Daycare Centers that charge by the hour?

MomtobeNJ · May 2013

Question: How common is it to find a daycare center (not in-home) that charges by the hour and allows you to set your own standing schedule?

This is the arrangement we have now, and it really works for us because DH's work schedule is different every day of the week. He brings her in anywhere between 11 am and 1 pm. I pick her up on my way home at 5 - 5:30. On Wednesdays she goes for a full day. So I'm trying to figure out if this is typical, or do most centers offer either full day or half day and that's it?

We are really happy with our center. However, we are starting to house hunt and we're hoping to move by the end of the summer. There are several towns we are looking in, so I can't start to research new daycare centers just yet.

tig594 · May 2013

DDs daycare has a 5 hour or less rate and the full 8 hour rate. You also have to pay whether they are there or not if they are full time but I think that is pretty standard.

cbmp06 · May 2013

There are two in our area and are considered "drop in" childcare. They charge by the hour and require 24 hours notice before bringing your child in.

jbatch · May 2013

Not many around here do that.. I run a daycare and we have no reason to do that and I don't see how they could make much money doing that and how staffing would work..

Neener73 · May 2013

There aren't any in this area. Only one accepts drop-ins. They still charge for either a full or half day.

MrsWindyCity · May 2013

hocus:
I've never heard of this around here. Centers have no reason to offer this because there are wait lists to get a regular full time spot so it doesn't make sense for them to bother with anything else.

Ditto.

LoCarb · May 2013

There are two chain centers in my area that charge by the hour. They are also open to midnight. You have to provide own food and crib. Area are separated by big and little kids with most activity based on play v. Education. They charge abt $10/hr.

MomtobeNJ · May 2013

Just to clarify, we don't change our hours around every week. I agree that would be crazy to manage. We just have different hours every day. She goes in at 1 on Mondays, 11:30 on Tuesdays, 9 on Wednesdays, etc. I would also have to give 24 hours notice, get approval and pay for additional hours if I needed to bring her in any time other than what we have scheduled.

And this daycare also has a wait list, so it clearly works out well for them!

MoreThanABride · May 2013

I've never heard of one that does that.

FemShep · May 2013

Our daycare doesn't charge by the hour, but they do offer 3 different rates depending on the number of hours you use. They'll also accomodate PT infant care if they have another family who will take the other days.

Do you have a timeframe for moving? Depending on your LO's age, you may be able to go into the toddler room, which sometimes has more flexibility thanks to larger staff/child ratios.

ss+el · May 2013

We sometimes use a center that charges by the hour, but if DS were there more than 28 hours a week, it would cost us more than just keeping a FT spot at a traditional center. I imagine that's pretty typical.

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Daycare Centers that charge by the hour?

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