Thinking about daycare?

skupski83 · December 2014

Has anyone else started to think about options for daycare? I'm starting to freak out a little bit about the costs associated with putting our baby into daycare, though it is necessary bc we need both my income and my husbands income in our current situation.

MrsPDX · December 2014

Yes!

I have been freaking out, here it is around $1200 for a good daycare for an infant FT. Its even more for nanny. That is half of my pay, and I don't know how we will afford that. Obviously I still need to work... at this point my dad offered to watch baby at least for the first year. I am leaning towards taking him up on that. Otherwise, I don't know what we will do.

McZimmer · December 2014

The whole thing is scary. Financially and trusting someone you barely know with your baby! we are hoping our friends who had a baby last Jan and stayed home will continue to stay home and we just pay her.
Still sad to think she will get to spend more time with my baby during the day than me though..

rivers714 · December 2014

For the first year in going to use my mom. It'll mean primarily working weekends, which is a perk of nursing

abethany · December 2014

Our day care will be 1400-2000 per month depending on which place we pick.

manacita · December 2014

Infants in daycare are hard. Once they hit a year and are mobile, I think my kids are better equipped for a daycare option.

Can you find a stay at home mom who will watch lo for you? That might be cheaper.

Also, are you in Seattle? Ds went to daycare before I gave up working, and it was $1200-2000/month for an average daycare. Blegh!

CamoBride2010 · December 2014

I'm a stay at home mom and watch another little girl during the day besides my own. I only charge $2 an hour ( very poor area remember), and her mom pays a little extra for meals. It comes out to around $20 a day. No it is not a lot but I don't mind, DD has a friend her own age to play with and I get a little extra money. It helps I'm friends with the mom so she knows she can trust me. Maybe you could find a similar situtaion where you live?

jenanns · December 2014

Our daycare cost will be somwhere between $1,200 and $1,800 a month...and I still have to determine if we are looking at wait lists which is very scary. In addition I always knew we would need to send our LO to daycare but now that I am pregnant with him/her the idea is making me freak out big time, I don't want to be a stay at home mom necessarily but really wish that I had someone I trusted more than a stranger to care for my kid!

littlecookie · December 2014

We had to get on our wait list several weeks ago and DS is already there, so we have priority.

@jenanns‌ I picked a daycare that the teachers and administrators had long tenure and I could tell we're kind and loving. I was very happy with my choice and then had sort of a panic about leaving him at a daycare once he was here. I started looking for nannies, but ultimately decided I should stick with daycare. I couldn't be happier with him there and he absolutely loves it. Work to find a place you feel good about. They won't be strangers for long.

pilar311 · December 2014

I worry too, in my neighborhood day care costs $1000 a month for just two days a week! I'm looking into home day care or nanny share situations, mostly based off of recommendations from a local Yahoo group. I don't know much about nanny shares though, has anyone done it?

Linds1083 · December 2014

I work part time and have a babysitter come to watch DD. It's way easier to not have to pack her up each day that I work. I also like that she hasn't been sick all the time. See if you can find someone who is interested in coming to your house. You may be surprised that the cost is about the same as daycare.

mp03jp · December 2014

I seriously just looked not even ten minuets ago.

DS goes to an after school program right now and they also offer daycare. when this baby comes we will have DS, DD and Baby. just for DD and baby it would be $1400/ month then if you add in DS's after school care it's $1620/month for child care. I wouldn't be bringing home a paycheck at my current job. DH is not going to enjoy this conversation tonight when I tell him that I don't think i'll be going back to work.

morgansWed105148 · December 2014

I'm between going the nanny route and day care. I like the idea of a nanny because my baby would be given all the attention. He will be at home and I would feel like he would be getting what my expected care would be. However I like the day care idea because I am a sales rep which means I work from home and my hours are all over the place. Sometimes I work 60 hours plus. Some weeks I barley work 20. Sometimes nights,mid day or full days. So I feel like day care might be easier to accommodate that kind of work schedule. Especially if they are already there watching children I can drop and pick up pretty much anytime. Well I'm not sure if that's really how day care works I haven't looked into yet. I'm hoping.. Lol

jenanns · December 2014

morgansWed105148 said:

. Especially if they are already there watching children I can drop and pick up pretty much anytime. Well I'm not sure if that's really how day care works I haven't looked into yet. I'm hoping.. Lol

I am not an expert at all but from the calls I have made most require you pay for full time whether you use it or not. Some are a bit more flexible but still in a fixed way ie 4 days a week or 3 days a week. If you want it to be really flexible not just for time of pick up and drop of but for how much you spend you will probably have to search a bit more. The one lady told me they are in high demand so that is why they just have you pay for a full week no other options, essentially they can because there is always someone else who will take your spot. I think this might also demend on the type of daycare as I am not looking at family run ones....

ldmw · December 2014

We enrolled a month ago for daycare beginning August of next year. We visited places and only found one that we liked that was also recommended. Registered on the spot to assure baby has a safe and reputable place to attend. Daycare ranges from $1000-$2000 a month in our area.

ldmw · December 2014

ajm0711 said:
I just started looking into this past week. Other than the money issue, I'm having trouble deciding if we should find a place that is closer to work or home. Both my husband and I commute opposite ways for a half hour each to work. It'd be nice to be closer to home cause then both of us could drop off or pick up. But with our schedules it might be more convenient for it to be closer to work.

We chose a place close to home so both of us can handle drop off and pickup vs. just one of us if we picked a place close to work (we also commute separate directions. My work offers daycare and we still didn't pick that as I travel for work and there is no way my husband could make it work on the days I travel.

Sunshine4020 · January 2015

Resurrecting this thread... Need advice from the May S+TMs...

Obviously we are starting to think about childcare. It's only 6 or so months away!! :-S We both work full time 8-5 jobs. I'm planning on going back full time after 12 weeks maternity leave.

So I talked with an acquaintance... a girl I graduated high school with who lives 1 block away, has 4 kids, is a stay at home mom & her three oldest will be in school full time come August. She used to do daycare in her home. Not licensed (I believe our State doesn't require license for only 1 child). My LO and her baby boy would be the only little ones home with her. Her son turns 1 in March.

Great idea? Bad idea? What questions should I be asking in order to make a well informed decision? Any insight is appreciated!!

mpiemont · January 2015

I'm not in need of daycare for this baby but when my oldest was in daycare it was over $1000 a month- it was a tough pill to swallow but like your situation, totally necessary.

cupcaketeach · January 2015

As soon as I started talking about being a SAHM DH started talking about getting extra jobs. While I will hate missing this first year being at home - I would hate it more if DH had to miss all of it from working all the time. As a teacher, it's difficult to pick a daycare because you KNOW there are incompetent people around. However, that's why it's important to look now. If you have the option of a cheap one on one care especially for the first year, take it. With a nanny, it's difficult to be consistent. I was a nanny for 2 years and even as a stellar employee (if I do say so myself) I had sick days. With a day care, if there is an employee who is sick, they have someone else fill in. Plus, as a nanny, I was making $13-$15 an hour....not exactly the cheapest option...

dj99 · January 2015

My FIL is going to watch him, which he's super excited about plus MIL works from home so she may cut back on some hours. I'll be home by 4 which isn't too bad. Honestly if we had to put him in daycare I probably would be contemplating whether to work or not.

TeacherMom2015 · January 2015

We found a church daycare for $135 a week which is unheard of. Two of my coworkers have infants that attend there. It doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles of the more expensive centers, but my coworkers are both happy there. An inhome center isn't an option for us because they can close any time they want and we don't have back up care.

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