my area, $1300/month for two kids would be an *awesome* deal.

Jenelle101 · December 2011

I have a licensed childcare in the Bay Area, CA. I charge the same for infants and toddlers. I charge $60/day if a child is here 1-3 days per week. If it's 4-5 days per week, I charge $50/day. If there are 2 kids from the same family, I give a 10% discount for the second child. So I would charge $1900/month for the 2 kids. This includes all the food (formula too). I go through a food program that reimburses me almost 100%. I also advertise on CL and care.com. GL!

Kingston54 · December 2011

I think it really varies based on where you live. In PA where we are, the "state rate" is $22 a day. That's at a regular licensed day care, etc. I have friends who have their children in in-home daycares and pay anywhere from $20 to $30 a day.

I don't know what salaries are like there - but for me, I'd rather just SAH than spend $1,300 a month on daycare. MIL watches LO so I am lucky not to have to face this dilemma.

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