cost of DayCare Centers..

[Miss LD]

Miss LD - per day???? Really!? Oh my...

The hospital I work at has a daycare accross the street run by an outside company and I pay $175 a week for my 2 year old - but that's with a hospital employee discount.

D4D

I agree - it's really expensive.
There are 2 factors - the ratio of kids to daycare teachers and the cost of real estate (high rent). The daycare that my son was going to before I was on mat leave treated their teachers really well. They have full benefits and are part of a pension plan and have paid sick days. It was a little pricier ($5 per day more) than some of the other centres, but IMHO I'd rather pay slightly more per day and have teachers who are happy to be there.
Taking care of kids, whether a daycare teacher or teacher has got to be the toughest job out there!
But, I do wish there it could be subsidized more.

 

[momtomatthew]

We pay $870/month for Pre-K. It just went up $40 a month. But, I love the school and they do so much- music, art, dance, yoga, computers, not to mention special visitors at no additional cost. However, I can't wait until next year when he's in K-garten!

 

[cinjam]

Here in northern NJ, cost is about $250 a week for a 4 yo (more for younger children). I only need to send DS4 three days a week - so it does not hurt as much.

 

[richmond282]

I'm in Northeast TN, we paid $105/week for my 3YO last year. It included 2 snacks and a meal each day. Now she is in the pre-school program in public, which works great for me since I'm a teacher.

 

[KEH113]

We pay $230 a week for our 2 yr old. It includes a hot lunch and 3 snacks a day. We love her school because the teachers are excellent and there are only 4 or 5 kids assigned per teacher.

 

[alyssa810]

I just wanted to add that in addition to the $349 a week I pay, I don't have to provide lunch; for the older babies they have hot lunches (and the older kids as well) so I just send him in with a couple of bottles -they'll also provide juice- and cereal and any fruits & veggies I might want him to have as well. The other big perk when we switched the this place is that we can pay with a credit card, so I've been using my Disney Visa and racking up the points!! Also, the daycare goes up to private kindergarten, and like everyone else has been saying, the price goes down as he gets older...I think it drops to about $312 when he turns 15 months in December.

 

[Chipmunk89]

Our school has a before and after school program. I was told that everyone is charged the same rate regardless of how long you use the services each day. Apparently they have a limit to the number of kids they can take and a child who only stays for 30 minutes after school still takes up a space. Ours is $100 a week for afterschool care and I was only going to need it for 30 minutes each day. I opted to renegotiate my work hours so I could pick up my son on time. I also enlisted my dad to pick him up on Wednesdays which are always minimum days. I only work part time and just couldn't see paying so much for so little time.

Agree. I'm thinking of asking my friend/neighbor to watch him. She would do it for free, but I would pay her. Then DS would be with someone I really know and trust. (And my friend really loves DS.)

 

[crisi]

I paid about what you are paying ten years ago.

 

[faindrops27]

I was curious as to how much others pay for daycare....... our daycare just went up 10 a week.. i feel we pay a large amount to live in a rural area... infants.. which are 4 mos to 15 mos are $235 a week!!!! my daughter goes into the next room for 15 mos -2 years old next week.. and i think the price drops t $205! this is insane... but I guess its the price to pay for your childs saftey.. and learning enviornment.

Well, out here on Long island. An infant is 380 a week. If that makes you feel better. I have to pay 280 for my 4 year old.

 

[miksilver]

Ok, I never complain about how much I pay for my daycare a week -- but after hearing what you all pay I will never even think about complaining! I pay $120 a week for my 3 1/2 yr old. It isn't a big center or anything but a certified daycare home provider with one-on-one attention. All her kids are sooooo happy and she does a great program with them. For that I get breakfast (if I want, my DD has been eating Nutragrain bars lately in the car), 2 snacks and a hot lunch. My provider is also willing to work with my DD for her pre-school needs and loves going there. I drop my DD off anywhere from 8:30am - 9am and pick her up at 5pm. I understand that this is in Western Maryland and not by a major city or anything, but I can't imagine....

 

[nikkers]

We live in a rural area outside St. Paul, MN. For my DD (2) we pay 245.00/week and for my DS (4) 190.00/week. We go to a large center, and absolutely love it. They do so much for the kids. They just recently opened this center in our city. We were previously going to the same center, just a little closer to the city. We payed for DD (2) 284.00/week and for DS (4) 240.00/week. These centers are 15 miles apart and the same company. They do the same exact curriculum. Isn't crazy that they are different prices? But again, they are sooooo wonderful. We are so lucky.

 

[minkydog]

Holy cow! Daycare costs are so high. I am obviously in the wrong line of work.

Actually, I'm a nurse. I was lucky enough(or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) to work night shift when my first child was born. Most of my shifts were weekends so DH took care of him while I slept. We couldn't have afforded much day care, but we did use Mother's Morning Out once a week. Once #2 & #3 were born working outside my home was less doable for me. I don't see how people can afford to pay $1000/month for daycare--I mean, I'm sure it is fine daycare, but sheesh! that's more than my mortgage!

 

[ktdaiwik]

Wow and I thought daycare was expensive here.....I now run my own day home through an agency and they have just put the rates up to $590 a month fulltime no matter what age and I get a % of that.The daily rate is $36 and they also take a % of that too.I know a daycare where I used to work charges 1200 a month for infants and $800 for 2 yrs and up.Wow and parents are complaining about how expensive it is here.
I am just happy to be able to stay home with my little man and provide a safe place for mums to drop their children at.I also supply breakfast,2 snacks and a hot lunch everyday,daily journals for each child,scrapbooks that have all their craft in,field trips etc.I feel this is what little people deserve and need for their development and what I am happy providing.

 

[parmtoo]

I am a child care provider, in northern NY. I can't believe the rates in other parts of the country! My rates are $140 for infants, and $130 for over 2.
People here think they pay to much! The price includes 2 meals and a snack.
I live in the wrong area

 

[barkley]

we lived in a small town in northern california-there was only two centers that took infants/toddlers (read-not potty trained and up to 3 years of age)-thier current rate (6 weeks to 3 years) is $1000 per month (no such thing as a part time rate). this includes absolutly nothing (you provide food, wipes, diapers, tissues....). there is also around a $300 per year registration fee and maybe another $250 facilities fee.
these places had waiting lists months long (i had to get dd on their list when i was 6 months pregnant even though she was'nt going to start until she was 3 months old).

before/after care-not sure how much the family home providers or the school programs charged, but i knew one parent who used the center near our house for aftercare only and paid a flat $12 an hour for her son (a real killer since our school had a minimum day every friday so she was looking at 6 hours for that day alone ).

 

[beckmrk04]

I would not be able to afford to WORK if I had to pay these rates for daycare. It literally would make no sense to work because my whole check would go straight to daycare.

Luckily, my mom watches my DD 2-3 days a week, MIL has her one day, and my DH has her 2 days. Whew. You guys are making me realize what a blessing this is.

I would love for her to go to a great place with lots of activities and learning, but there's just no way we could afford it. But, on the upside, I completely trust my mom and MIL, and know she's recieving lots of love, affection and attention each day.

I am glad that people are able to find good options though. Just sad that quality care has to cost so much.

 

[tam626]

I stay at home with our 3 yr. old but my 17 yr. old dd works in a daycare & I know it's $45 a day for infants. I take ds one morning a week to an in home daycare & she charges $25 a day.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

My neighbor told me that she pays something like $500/week for 3 days a week for her 2y/o. We are on the Jersey Shore. All I have to say is thank goodness my DD got into the free pre-school because we couldn't afford that!

 

[pigget74]

I pay 1,000 a month for 2. One is 10 months and the other is almost 3. For the three year old we have to pay for lunch. In the sring we pay $100 each for registration and in the Fall we pay a $100 each supply fee. We provide everything for the baby. The older one gets 2 snacks and lunch.

 

[PenguinWaiters]

We pay around $530/month for preschool for my almost 4 year old. I believe when she was an infant we paid about $630/month - it got cheaper as she moved up because the teacher to child ratio went down.

I feel VERY lucky - she is in a GREAT center that she LOVES. We provide lunch and Lactaid milk. They provide snacks and regular milk. This year they also decided to provide sunscreen and bug spray - in the past we brought our own that was used only for our child. We also supplied diapers and wipes when those were needed.

The only drawback to our program is that they are closed 1 day per month for staff training and 10 weeks in the summer because they are part of a college and are closed from mid-June to end of August. I am glad they are well-trained (and they really are) but it can be tough to cover those times. Fortunately we both have fairly flexible jobs and have family near by to pitch in.