childcare arrangements and cost (daycares, how much, home)

[JustBrowsing22]

We do not have any children yet, but in planning for them I've started to gather information to try and get a clear idea of how much added expense we need to be prepared for before deciding to take the plunge....and whether we can really afford to do it.

Since we will both be working, I know daycare will be our biggest added expense. From the little research I've done, legit daycare facilities seem very expensive. I know there are tons different options...home daycares, sharing with other families, nannies, having relatives help out, flexible work schedules etc...

If you don't mind sharing, I'd love to hear real life examples of the different ways local families deal with this issue, and how you make it work financially. Please share the following:

Number of children and ages:
What are your childcare arrangements during the week:
How much do you spend per month on childcare:
What is your household income:

Thank you!

[xeney]

I have two kids, 3 and 7. Childcare arrangements have varied a lot over the years. Here are some things we did:

Nanny share (infant to 18 months): about $600/month for two full days a week. If I'd worked full time this would have been pretty pricey ($1,500/month), but every center I looked at that offered infant care (most do not) was at least $1,200/month. None of them had part-time slots available (a few advertised that they would do part-time, but none of them actually did) and their ratios were not as good as the nanny share (2/1).

Large home daycare: there is a difference between a large home daycare (allows up to 12 kids plus I think 2 school age kids), a small home daycare (I think they max out at six kids?) and a (legal) unlicensed home daycare (watches only one other family's children). We used a large home daycare for both kids from about 18 months to age five. It was about $45/day for part-time, or around $800/month for full-time. This was our favorite option by far, but we had a really good daycare.

I looked at one legal but unlicensed home daycare and it was horrifying. State regulation is good for some things.

Daycare center: we are using this now for our three year old because our home daycare closed. It's about $750/month for three days a week, would be $950/month for full time. That's typical for center pricing although it can be +/- $200. It's fine. We preferred the better communication of the home daycare, but there are not a lot of home daycares in the midtown/downtown/East Sac area. My daughter loves it but I miss the relationship we had with our nanny and with our previous daycare provider.

YMCA: we used this for my oldest daughter for school aftercare last year. It was $350/month; they picked her up from school and I picked her up at the Y after work. It was okay, nothing to write home about, but she hated it. She's neither very social nor very sporty, and she found it really bleak and lonely. Other kids like it a lot.

My sense is that in the suburbs you will find more home daycares, more preschools (which are only half-day and typically don't take kids until they are toilet trained), and fewer centers, but I have not really looked into it.