How much do you pay for daycare?

webjockey

Hubby and I have come to the realization that Lex needs to be in daycare. his mom simply can't handle the little fireball.

Just curious how much you guys pay on average. I'm finding that full time care in Austin (approx 8 hrs) runs about $700-$775 per month.

LoloDSM

We're in Des Moines, Iowa and pay $965/month. By the time she starts kindergarten we will have already paid for four years of college.

DarkAngel

I pay $534 because I use an in-home sitter. Daycare for a one year old runs about between 800 and 1000. Preschool for X next year will be between 600 and 800. It could be a lot more but I had to rule those schools out based on cost.

AprilnUtah

I pay $550 a month for 5 hours a day M-F at a Montessori pre-school.

Sigi

My sister pays $775/mo for her kid, and she has to supply his diapers/pull ups. Once he's potty trained, it'll go down to $725.

cosmicfly

I pay 600/mo for Maya and 700/mo for Aidan. Once Aidan is 2, his rate will drop.

WileE-Dead

$531 for preschool mdo m-f

ruralcurls

Around here, it is anywhere from $85-100 per week. The parents pay the same fee whether their child goes part time or full time.

Magoo

My son goes to a home daycare and I pay $140/wk for 3 days. He goes to preschool the other 2 days (1/2 day) and that's $165/month.

If we have another one I feel I'll be working to pay for daycare:sad6:.

RedCatWaves

Magoo wrote: »

If we have another one I feel I'll be working to pay for daycare:sad6:.

That's how a lot of us get to be SAHM's. With 2 or more, daycare's often unaffordable and it doesn't pay to work.

webjockey

DarkAngel wrote: »

I pay $534 because I use an in-home sitter. Daycare for a one year old runs about between 800 and 1000. Preschool for X next year will be between 600 and 800. It could be a lot more but I had to rule those schools out based on cost.

Does the sitter come to your house or do you send X to his/her house?

We had the arrangement for a little while where a sitter came to the house but MIL drove her away.

deedles

Right now Liam is at the in home daycare.. which is techincally $150/week but I usually pay her $170 because I am often late with pickup.. (damn DC Traffic!!!)

But starting in March.. He will be going to a preschool.. it's a little more than I want to pay almost $100 more a week but the pros outweigh the cons.. (so figure $1,079)

• It's in the bldg right next door to my work.. so if I want to go visit, or if there is an emergency I can easily get him...

• Its more structured... the in home daycare lady (she's in her 50's) has the TV going usually all day (educational programs, but still) they will feed him lunch and there is set times for everything.. and they will help with the potty (since we've seemed to have stalled on this)

• tons of activities and learning so I'm willing to fork over the money

gemini

$220 a week, or about $900 a month, that is for a 3 year old. It was just slightly more than that when she was 2 and ridiculously more than that when she was a baby through 18 mos.

rainshower

if you find a reputable daycare facility that has a 5-star rating, they probably get funding from, say, united way, and can afford to offer a sliding scale tuition rate based on your income.

both our kids went to the same daycare/preschool. we paid $525 a month for our son. by the time our daughter entered a few years later, we had to pay $600. that was still a bargain, considering that many facilities here charge $800+ for children and don't include food in their tuition! it goes up when you are talking about newborns and infants!

our son entered the facility just before he turned 4, which is why the sliding scale rates dropped (he was an older toddler). the same with our daughter, who entered the facility in the preschool class.

definitely ask if they offer help with tuition. it doesn't make sense to pay the full rate if you qualify for a cheaper one.

inheritedcurls

Chas just dropped. For full time 5 days a week we pay 187 a week. We provide diapers and they provide the rest. He has a great teacher and is learning a lot.

Addison is free right now because grandma is watching her...if we payed full time for her at the same school it would be 233 a week. We would have to provide food and diapers for this class. (We do however compensate Grandma...gift certificates etc, dinner out etc. She won't take cash).

I do have other breakdowns. For the Toddler 1 class this is after infant care (start walking). This class is 211 a week. At 18 months they move to Toddler 2 class which is 198 a week.

Trenell

RedCatWaves wrote: »

Magoo wrote: »

If we have another one I feel I'll be working to pay for daycare:sad6:.

That's how a lot of us get to be SAHM's. With 2 or more, daycare's often unaffordable and it doesn't pay to work.

Pretty much.

marielle448

Hubby has a buddy at work with 3 kids under 4 years old at work in care/preschool. He pays $2600 a month.

geeky

We are in suburbs of NYC. The baby is $1600 a month :O and my 4 year old is $1200 a month. That's 5 days a week, 7:30 AM to 6 pm , with two meals and a snack provided. They do have financial assistance but we do not qualify. It is a *****, but we are looking at this year as a loss-leader. Next year my son will be in free kindergarten, so it is only 1 year that we have to pay for both of them.

Simbathekat

It really is a shame that daycare costs so much. My daughter goes to a home daycare and that's $200/week, plus formula (which runs about $20/week). The provider is nice and really looks out for the kids, but she had us issue a $400 deposit up front and there's an annual fee of $150 every June for "supply maintenance".

I managed to actually talk her down from $270/week to $200/week, so we're getting a great deal in comparison to the other parents.

FieryCurls

geeky wrote: »

We are in suburbs of NYC. The baby is $1600 a month :O and my 4 year old is $1200 a month. That's 5 days a week, 7:30 AM to 6 pm , with two meals and a snack provided. They do have financial assistance but we do not qualify. It is a *****, but we are looking at this year as a loss-leader. Next year my son will be in free kindergarten, so it is only 1 year that we have to pay for both of them.

:shock:

DarkAngel

webjockey wrote: »

DarkAngel wrote: »

I pay $534 because I use an in-home sitter. Daycare for a one year old runs about between 800 and 1000. Preschool for X next year will be between 600 and 800. It could be a lot more but I had to rule those schools out based on cost.

Does the sitter come to your house or do you send X to his/her house?

We had the arrangement for a little while where a sitter came to the house but MIL drove her away.

I take him to her. He needs a change of scenery.

mad scientist

Karan used to go to a home daycare, 2 mornings a week for $4/hour. The more structure preschool-daycare on my college campus is closer to $800/month.

violets

For my first grader its $440 a month ( 7:30 - 8:30 am and 3:30 - 6:00pm after school)

During summer its $3,000 for camp and before/after camp care for 11 weeks of care.

Although I only pay half of all this, because I share it with my exhusband.

curly_keltie

DS is in full time daycare from 8 am to 5 pm. They provide two snacks and lunch. I provide diapers/pull ups and they provide wipes.

I receive partial subsidy, and I pay $306. Subsidy is $410, so I guess his daycare fees are $716.

I should also point out that DS's daycare is a non-for-profit daycare.

wavezncurlz

dc area is high - a lot like geeky's numbers
often people around here find it less $ to have a nanny if they have 2 or more

we've been lucky with help from relatives

geeky

wavezncurlz wrote: »

dc area is high - a lot like geeky's numbers
often people around here find it less $ to have a nanny if they have 2 or more

A nanny would definitely be less for us too. But a) I would have a hard time trusting a stranger alone with my kids all day, I trust the daycare center more because it as all open doors all the time b) my son is at the age where he needs some social interaction and more stimulation than a nanny could provide, so we would likely end up paying for some kind of preschool anyway.

deezee02

Here is varies on type of daycare, location ect...when Steven was in the center, I chose one of the top centers, it was on my college campus, 2 mins away from were I was working, about 12 mins from home...We payed $650 a month for mwf 8-6, 2 meals and a snack provided. This was for level 2 infant (12 months - 24 months)

Home care at someone elses home runs from $2.50/hour to $200 a week. If you want someone to come to your home it will run about 10-25 dollars an hour.

wavezncurlz

geeky wrote: »

wavezncurlz wrote: »

dc area is high - a lot like geeky's numbers
often people around here find it less $ to have a nanny if they have 2 or more

A nanny would definitely be less for us too. But a) I would have a hard time trusting a stranger alone with my kids all day, I trust the daycare center more because it as all open doors all the time b) my son is at the age where he needs some social interaction and more stimulation than a nanny could provide, so we would likely end up paying for some kind of preschool anyway.

I agree. Kennedy is 3. We considered a nanny when Cassidy was born but Kennedy needed social interaction badly. She had been with my aunt who was a nanny and had another child (but she didn't charge us nanny prices). Cassi is in home care with another relative and Kennedy is in a wonderful preschool.

System

I live in Georgia. I didn't start working until my son started school. The aftercare at the school was $5 a day and was until 6pm. I paid $80 a week for daycare during the summer. He started daycamp when he was 6 and he still attends now (he's 12 and this will be his last summer) and it's $75 a week.

I used to babysit at my house before my son started school - I made sure he had other kids to play with since he's an only child. I charged $50 for the first child and $75 for two kids. I usually had 2-3 kids at a time.

Munchy

$700/month 7:30am-6:00pm (one hour earlier AND later is fine as well) - all meals/snacks provided.

Po

I pay $40/week for after-care (3:00 pm-6:00 pm). Before-care (6:30 am-8:00 am) would be an extra $5.

Before he started school he went to Head Start ($45/week for before and after care), and until he was 3, my mother watched him.