Childcare?

Izzy0927 · August 2014

Alright, I might be crazy early here, but I grew up in NYC where it's not uncommon to get on a PRESCHOOL waiting list before the child is born. Have any of you started researching childcare options? I will continue working outside the home, potentially on a flex schedule (7am-4pm), or maybe 4 days/week- my company already told me they'd be flexible with me when I come back from maternity leave. I have no real sense of how much I should be budgeting for childcare, and it's starting to stress me out. I have no clue if I want to use a nanny, in-home daycare, or daycare facility, or how much each of those would cost in my town. Am I way too early to start looking/touring facilities? Has anyone else started looking yet?

KMommytobe · August 2014

I'm a SAHM and will continue to do so but daycare costs depend a lot on where you live. I don't think it's too early to start researching, I've heard the same about how quickly spots get filled.

Friends of mine looked a couple years ago in MA and they said for a decent daycare facility it was $1600 a month. Then ended up going with a family friend coming to their home and I believe they paid $1000 a month.

munchkin8590 · August 2014

Any decent school WILL have a waiting list and usually costs between $200-350 per week for an infant. I worked for Primrose for a long time and we ALWAYS had a year long waiting list. Most kids didn't even get in until they were old enough for the toddler room. Its definitely not too early to get on a list

Izzy0927 · August 2014

@kmommytobe I know a lot of friends who are professional nannies, so I think we might end up going that way- and the more research I do, it looked like they might be cheaper than a daycare facility, which was really surprising to me! I always thought that would be insanely expensive.

@munchkin8590 Thanks! That's helpful. I guess I'll start making some calls this week.

emilyz320 · August 2014

I've already started looking into it, you are not crazy! I have friends who were put on waiting lists in the first trimester. Good luck!

mommy510 · August 2014

You should definitely start looking into it. I have a friend who watches kids at her house and she will take care of LO and DS2 (DS1 starts school next year). But if I didn't have her, I would definitely be looking. This isn't something that you want to be looking into at the last minute.

mishka29 · August 2014

With DD we signed up during the first trimester bc we didn't want to miss an infant spot. It's $330 a week.

Right now they are booking for feb 2015 but they plan to open a second infant room.

PeaceofKia · August 2014

Sigh, I've started looking for twins and let me just say, the childcare expense is killing me. I really don't know how we're going to afford it honestly. With one, we were fine, but now knowing that two will need it, it'll break the bank, literally. Anyway, we've been researching and no luck yet. I did find one that I need to tour soon, and she will put me on her waiting list, no other leads yet though.

bes12 · August 2014

I live in a very small town in central Florida, daycares average $160 a week and take months to get into. It won't hurt for you to start researching and get on a list or as you said go with a nanny. We use a private sitter ( licensed in her home) she is $100 a week, our sitter prior was $120 a week. This shows you the difference in prices according to where you live.

PeaceofKia · August 2014

@bes12 we also we looking into licensed in home care as those run a little more within our budget.

krispy83 · August 2014

We have DS in a licensed in-home as it's way more affordable for us. He's only there part time (2-3 days a week) and it runs $30/day. It was $40/day before he turned 2. I know that it varies greatly depending on where you live. It was helpful for me to talk to some friends who have young kids to get a sense of what the costs were for a center, in-home, nanny, etc. so that we could figure out what was financially realistic for us.

I will say that you're better off looking early and being able to take your time making a decision. When DS was born, I was totally in denial about the fact that I was going to have to leave him with anyone and we sort of lagged on finding childcare. So we didn't look around much and I wound up regretting it. At the end of that school year, we pulled him and over that summer we toured several in-home places and were able to make a decision on our own time, rather than being in a time crunch.

NQueen11 · August 2014

Yes I would look into it sooner than later. I just got mine lined up last week! I was a Director years back of a program that had a waiting list. I got a wait list form from a girl once and when I called her to ask her when she needed care to start (she left this blank) she admitted to me that not only was she not pregnant yet, but she was just getting married later that summer. That one cracked me up a little!

JessicaxLynn87 · August 2014

PeaceofKia said:

Sigh, I've started looking for twins and let me just say, the childcare expense is killing me. I really don't know how we're going to afford it honestly. With one, we were fine, but now knowing that two will need it, it'll break the bank, literally. Anyway, we've been researching and no luck yet. I did find one that I need to tour soon, and she will put me on her waiting list, no other leads yet though.

Don't feel bad. I currently have one in daycare, and 2.0 will have to go too. It costs enough with just one, and I am absolutely terrified of how we will afford two. Two will cost us $1,500/month. I am a teacher and that's almost my entire paycheck. Absolutely insane.

PeaceofKia · August 2014

@JessicaxLynn87 I'm a teacher too, thank goodness DD is school age and she receives child support from her dad that I use to pay for her before and after care. The cheapest I can find for the twins right now is $900, which apparently is good in this area, but geez it just sounds like so much money!

smg2302 · August 2014

I use a licensed in home daycare for DD and will continue to do so for this LO. This option saves us at least $500 a month over a center.

JessicaxLynn87 · August 2014

PeaceofKia said:
@JessicaxLynn87 I'm a teacher too, thank goodness DD is school age and she receives child support from her dad that I use to pay for her before and after care. The cheapest I can find for the twins right now is $900, which apparently is good in this area, but geez it just sounds like so much money!

It is a lot of money! It is sad how expensive child care is. It makes me sick how much money goes toward it every month. I told my husband I didn't want child care to be a reason we wouldn't have a second child. We will just have to figure it out and pray for the best.

munchkin8590 · August 2014

The funny thing is.... With how expensive it is, you'd think they would pay their teachers more... The place I was at had 3 infant rooms and charged $340 per baby (12 babies per room) and NONE of us got paid more than $12 an hour.... This is one of the reasons why I left when I did

Mom2DrG · August 2014

@munchkin8590‌ my center was $285 per baby and I was the highest paid at $10/hr - only because I had been management and there for 9 years. Insane.

mamabutt · August 2014

Having worked in a childcare facility for two years, some parents were told that the waiting list was months long. I've already started a list of ones I wanna check out in my area.

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Biscotto · August 2014

We've not started looking yet but we will in December/January. We've discussed it a lot. I work part time, as a teacher in a Montessori preschool, but sadly we only take babies from 18 months and up so I will have to find something until our baby is 18 months. A full time nanny is about 2,500 USD. I was a nanny for many years and I would love to go that route because I really loved and cared for the babies I was in charge of, but it's expensive and difficult to find someone trustworthy. There's many crèches here but the wait lists are long. I'd like to find a "maman du jour" as we call it here, or in-home daycare. I'll ask some of the parents of my students for recommendations. Prices here are around 600 USD/ part time per child.

michelle142 · August 2014

This baby will be going to a DC center (the same one DS started at) part time until he/she is 18 months old, they LO will switch to the same center preschool that DS is currently at.

My Mom watches DS on Mondays and Fridays and will do the same with this one.

kismetjess · August 2014

I just registered LO at the same school DD goes to. When I first got pregnant the waitlist for the infant class was until February. This LO will likely start late April or early May depending on when I deliver.

daciadanae · August 2014

There was no waiting list on my DS's daycare. In our area there were alot of good options that had no waitlist actually. And, we only pay about $165/week which seems about average around here. So, maybe you're in a good area where childcare isn't quite so stressful! It doesn't hurt to start looking though. It'll calm your nerves and you can start budgeting. Good luck :-)

animalcrckr · August 2014

It is definitely not too early to begin looking for childcare. Over the past 6 years we have used both daycare centers and an at home nanny. There are pros and cons to each.

Daycare centers offer more stability but you need a backup plan when your baby is sick. A nanny gets sick, needs vacation time, death in the family, jury duty (we experienced all these things) that will come up from time to time.

I am not going back to work until next year but we have started looking into hiring an au pair since we will need someone to drop off/pick up at the bus stop. Get homework started. Drop off/pick up from preschool and watch the baby.

Frugal11 · August 2014

Ok, so Childcare is extremely expensive. Looking around my area its about $900/per month. Sheesh!

jennypolkadots · August 2014

I don't think it is too early!

Thankfully, my regular work schedule is just 9-3 with an hour lunch. I'm salary with benefits but we just don't work that much. I get 6 weeks paid leave but will be working some from home during that time just keeping things going. After that I am going to work out a flex schedule until baby is 6 months old... not 100% sure what I want yet. Either come in in the mornings, and work at home in the afternoons. Or work from home 2 days a week, come in 2 days a week, and bring baby in with me on Friday. We will see.

Anyways we started looking at prices for daycare way before getting pregnant. In our area, home daycare runs about $100/week, good center based care runs about $150/week, and Montessori school daycare is about $200/week. That's for full time... so we budgeted for $200/week but are just now looking into which one we want. It's hard because our baby will not be in care until April of 2015, and it will only be part time until August of 2015. Then it will be 9-3, 5 days a week after that.

I am leaning more towards center based care because it is more reliable. Home daycares or individual nannys will need sick days, vacations, etc. and centers offer after hours if you want to go on a date. But I do think centers have a higher turn over rate and more germs spread around. And less likely to be willing to use our cloth diapers or heat our breastmilk the right way. I like with nanny's and home care that the child gets just one or two caregivers they can bond with. So, I just don't know! We have to look more and visit some places. I am waiting to do visits until after 20 weeks when I am showing because right now it would be a little awkward I think

jennypolkadots · August 2014

Just adding - I guess it really depends where you live. We don't live in a very big city. I have contacted two centers and both said it is too early to know if they can offer care for us in April 2015. I hate the waiting, I just want to know right this second what our plan is.

agm04 · August 2014

We are going to be hiring a nanny, and ahhhhh the expense. I'm expecting about $600/week.

stone2stone · August 2014

Wow this is insane! I'm so glad I live in Canada. Firstly I couldn't imagine going back to work after six weeks. Then paying that much per week for childcare. Hope this doesn't sound snotty... I just really feel bad for all of you:(

modernfairytale8709 · August 2014

I'm very lucky to live close to family.

My grandmother will be watching LO 3-4 days a week, and either my mom or MIL will fill in as needed. This arrangement is only needed during the school year, as DH is a school employee and off summers.

After #2, the plan is for me to be a SAHM until the LOs are old enough for school. We shall see.

agm04 · August 2014

stone2stone said:

Wow this is insane! I'm so glad I live in Canada. Firstly I couldn't imagine going back to work after six weeks. Then paying that much per week for childcare. Hope this doesn't sound snotty... I just really feel bad for all of you:(

Seriously, leave in the US is a joke. I'm extremely fortunate to have 16 weeks of paid leave, but I have many friends who have it much worse. It's crazy!

KMac570 · August 2014

I already have LO2 on a waiting list for a daycare, because (a) I need him/her to get into the same one DS is in, and (b) if I wait much longer, that might not happen. There aren't enough infant spots in this city for the number of children who need care. I put DS on a list when I was 4 months pregnant - I got the call that we were in 3 weeks before I went back to work. DS was 10 months old by then!

chicagojackie · August 2014

Start doing the prenatal applications at the good preschools. This is common practice in Chicago. Good luck!!

KMac570 · August 2014

@stone2stone - I'm in Canada too. It can be extraordinarily expensive here also! Granted, I'm in Toronto, which is expensive for everything, but an infant spot here (so up to 18 months) averages about $1,700 to $2,000 a month in a licensed centre. It can get much more expensive than that as well. We will be paying $2,600 per month for two (it will only be that low because by then, DS will be in the preschool room, which has higher staff-to-child ratios and is therefore much less expensive).

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