Need advice: Daycare costs in McLean (Reston: spring break, coupons, credit)

[Writing31]

Hi

My husband and I are looking at a house in McLean, and trying to understand how much we should budget for fulltime daycare. Infant and toddler costs are what we're looking for. Any insight would be appreciated!

Thank you!

[alibaba1579]

ALOT! My friends sister lives in Mclean, and recently told me she pays almost $30,000 a year for her 2 kids. Her oldest is 2 1/2 and she also has a 6 month old baby.

[liloulou]

Full time child care can vary depending on if you go through a religious child care center, private center, au pair, or home care.

I know from personal experience in the private child care centers, you can figure on average it will be between $1,000-1,400 per month per child.

One more thing... wait times can be insane... for both of my children, we had to get on the wait list 9 months in advance.

[claremarie]

There aren't many day care centers in McLean itself. Even family day care homes are few and far between. Many parents use nannies or au pairs, or they enroll their children in a day care facility in or near their workplace.
And, even back in the 1990s when my kids were babies, the cost of any sort of fulltime child care was equivalent to private school tuition. The cheapest legal option is often an au pair, but there are significant restrictions on their hours and housing space.

[Middlin]

You can go to this link and put in 22102 and perhaps call a few of these places to get an idea for the going rate in McLean.

*Child Day Care - Search for a Facility - Virginia Department of Social Services

[household61974]

EVERYwhere in the area is CRAZY expensive. We have a 4 year old and moved to the area in November. I was stunned at prices, and also at the fact that the VAST majority (75%?) of preschool options in the area are part-time (3-4 hours, usually from 9am to Noon). It was sheer luck that we found a full time school for our son, and the monthly tuition is $1250 - and that's for 9am to 4pm.

[seiketsu]

I don't have children, but most of my friends who do either pay out the nose for daycare (frequently employer-provided but still expensive) or nanny shares. Whenever I wallow in my lack of family, I remind myself that I'm already spending 60% of my income on housing and could never afford children. I know plenty of people do raise families here, but frankly I think they are crazy, and I know plenty of people who are miserable from the stress of it all.

[Novadhd5150]

It is expensive budget up to 1800 per child for infant or toddler..This is for good private daycare.
The 5000 K tax credit barely makes a dent

[kmva]

This thread is timely to what I am going through. We moved to Falls church recently and I was shocked at the prices for daycare. I was searching for a preschool for my 2nd child and many preschools are open for 3 hrs or only from 9 to 3 and a decent one costs nearly 1500 per month. Felt like a rip off for 3 hours of enrichment and 3 hours of naptime. In addition they are closed for summer, winter breaks and spring breaks not to mention all the public holidays. The set up does not work for 2 FT working parents. Preschools fill up now for September. I was having anxiety attacks during my search. Finally we decided to send our child to a preschool in Reston, close to work. Things are so different from what I experienced with my first child(7yrs now) and I guess Mclean/Fallschurch area adds another angle to it.

[Alltheusernamesaretaken]

Originally Posted by seiketsu

I don't have children, but most of my friends who do either pay out the nose for daycare (frequently employer-provided but still expensive) or nanny shares. Whenever I wallow in my lack of family, I remind myself that I'm already spending 60% of my income on housing and could never afford children. I know plenty of people do raise families here, but frankly I think they are crazy, and I know plenty of people who are miserable from the stress of it all.

But not everyone puts their babies/young children in daycare. It is often more economical to stay home and raise them yourself, not to mention it is (without starting a flame war) preferable overall in most cases. I know there will be issues about time taken away from the workforce for the parent who is at home, but families have to weigh everything involved.

This includes time with your babies / young children, cost of daycare or other child-raising options, cost of commute - work clothing - dry cleaning - wear and tear on car if applicable - work meals, etc. Also taking into account if you are living beyond your means (when factoring in a parent staying home) --> size of home, size of car, number of cars, meals made at home vs. eating out, using coupons, taking advantage of sales, etc.

Some of us raise families here and aren't "crazy" because we aren't dealing with daycare costs. Personally I think we should take a cue from other civilized countries and offer much more time away from work for new parents --considering the benefits of family cohesion of more than 3 waking hours out of the day.