How do you get cheap and quality child care?

[KMOM14]

Sometimes (as in my case) there were no family or friends or even people you know through word of mouth to contract to watch your child.

A sobering thought if you are shocked by the price or the distance to travel to have quality provider is to pick up any newspaper and at least once a month you will read of a child being injured or even dying due to neglect or abuse by a person that was entrusted a child's care.

Best place to start looking is get a list of all the licensed daycare centers in your area, go to their place and to visit, interview and inspect them, ask for rates and shop around. You can find listing for licensed daycare providers (which have to meet very stringent standards to keep their license) on the internet, County Social Services Dept. or sometimes your local library (where I found mine).

I did not have the luxury of taking time off work to shop around beforehand, so had to wait until I was out on maternity leave to look.

I have to admit that although my childcare was 1/4 of my salary, it was the best investment I ever made.

Even if they seem right or ok, test them, have them watch the baby for the day and show up after a few hours. The first one did not last after I found my son propped up on pillows on a sofa where he could have toppled over, which was not safe. The next day I was shopping around again and luckily found the provider who ended up being second mom to my son when he was young. It was an in-home couple family daycare where the mom had a degree in childcare because she loved kids and the dad a techno wizard that supported her effort.

If you make under a certain amount in many states, depending on the size of your family, you may also qualify for subsidies, which my childcare provider not only told me about, but encourged me to apply for.

[Milehimama]

One thing that we did also was to work split hours. I worked from 7-2 pm and my husband worked 4 pm to midnight. It was difficult, but we could not pay for quality child care. We also homeschooled during this time because we could not afford a private school and, in our district, they charged $300 a month for PUBLIC SCHOOL tuition. (The mandatory attendance age was 7 years old, and we lived in a very poor district). For a while before that, my husband's work was 4 10 hour days instead of 5- 8 hour days. His job was flexible enough that he did not have to work M-F so he took Mon, Tue, Wed. off to be with the kids, so we only needed childcare for Thursdays and Fridays. (And, he liked working slightly longer days and getting that extra day off!)

[jdp]

There are times to be frugal and times not to be frugal and when choosing who instead of you will care for your kids is one of those times not to be "frugal". If you can't afford quality care I was dirt poor while paying for daycare but it was a group daycare I knew well so I knew ds was well cared for. We went through every other option before skimping on care. Opposite shifts, family, every conceivable thing. Eventually worked it to where NONE was needed thank goodness - but then that is why I had to learn to be frugal in other areas

[farley2k]

Originally Posted by Xin Lu

My parents actually live here and have their own lives. They make way more money than me and my husband, too. So basically they're like..no way we'll be your babysitters. They said they might help on the weekends, but for daycare I will be on my own.

I guess for my parents part of "their own lives" is being with their grandchildren!

[businescares]

Cheap at the same time quality childcare doesn't exist. You need to compromise in one of the factors. And i think no parent would compromise with their child care. I go with Au pair care. The main advantage is that Au pair is included in all family activities. Au pair lives with you and becomes a regular member of your family, bonding with your children and enriching their lives with their love and the language and culture from which they came.

[GOTO Fashion]

I agree with everyone who has posted about not being frugal with childcare. You do not want to cut corners in this department - the results are never good. You run the risk of compromising your child's safety, learning, nutrition, or emotional, social, or physical development.

My mother has run a licensed in-home daycare for more than 10 years, and informally babysat in our home for 15 years before that (she is in near Little Rock, Arkansas, so if anyone needs her information please PM me). One of the most tragic things she told me was that she took in a 1 year old about 6 years ago whose legs had been twisted by a caregiver at the big-box daycare he had been going to, to the point that he had numerous hairline fractures in his lower leg bones. In that case, obviously the caregiver was charged criminally and the center got in trouble, but the parents were also prosecuted and put on probation for a number of years after that because the state said that they knew about the abuse and still kept him in that daycare (they maintain that they did not know and of course wouldn't have returned to the daycare if they did know). Those are the kinds of complications you DO NOT want to have to deal with in your baby's first years.

As for us, we have a wonderful nanny. We pay her minimum wage, plus overtime since she works more than 40 hours/week. We pay her well and keep her happy because she is like family to us and we love her very much. Right now I'm out of work and looking for a new job, but we have kept her because we know we'd never find anyone like her again. The investment now is worth it, because we have another one on the way and we want the same quality care for him that our first one had (at 21 months, he can say his ABCs, count to 10 by himself and up to 30 with help, knows a ton of songs, and speaks 3 languages).

[purplefdu]

lol, I was gonna say family is often an option. My mother-in-law takes care of 2/3 my nieces on a daily basis. The youngest is dropped of on the way to work, and she drives 30mins one way to go get the middle child after preschool weekdays. She finally stopped driving the same to get the eldest after school, but even once a day when she doesn't charge my sister-in-law and is on disability is alot. I know what I would be making from watching the two fo them, even if I gave a gracious family discount.

My best friend will be paying $250/week plus providing a playpen for her son when he starts day care in a few weeks at two months old. I think its a shame and if I don't have a job soon I will be providing care instead for cheaper, and working on getting my certifications for first aid and cpr, etc.

I would definitely look for stay at home moms you live near. Thats why I'll be looking into watching her son. I already stay at home, so making $200ish a week sounds great to me. Take into account some daycares charge more for younger kids as they are normally required to have a higher care provider to child ratio for them.

[kav122]

As you all have stated "cheap" and "quality" are impossible to find, so my husband and I work opposite shifts. I work 6:30-3 he works 3:30-11 or so. We get to see each other on his two days off (M&T) and my weekend (Sa&S). I think it would be great to have an au pair, but 10,000 is way out of reach.

And our son gets the benefit of being around his dad all day, who is bilingual, so he gets the two language-advantage!

[abh5e8]

for the OP, i woudl start to investigate quality childcare costs in your area and then look at your dh's and your own salary and living expenses. often it is much more cost effective to stay at home for the first few years than to pay for quality childcare. not to mention they grow so fast and that is time spent (or lost) with them you will never get back. also, look at options that might allow you to continue to work part time and/or from home, during times your dh is off.

i lvoe to save money on just about everything but childcare is not one of them. dh works the evening shift and my school schedule is such that i am there early mornings and days and home by 5.30 (dh works 2 - 11 pm 4 days a week) so fortunatly we only need care a couple afternoons a week. we know our sitter as both a friend and fellow church member and we pay her well for keeping our daughter.

i'm sorry you dont' have more options with family. right now all of our family lives out of state, so thats not an option for us either. but, in 2 years when we move we will be moving to one of the towns where we have family, partly because they will help with childcare and mostly because we want to see them on a regular basis.

[hippykidz]

Xin I will say only that if there is a FAMILY memeber willing and able to care for your children, Barring creepy uncle Arthur of course you should take advantage of them even consider paying a premium(food-outings etc.). My wife and I have many horror stories of daycare we can share ,some from our own ranks and some from friends. Please use a family member you just never know what is going on when you're not watching.