Daycare Costs for 4 kids!

[Lynne Holloman]

daycare costs: 1 in school, 1 in daycare full time, 2 in a home daycare = $486 a week. They babysit from 7-6. 

nanny: 450-500 a week.  This would be from 7:30-5. (I realize you get what you pay for!)

And I can't afford a live in nanny because most of those programs want agency fees up front which I don't have. 

What do you all think I should do? 

[Galatea]

Stay at home?  I know very few people who make enough to pay for that many kids in childcare.

[Carma]

Yes, it depends how much you earn. If you can afford it, I assume a nanny would be least stressfull from what I see with friends. But I found it stressful to find an affordable good english speaking nanny (we don't speak english at home), so we do daycare instead. We have to almost pay double that for 3 in daycare in our area, it is crazy, don't want to think about it... September first one goes to school, we will be rich ;-)!

Carma

[motherhendoula]

Those day care prices are phenomenal!  I paid $400 / week for TWO in day care in 1999.  But also consider the half days/snow days/ early dismissals for your school age child- and then theres the aggravation and expense of having to drive to three different sites to gather your ducklings together at the end of the day - with a nanny, there all right there.   Far and away i think the nanny is the way to go. 

[One_Girl]

Do you have a university or college in your area?  You may be able to find a student or someone who just graduated and is in need of a job with more flexible hours, they may even be willing to live in and you won't have to pay the fees to the agency.  It isn't really all that expensive to have a background check done, $40 for an intensive one at our state police department.  You can do a lot of the contract writing yourself, there are probably mother's on this site who will share how they wrote their contract with you.  Even though that is a really good deal, you may be able to pay $9-10 an hour and wind up paying less for a 40 hour work week with a nanny, especially if you do go the in-home route when you hire yourself.

[JudiAU]

I'd really recommend a nanny. Four kids in three different schools/care is 1,0000 colds and viruses that require time at home + half days, holidays, spring break, plus care exactly as you want it. That is pretty much all of your vacation/sick leave and a lot of inconvenience to your employer/career.

[Bubblette]

Have you thought about an Au pair? That's what we'll be looking into next year :-) Seems like a perfect solution for my family - $17-20,000 a year (depending on company) for in home child care and the cost doesn't go up with more children.  Plus it's cultural exchange, a second language if you want and 45 flexible hours of child care per week.

[g&a]

We've done both live in nanny and dayhome. Having a nanny really relieves a lot of stress In our house. Also consider the cleaning and laundry that a nanny can do for you. Plus not having to get kids up and out the door early in the morning. Priceless.

Where I live a live in nanny is way cheaper than live out. We found ours through another nanny we knew. They tend to all know eachother, so if you find a nanny ask them if they know anyone looking for a job.

[Lynne Holloman]

What is the up front fee? I'd love to do it but can't really afford more than 2K for getting them here.

[honeybunmom]

There was recently a groupon for a nanny service in our area that was waiving fees, so, you might want to keep your eyes open for something like this.

[Sharlla]

I bet you can find a nanny outside of the services of an agency.  My friend put an ad on CL and has had a lady and her DD living with her and her son for the past year

[HollyBearsMom]

Nanny all the way.

[Bubblette]

Originally Posted by Lynne Holloman 

What is the up front fee? I'd love to do it but can't really afford more than 2K for getting them here.

If you were asking about Au Pairs
 

Most of the programs have a $300-$500 application fee, but then before the au pair comes over you owe the whole program fee ($7,000-$10,000).  Some of the programs have monthly payments like this one http://www.aupaircare.com/host-families/payment-plan or this one http://www.aupairint.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=84 .  You'd have to go through program by program to find the best offer for your family.  This is a list of accredited programs, just scroll down to the US section.  http://www.iapa.org/portal/page/portal/MenuSecSiteIAPA/MenuMembership/MenuMember%20List  I'm sure we'll be looking for monthly payments when we start the process next year.

edited to add another payment plan option :) there really are lots!

[annekevdbroek]

Well, a nanny is a heck of a lot easier logistically w/ 4 kids.

*However* I would suggest that your cost estimate is highly optomistic. Have you actually priced nannys in your area. I am in the DC area and the going rate is $15 per hour. For 4 children you might expect to pay closer to $20 per hour. Assuming you pay legally you can expect an additional cost of 10% for payroll taxes. Also legal pay often means you have to pay the nanny more per hour ($15 is the 'under teh table' going rate here).

If you need someone to drive consider that you may have to provide a car and insurance. You'll also need to pay during your vacation days and such.

Sorry to be such a downer. I've had a nanny the past 2 years nad we are letting her go at the end of the summer because the cost is too great. I went with an 'in home' daycare. However, for 4 kids a nanny may be the same cost as daycare. In which case, I'd go w/ the nanny. That way you don't have to worry about sick days (other than for the nanny). Nannys can also run errands, take the kids to appointments, etc. Be sure to run a background check and interview throughly, and call references.

[Xerxella]

I'm surprised no one's mention sittercity.  Love it.  We just found our nanny on there.  It cost $30 for a one month membership.  We had over 40 responses to the one ad we placed and went with a lovely lady who is a newly graduated art therapist.  In suburban Chicago, $10/hour so for us $500/week seemed about the going rate.  The nannies in the city were asking more, but not much more $12-$14/hour tops.  Of course, you still have to do all your own vetting, but the price is right. 

[phathui5]

You could check with the local AP groups or LLL to find a SAHM who's looking to make extra money. When I lived in Baltimore and did childcare, I had one summer family who I think I charged $250 a week.

[Lynne Holloman]

Well I found a nanny and I am paying her $100 a day for 3 kids. And 110 a day for 4 kids. Plus she drives her own car, I do put gas money in there. 

Thanks for all the suggestions!