How much do you spend on daycare?

mau_loa · February 2012

DH and I are bringing up the kids topic more and more, but I'm freaking out about the cost of daycare. I've heard that it can be up to $2,000/month! Is that the average?

Can you tell me A) how much do you spend a month for 1 child what type of daycare (nanny, school, lady down the street, etc.)

Thanks!

QueSrah · February 2012

To some extent I think prices depend on how far out from DC you live. We pay $1200/month for an in-home in Arlington.

Sofka · February 2012

we are at a center, in Loudoun Co. For infants here the price is $21,000/yr (don't remember the per-month break-down but you can figure it out). It gets cheaper as they get older b/c the ratio of teachers to students changes. For pre-school, we pay $1400/mo, this does not include lunch.

beano · February 2012

We are on several wait lists for infant daycare centers and they are $1500-1900 a month in Old Town. Namny would cost more b/c you're paying $18 per hour plus overtime plus taxes, but if you do a nanny share that will help lower the cost.

Hey Jellisy · February 2012

We used infant toddler to do our in home placement. The costs vary based on the number of hours you use, they have their prices posted on their website. We use the maximum amount of time and pay $1100 a month. My cousin sends her DD to an in home in annandale and pays $800 a month. Costs really vary. In my experience you can usually find care that fits your budget.

mcatmay · February 2012

We're at a center in Montgomery county and are paying ~$1600/month for a 6month old. We could have found an inhome daycare for ~$1000/month but couldn't find one we were comfortable with. I know other moms, however, who were successful finding an inhome and are really happy with the care they get.

amh_navyblue · February 2012

With DD#1, we paid $195/week for in home day care in Dunn Loring/Merrifield area of NoVA. When she moved to preschool in Falls Church, we paid $950/month (which is pretty phenomenal for full day preschool, from what I know). For DD#2, she started at the same inhome daycare, but the price went up to $220/week. When we moved, we found another in home day care in Oakton for $265, which is where she is now. When I was searching for something in the Fair Oaks area, many places quoted me around $300/week. In my experience, in home tends to be a bit cheaper than a center. We've had great luck finding good in home day cares.

Jitterbug2668 · February 2012

1,000/month for in home relative.

mkelley127 · February 2012

We have our daughter in a daycare center in Ashburn. We pay $329/week = $1,316/month.

kastle · February 2012

I'm doing p/t at a licensed in-home for $50/day.

2k isn't unheard of, but I wouldn't call it "average." More like upper end.

WinesNotWhines · February 2012

$1700/month for an infant/toddler in a center in MoCo. (That's for one kid, but the price is the same until age 2). We are definitely at the high range for our area though.

victoria1212 · February 2012

I just did our taxes and we paid $16,900 for daycare last year for an in-home in Alexandria.

vtkgirl77 · February 2012

I think mine is around $1300 for the baby but I get a whopping 5% discount since we have 2 kids in the daycare.

Mine is an in-home provider but she runs two day cares next door to each other and has 3-4 staff that she has to pay.

tomandcourt · February 2012

It does change with age. We're in a small center, and when J was a newborn we were paying $250/week (I think the price has now risen to $275/week).

Now that he's two, we're paying $200/week.

I believe this is on the lower end for centers. I know some of the larger ones (like Bright Horizons) are more like $1600/month for newborns.

KelXoXo · February 2012

We pay ~$600/month ($150/week), for regular Mon-Thurs care. Anytime I also need her on a Friday, I pay $40/day. She would be considered inhome, but its a neighbor, and its just my daughter and her 2 year old.

This price is ridiculously cheap even for my area (Bristow) - most inhomes here for full time care were running ~$250/week.

claraj · February 2012

We pay $1376/month for full-day preschool at a center in Old Town (DD is 3). I believe the price for infants is $1455.

LindseyJW · February 2012

we pay $250/week for one at an in-home/day care center hybrid that is run out of an uninhabited house and licensed as an in-home in Del Ray (alexandria)

tracy042206 · February 2012

In-home daycare was $250/week for under 2 and I thought she was cheaper than most, but she lived right next door to my bff in a great neighborhood and had been doing this for 20 years. Now this pricing was 4 years ago and she has not raised her prices on us at all - in fact it has gone down as our kids age and adding #2 gave us a discount. We now pay $321/week for 2, both over 2yo which I think is amazing for around here and the level of care that we receive since she is like family now.

The daycare is in Olney, MD which is definitely the burbs and cheaper than Rockville, Bethesda or other closer in burbs.

Mrs.Handy · February 2012

$225 for an in_home in Alexandria. We love her.

preissless1 · February 2012

A little under $320/week for in-home care connected through a service called Monday Morning Moms.

Artslvr · February 2012

$200 a week for in-home in Springfield. I get the side eye on that price, but all three of my kids have gone to her, so we obviously love her. I only say this with the advice that don't be fooled that more $$ means higher quality when it comes to in-home.

If I had $2000 a month to spend I'd consider hiring a nanny (actually a nanny is prob. more than that).

Here's a spreadsheet with more info on prices - they vary widely based on location, inhome vs center, how much the provider provides (food, diapers, wipes) etc etc.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aj1JxqE0aW0JcDZMaFhsTkk5RmRVMmNWeTBrQ05aZVE

alliapistor · February 2012

I pay $300/week for in-home in Fairfax (between Dunn Loring and Vienna). She just upped the price to $325, but we get to stay the same since we just started in November. My DCP has 2 assistants. I provide diapers, wipes and breastmilk. When LO starts real food, she will provide it.