Daycare question

[shelbean91]

I'm getting certified to do home daycare and I'm meeting with a potential client tomorrow. She has a newborn (6 weeks) and a 4 year old. She works 4 hr shifts 2-4 days a week- w/her commute, I'm thinking I will have the kids about 5-6 hrs a day. I was thinking of charging her $45 a day (25 for the newborn and 20 for the 4 year old). Does this seem excessive? If so, what do you think would be fair. I don't want to charge too much, but I still want to make some money.

My dh is apprehensive about me taking a newborn, thinks it will be too much. DD is almost 3 and he thinks taking toddlers only will be better. I think a newborn will be fine, so I'm meeting with her and think I'll approach this with a 2 week trial for both of our benefits. I'm sure it won't be a problem, but I want to give her an out, as well as me, if necessary.

[~member~]

Hello shelbean91!
I don't know where you are, but here daycare is $2.10 an hour for babies and $1.80 an hour for all other children. In the cities, it is $7.25 for children, I don't know what it is for infants, tho. In the past I have done in-home daycare and it is definitely not a job you make money at. I never made a profit, or the one month I did, I only profited $1.25. It is definitely something you do for the children and mothers. I loved doing daycare and probably would still be doing it, except I am now in college because I have always dreamed of being a doctor.
I hope this helps!

[shelbean91]

Thanks-

I'm not looking to earn a lot of money, but just supplement what DH brings in. We've been cutting things VERY close over the past year since I've been SAHM.

Good luck with your college career- I plan on going back someday to be a teacher.

Thanks again.

[owen&mama]

I agree that it depends on where you are. I have a part-time caregiver when I travel to D.C. and she charges $35 a day/$150 per week for my DS (he was 8 months when she first kept him, now he's 15 months). I think that that is quite reasonable. I paid $9/hr when he had to visit a larger center for a few days due to scheduling conflicts. In Colorado, I pay $110 a week for 40 hours (I think that is $2.75/hr) for an in-home caregiver who watches 6 other kids. Again, I'm not complaining at all about the price, and it is somewhat less than the care I get in D.C.

My first reaction to your proposed fee is that it is quite reasonable, especially considering that you are flexible with her schedule and you will have a newborn. I paid $8/hr for my DS as an infant.

Oh, and a note about snacks and such. I provide lunch here in Colorado, but not in D.C. . I don't know how that would affect the cost, but some days I would pay $$$ to not to have to provide food. Other days, I am thankful that I do, because I like knowing that he's getting organic, etc..... Maybe that will be a consideration for her/you as well.

Good luck! It's challenging work!

[mirlee]

At first I thought that was a little low, but then I did some math. We pay $465/mo for full-time daycare for Sam. This works out to $23.25/wk. He is three and we just had a rate adjustment/decrease of $10 on his birthday. Daycares tend to charge more for newborns. I think the newborn rate at our center is $525 this works out to $26.25 per day.

So, your rate sounds pretty good to me.

[PaganScribe]

We pay $543/month to leave Nate from 6:30 to 3:30 five days a week. (Goddess, I hate even thinking about how long he's a daycare!) It works out to a little less than $27 a day; we'll pay that rate (the infant rate) until he's 18 months.

So your price seems good to me!

[Chelly2003]

We pay $162 per week, ds is there from around 7am - 3:30pm 5 days a week.
Thats about $32 per day. He gets Breakfast, snacks and lunch at the center.

Chelly

[Indigomama]

We pay $180/wk w/ our 10% discount for five days a week - 8 am to 6 pm. Ds isn't there that long, but as long as he's there over four hours... same price.

We paid $200/wk again with a 10% employer discount when ds was an infant. Ds is now 2 1/2.

Don't forget: specify vacations, sick time, etc. We pay irregardless of ds is there or not.... though we do get two weeks free a year to have him not there and not pay... does that make sense?

I definitely don't think you're far off the mark. Don't short change yourself. While sometimes I cringe when I think of how much $$$ goes to day care, most sane people won't begrudge anyone from making a living wage, especially when they're in charge of their precious

[PumpkinSeeds]

Newborn care here is anywhere from 900 to 1200 per month.

[shelbean91]

Thanks so much for your replies. I'm so amazed at the great variety I've found across the country in the cost. I still haven't been able to meet with her, she's had to reschedule twice. We're supposed to get together today- so we'll hopefully come to an agreement.

I will cover with her time off, etc. Again, I think I'll be pretty flexible with her b/c this is pretty close to my ideal situation. I just need a little bit of extra money, would prefer to only have one or 2 kids, and part time will allow me to still have time to do my other household stuff (shopping, errands, etc.) when it's not really crowded at the stores. I think it's the best of SAHM and WAHM.

The main reason I didn't go back to work after ds was b/c daycare would have eaten up most of my check. I wasn't the one carrying the med benefits, so I just need a little to supplement dh's income. We've been really scraping lately, so it will be nice to have a little extra.