Daycare or nanny?

misstopsail · August 2015

Hi ladies! Trying to figure out what childcare will look like for us.. I'm leaning towards finding a Mom who watches children in her home.. I think a nanny will be out of the budget. I'm not sure a traditional day care will work with my schedule.

What are you ladies planning? Any advice? Thanks!

CCLow87 · August 2015

I'm currently a stay at home mom, but my husband is insistent on getting a nanny a couple days a week so I have time to myself and him and I have time together. (He's just awful, huh?

) I imagine that I fill time nanny could get expensive though. You could look into aN au pair!

emiliothetall · August 2015

right now, we are using daycare for my 1y/o, but with this new little one I think we will be making a switch to nanny, because it will be almost the same price as 2u2 at the daycare center. If I can find someone who will do housekeeping, that will eliminate our cleaning lady costs as well, and it will end up being cheaper in the long run.

having said that, our daycare center is awesome, and runs between 6:45 and 6:15, so with my husband and I spitting drop off and pick up, we can work it into our schedules. Some of the other centers we are looking have such restrictive hours! who finishes work at 3?!

CCLow87 · August 2015

emiliothetall said:
right now, we are using daycare for my 1y/o, but with this new little one I think we will be making a switch to nanny, because it will be almost the same price as 2u2 at the daycare center. If I can find someone who will do housekeeping, that will eliminate our cleaning lady costs as well, and it will end up being cheaper in the long run.

having said that, our daycare center is awesome, and runs between 6:45 and 6:15, so with my husband and I spitting drop off and pick up, we can work it into our schedules. Some of the other centers we are looking have such restrictive hours! who finishes work at 3?!

I've noticed that too! A friend of mine does in home day care and she closes at 4! Ummmmm???? Did I miss the memo about the work day ending at 330 now??

ashdawn24 · August 2015

My daughter goes to in-home daycare. My daycare provider has three children of her own (two in school) and takes care of 3-4 others on varying days and for before/after school care. The reason we chose in-home rather than a centre is that my daughter was only 6 months when I went back to work, and I really wanted her to be in a family setting. I have nothing against centres, but I really feel that at a young age (under 2), the skills they need to learn can be better provided in a home setting. I LOVE my daycare provider. She loves my daughter as her own and is so flexible and willing to work with me.

I think that nannies, in-home care providers, and centres all have positives and negatives. We chose to go with an in-home even though it cost us more because we really believed it would benefit our daughter. That being said, there are good and bad sides to every option. You can have a great provider (like us!) or have someone who dumps your kids in front of a t.v., never does anything with the kids, and feeds them hot dogs every day. I would stress they importance of being more careful of the operation runs, rather than exactly which one you choose. You will know right away if it is the right fit for your child!

Lilpenguin3 · August 2015

As a nanny I am hoping to bring my lo with me to work. Will be telling work shortly so I will know if I have to find a new job or not.

clgregson · August 2015

I started campaigning for my mom to quit her job and be my daycare the day I told her I was pregnant with number one!

I finally wore her down (tee hee!), and now she watches my sister's 2yo, my 1yo, and is nervous but excited about watching the new baby. She'll have three under three! Yikes!

emiliothetall · August 2015

ashdawn24 said:

My daughter goes to in-home daycare. My daycare provider has three children of her own (two in school) and takes care of 3-4 others on varying days and for before/after school care. The reason we chose in-home rather than a centre is that my daughter was only 6 months when I went back to work, and I really wanted her to be in a family setting. I have nothing against centres, but I really feel that at a young age (under 2), the skills they need to learn can be better provided in a home setting. I LOVE my daycare provider. She loves my daughter as her own and is so flexible and willing to work with me.

I think that nannies, in-home care providers, and centres all have positives and negatives. We chose to go with an in-home even though it cost us more because we really believed it would benefit our daughter. That being said, there are good and bad sides to every option. You can have a great provider (like us!) or have someone who dumps your kids in front of a t.v., never does anything with the kids, and feeds them hot dogs every day. I would stress they importance of being more careful of the operation runs, rather than exactly which one you choose. You will know right away if it is the right fit for your child!

this is interesting to me, where do you live that it was cheaper for a daycare centre? I've never heard of this being the case.

Carazona5 · August 2015

Lilpenguin3 said:
As a nanny I am hoping to bring my lo with me to work. Will be telling work shortly so I will know if I have to find a new job or not.

Same here but if they don't let me, I was considering opening a home daycare. I've done child care for 15 years now. I was a preschool teacher for 4 years and then a nanny so I definitely could do it.

Does anyone know what the going rates are for in home day cares? Someone here mentioned it being expensive but I thought they usually charge a per day or per week flat rate and don't charge hourly. Is that true?

emiliothetall · August 2015

Carazona5 said:

As a nanny I am hoping to bring my lo with me to work. Will be telling work shortly so I will know if I have to find a new job or not.
Same here but if they don't let me, I was considering opening a home daycare. I've done child care for 15 years now. I was a preschool teacher for 4 years and then a nanny so I definitely could do it. Does anyone know what the going rates are for in home day cares? Someone here mentioned it being expensive but I thought they usually charge a per day or per week flat rate and don't charge hourly. Is that true?

my understanding is that its a flat rate.

KrisAshLindsey · August 2015

Carazona5 said:

As a nanny I am hoping to bring my lo with me to work. Will be telling work shortly so I will know if I have to find a new job or not.
Same here but if they don't let me, I was considering opening a home daycare. I've done child care for 15 years now. I was a preschool teacher for 4 years and then a nanny so I definitely could do it. Does anyone know what the going rates are for in home day cares? Someone here mentioned it being expensive but I thought they usually charge a per day or per week flat rate and don't charge hourly. Is that true?

I do in home daycare in small town iowa. The going rate around here is typically $20-$24/day for each kid. I know in bigger cities around here like Des Moines and Kansas City those prices are closer to $26-$30/day for each kid.

CCLow87 · August 2015

This is what it is in rural Kansas as well.

emiliothetall · August 2015

MAN! I pay 60$/day.

JDK625 · August 2015

I think I may pass out..... I HAD no clue that daycare would be the same as a mortgage payment.

ashleymarie1027 · August 2015

We use an in home day care (which we LOVE). We're in the twin cities area (big metro) and pay 46/ day; but in July and December they close for a whole week and don't charge us for that week. The centers in our town are 75/ day (for an infant).

We haven't told them yet about this baby, but she knew we were hoping to get the next infant spot (which opens when our current son turns two, next July). With him, we started looking very early and got lucky with finding this place - so I thinks it's great you all are planning ahead!

ashdawn24 · August 2015

emiliothetall said:

ashdawn24 said:

My daughter goes to in-home daycare. My daycare provider has three children of her own (two in school) and takes care of 3-4 others on varying days and for before/after school care. The reason we chose in-home rather than a centre is that my daughter was only 6 months when I went back to work, and I really wanted her to be in a family setting. I have nothing against centres, but I really feel that at a young age (under 2), the skills they need to learn can be better provided in a home setting. I LOVE my daycare provider. She loves my daughter as her own and is so flexible and willing to work with me.

I think that nannies, in-home care providers, and centres all have positives and negatives. We chose to go with an in-home even though it cost us more because we really believed it would benefit our daughter. That being said, there are good and bad sides to every option. You can have a great provider (like us!) or have someone who dumps your kids in front of a t.v., never does anything with the kids, and feeds them hot dogs every day. I would stress they importance of being more careful of the operation runs, rather than exactly which one you choose. You will know right away if it is the right fit for your child!

this is interesting to me, where do you live that it was cheaper for a daycare centre? I've never heard of this being the case.

They are actually the same (or maybe in-home is $5 more?), but since my husband is in school we would have received a bursary to get at least half off if we sent our daughter to a centre. It is something I will consider in the future, but because she is so little, we are going to hold off for now.

ashdawn24 · August 2015

KrisAshLindsey said:

Carazona5 said:

As a nanny I am hoping to bring my lo with me to work. Will be telling work shortly so I will know if I have to find a new job or not.
Same here but if they don't let me, I was considering opening a home daycare. I've done child care for 15 years now. I was a preschool teacher for 4 years and then a nanny so I definitely could do it. Does anyone know what the going rates are for in home day cares? Someone here mentioned it being expensive but I thought they usually charge a per day or per week flat rate and don't charge hourly. Is that true?

I do in home daycare in small town iowa. The going rate around here is typically $20-$24/day for each kid. I know in bigger cities around here like Des Moines and Kansas City those prices are closer to $26-$30/day for each kid.

Holy cow! Where I am the going rate is $40-50/day for an infant and $35/day for 18 months+. Wish I lived there! Haha!

KrisAshLindsey · August 2015

Yes it's the Midwest rates

and I have parents complain about my pricing. Maybe I should show them this next time!

Carazona5 · August 2015

See all of those seem so low to me but I've been a nanny for 10 years and get paid $15 an hour or I've gotten up to $700 a week. And that's for 2 to 3 kids. So the thought of watching 5 or 6 for $30 bucks a day kills me. If it's a 9 hour day that's $3 an hour and now I have double the work load.

maybe I won't go that route for work. Lol

CCLow87 · August 2015

Carazona5 said:
See all of those seem so low to me but I've been a nanny for 10 years and get paid $15 an hour or I've gotten up to $700 a week. And that's for 2 to 3 kids. So the thought of watching 5 or 6 for $30 bucks a day kills me. If it's a 9 hour day that's $3 an hour and now I have double the work load. maybe I won't go that route for work. Lol

If you had six kids in $30/day daycare, you'd be making $20/hour before expenses, or just over $1200/week.

emiliothetall · August 2015

CCLow87 said:

See all of those seem so low to me but I've been a nanny for 10 years and get paid $15 an hour or I've gotten up to $700 a week. And that's for 2 to 3 kids. So the thought of watching 5 or 6 for $30 bucks a day kills me. If it's a 9 hour day that's $3 an hour and now I have double the work load. maybe I won't go that route for work. Lol
If you had six kids in $30/day daycare, you'd be making $20/hour before expenses, or just over $1200/week.

lol I was going to post the same thing! also remember its totally dependent on where you live. 700/week for a nanny seems more along the lines of what I would pay in my area, which is 60 a day for under 18mo at day care

AEG84 · August 2015

6 kids * $30/day * 5 days is actually $900, but still more than $3/hour

But I also think that the going rates are higher in AZ than in the midwest, so you may be able to charge more than that. It may depend on where in AZ you are (I can't remember, sorry!).

I'm hoping that my mom will volunteer to watch LO for 2-3 days a week, so that we won't have to pay for a full week. We are in a more expensive part of town and daycare for a full week typically runs $300-$500 per week for an infant.

Carazona5 · August 2015

I understand the more kids I would have the more I would make but I was just saying the work load is so much more. And one of those kids would be mine so I wouldn't get paid for that one. I'm not sure what the legal ratio is of adults to kids or babies but it's worth looking more into it I guess. I'm just used to making $150 a day for 2 kids lol

Jules08 · August 2015

DS is in a day care center, started there at just over 2 months old. We LOVE the center and what they have provided him. They are a smaller center (30+ kids), and he has developed so many skills there (spelling, reading, speaking, social interaction, etc.) He seems to be much further ahead than other families we know that are SAH or Nanny (I am not trying to imply that one is better than the other, just describing our experience). We pay about $200 a week and it will be closer to $400 a week when 2.0 is here (until DS starts school). They provide breakfast, morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack. What I love is that DS knows the teachers and they know him, so we have also used them for babysitters a few times.

mumidi · August 2015

We use a center that DD has been at since 2. We love it there, previously she was at another center (from 3 months to 2). We loved their infant room but once she moved to the toddler room we started having issues. We love our new center. But it is expensive. We'll pay $250 per week for the infant and DD will be in Kindergarten that year. Our district is half day kindergarten so she'll be at the daycare center the other half of the day. The expense is one of the reasons we waited so long between kids.

littlesocks · August 2015

When we lived just outside of Boston, daycare was going to cost us about $500 a week for one kiddo.
We opted for a nanny. She comes 4 days a week and we have my mom/MIL come the 5th day. We end up paying our nanny a little more than $500 a week - so more money per day but it's worth it. I work from home so this way I don't have to worry about getting DD ready and out the door to drop her off in the morning.

pinottoparenthood · August 2015

Just a thought -- we loved having a nanny the first year when he was an infant, but now I wish my son was around other kids more. I started working at the YMCA just so that I could get him into the child watch there to expose him to other kids. He is starting part-time preschool in the fall though so I think that will be good for him.

Carazona5 · August 2015

pinottoparenthood said:
Just a thought -- we loved having a nanny the first year when he was an infant, but now I wish my son was around other kids more. I started working at the YMCA just so that I could get him into the child watch there to expose him to other kids. He is starting part-time preschool in the fall though so I think that will be good for him.

Do you let her take him places? Not sure where you live but out here there are tons of story time groups, toddler groups with other Mom's or nannies, library story times, etc... Most of these things are free.

mrstrax · August 2015

Yup, $30 per day for the infant I watch in a largeish (Iowa) city here. My in-laws are constantly debating how cover the last little bit of her salary so she can stay home - nearly all of her income goes straight to daycare for their two.

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