For those of you that have kids in - childcare.

DillsMommy wrote: Or anyone who has their own business.
I was thinking about putting Peyton in Daycare a couple days a week throughout the summer while Dylan is out of school. Then Dylan and I could hang out and do our own thing. He's been a little jealous of Peyton lately and I don't want him to feel that way. So I thought that would be a good way for just him and I to spend time together. Anyways, my mom just started working at a daycare/preschool so I went to check it out yesterday. The owner said for his age he either has to go 5, 3, or 2 days a week. I was kinda hoping for 1 day but 2 would work. She also told me for his age it's $40 a day--which doesn't sound too bad until you add it up. That would be $320 a month for ONLY 8 days a month! OMG, that's like a nice car payment! Since I've never had either of my kids in childcare before, I was wondering if that's about average? So far that is the only place I looked at and if they are all that expensive--I don't thinkI'll be able to put him in there right now........

skinkybaby replied: Wow, that seems like a lot. I pay $130 a month, but that's for a Mother's Day Out Program and it's only from 9 to 2. But still!

DillsMommy replied:
See that seems ALOT more reasonable. But how many days a month/week is that?

mummy2girls replied: i own a dayhome.. and i charge 35 a day if its just drop in. but if its more than 4 drop ins a month then i just charge a flat monthly payment. so for 8 days that is defentily part time so i would charge 325-350/month. some people think childcare is expensive and yes i admit some is waaay to expensive but i would pay alot for a good place because my child is the most important thing and i want good childcare...plus my dayhome is my career and income so i have to charge enough to make me through the month... so alot of daycares have to look at it that way as well:)

skinkybaby replied:
2 days a week. Mine only go September to May, but I know there are several places around town that have Summer programs.

lesliesmom replied: I must be lucky. My DCP only charges $27 a day for one child ($22 if you have more than 1 and are full time). $40 seems like a lot to me.

My2Beauties replied: Wow I only pay $600 per month full time 9 hours a day 5 days a week for 2 kids

mummy2girls replied:
wow that is a good deal. i charge 550 per child a month fulltime... all dayhomes here and childcare centres do that you nned 2 spots you pay 2 spots

My2Beauties replied:
Well...I should have prefaced that by saying, my DCP is a very good friend of ours and I get a heck of a deal, I pay $150 per week for both kids whereas anyone else would pay $250 or up.

lovemy2 replied:
Holy Crap - that is awesome - here I was looking at a center for JUST Dylan for 2 days a week $110 a WEEK - we ended up with home care for both kids - Olivia only 2 HOURS a week and Dylan 2 DAYS a week for $110.......

MommyToAshley replied: I'd look into a summer preschool program. They tend to be less expensive than all day daycare as it's only a few hours a day for two or three days a week. And, it's a great opportunity to prepare for Kindergarten... they have fun and really do learn a lot in preschool. Since you do not need all day care, this might be a better option.

holley79 replied: Check with some of the area churches. I know we have a couple which have Mommies Day Outs 2x a week. I'm not sure how much it is though.

I pay 130 a week full time child care for one child. It's a private day home so she really isn't in a center. In July it will drop to 115 a week and on her 3rd birthday it will drop to 96 a week. My sister only pays 100 a week at her dayhome for her 1 year old.

coasterqueen replied: We pay roughly $180 a week for two kids ($90 each kid). Our sitter does charge more for "drop ins", though.

luvmykids replied: That sounds high to me, when I had the kids in a home daycare, they had guaranteed spots on Tues/Thurs for $20 per day...that was a few years ago but no way would I pay $40

I second the idea of Mothers Day Out....here most of the Baptist and Methodist churches have them, usually two or three days a week. The one I used was M,W,Fri from 9a-3p. You could do three hours for $11 or by the hour at $3/hr.

DillsMommy replied: I never even thought about a mothers day out program. Thanks for the idea. It's not like he has to stay there ALL day--just a few hours would be nice. So I'll look into that.

mckayleesmom replied: We did Mothers Day Out with Mckaylee through our church and it was 10 dollars a day Tuesday and Thursday and you paid for the entire month...so it depended on how long the month was. They also had a preschool cirriculem....

Cece00 replied: My kids are in daycare right now, full time...all 4 of them.

I pay $338 per week for daycare right now.

When school starts back up, I will be paying about $162 a week for 2 kids in daycare, and then $220 a month (or $55 a week) for my boys in aftercare...

Boys r us replied: Check around and see if you can find a home daycare provider..they're usually a LOT cheaper than daycares! If you can find someone you trust, it would be great! We have a home daycare provider that watches Allie for 1 or 2 days a week for me so I can have some downtime, it's FABULOUS! She charges 25/day.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Around here, yes that would be average, esp. for a baby. Actually, at some places it would be really cheap. My preschool kids paid $38 a day. Daycare is more or less expensive depending on where you live. Also, babies and toddlers are going to be more expensive because the ratios are lower for that age in group centers, and if it's a home center it lowers the amount of kids the provider can have dramatically!

Also, IMO, it's really best if he does go at least 2 days a week wherever you take him. I had a 2 day minimum. For 2 reasons...#1, because it takes up a whole spot. If a child is scheduled 1 day a week, then the chance of me finding someone else to fill those exact other 4 days is slim. So, I am actually out a lot of money. #2, because a child can not get use to being at a center on only 1 day a week. It really is best for the child AND the teacher that the child be there more often then 1 day or else the transition is really tough, and it's almost like you have to start all over again each week, esp. at this age.

If you do decide to take him, I would suggest picking 2 days back to back.

As far as home daycares being cheaper, that isn't always the case. I was never cheaper than the other centers because I ran a state licensed high quality preschool program along with my full day daycare.

If you are not worried about schedules and activities, etc. then I would find someone who can just babysit him a couple days, for a few mornings. (3-4 hours a days maybe). Especially since it's only for the summer, there may not be a lot of providers who are willing to just take a baby for the summer on only 2 days a week. Then they would have to find someone else to fill it after the summer is over. At his age you don't really have to worry about activities and too much structure anyways, since he's a baby yet. He just needs a lot of love and attention.

I would see if you can find a teenager who could come over to watch him for a few mornings, while you and Dylan are out and about doing something fun together. There are tons of teens looking for extra cash during the summer. Then he could also still be in his own home.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
DeeDee, that would be a great idea....if Peyton wasn't a baby.

holley79 replied:
Oh I didn't even think about Peyton being a baby. How old is he?

DillsMommy replied:
He's almost 10 months.