If I were looking for a home daycare, I would look in community newspapers, church bulletins, the local Y, and recreational centers.
I don't know how things work in your area, but here in Virginia, even home care providers MUST be regulated and licensed by the state. We have an Office of Child Care, and they will give you a list of home care providers in whatever area you are looking for. On that list it has whether the people are trained in such things as CPR, if they are bilingual, if they provide meals, etc. It's pretty good. I didn't use it, because I had just moved to this area, and I was so overwhelmed by it all. And for the area I live in, the home care providers weren't much cheaper than the daycare, so I chose the daycare.
Here are some experiences of other StorkNet working moms . . .
I live in a fairly small town in west Georgia and commercial daycare runs from about $65 - $92 for an infant or toddler. In home care can vary from $50 - $100. A lot just depends on the individual person or daycare center. My daughter went to a $66 daycare and then transferred to a $88 daycare and about the only difference was that the place was BRAND NEW, clean shiney bright and CONVENIENT to my work. It was worth the difference in price to me, but the actual 'care' was not that different. She was not being neglected or anything at the less expensive place. ~Elaine
I live right outside of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I pay $70.00 a week for Emily who is 1 and my niece (who is 15) keeps the older girls at my home in the summer for $50.00 a week. Most daycare centers here charge $60.00 - $115.00 for infants and private sitters run $50.00 to $85.00. ~Cathie
I also live in northern Virginia, Ft. Belvoir to be exact. I have a 1-year-old and for the first 9 months, I was paying for childcare on post with a home care provider. That ran me $195 every two weeks. Then my girlfriend told me about a program called Child Care Assistance that was run through the county/city government. It's done by your gross income. Since I am a single mother and only make $1200 per month for being in the Army, I was eligible to only pay 10% of my base pay per week, which comes out to $32.17 every week! A big difference! I am able to save more but yet, get the same care. I also notice that Dante is happier since he's been going to Miss Sandy. He's been there since he was 10 months so about two months now. Look into government assistance and like Libramom mentioned, look in papers, the Y, church groups. Daycare is VERY expensive up here in the DC Metro area. ~Mommy2Dante
I used a girl who has a licensed daycare in her home. She charged $4.00 per hour. I used her for just an hour or two. I live in the Chicago area. That's pretty average around here for home daycare. I'm lucky to have my mom less than a mile from me, who is willing to baby-sit while I work. I pay her $5.00 an hour for my two kids. But she's also Grandma and gives me a little break. ~Cindy
I live in Lexington, KY. My first child was in an in-home day care (limit 6 kids, certified by the state) from 6 weeks to 3 years. I paid $85/week for her and lunch and snacks were included (after she began table food. I had to take the baby food.) I liked this for her because she had the same caregiver for 3 years and was around children birth-5 years so she learned from watching the others. Also, she was allowed to nap when she was tired (1 in morning and 1 in afternoon). And probably the biggest advantage was that I could take her there with a low fever, pink eye, etc. Small things that are usually more of a nuisance but that bigger daycares are very strict on. When she turned 3 I felt she had outgrown this arrangement and put her in a Learning Center (Kids R Kids if you have them there). Aside from the fact that she had 7 different teachers in her first 3 months, we have loved this arrangement. She is with kids her own age in a learning environment and progressing very quickly. I now have the baby there too. My concerns are as follows: a girl in my office has a 2-year-old there and she is only allowed to nap from 1-3. This is not enough for her and she is terribly cranky at night. Also, there will be a change in teachers every 6 months until she is 4 years old. They will not be experiencing interaction with older children and will learn with their peers. (I might mention dd#1 was fully potty trained by 20 months with no pressuring from us. She saw the 2 older ones doing it at her sitter's and decided she wanted to too!) Anyhow, I pay $108/week for the 4 year old and $135/week for the baby which includes everything but diapers and formula. (They supply the wipes!) I also used the Child Care Council to find my in home provider in my area. ~Janet
Having just recently put Anders in daycare, I know what a shock the price is. We went with a daycare center and the cost is $150/week. This was the average price. By the way, I live in the metro Detroit area. ~Missy
I live in Central NJ and take Cameron to a daycare center. We pay $260 a week (weeks for the month go by how many Mondays are in the month and if there are 5 Mondays, look out!). A person providing daycare in their home does not have to be licensed or registered with the State but must watch less then 5 children (not including their own). If more than 5, must be licensed. My job offers no help with daycare, and it is an individual company thing not provided by the State. Most daycares in my area are more or less the approximate amount. ~Debbie
My job does help a lot though, because besides the discount, you can sign up for a childcare reimbursement option with your benefits. You pick any amount up to $5000.00 that is split up, and taken out of your paycheck, and what you are essentially doing is matching what you are paying for daycare. At first it seems like double dipping, but the amount is taken out before taxes, so it's money I would not have seen anyway. To get your money back, you submit a claim to your benefits department, along with a printout from the daycare provider showing how much you have paid, and you get the money back. You can take it out weekly, quarterly . . . whatever. My husband recently found out he has this option as well, so soon we will be able to expense almost the entire cost of what we are paying in daycare. It still hurts to write that weekly check though, but daycare is just expensive. If I were a lobbyist, I'd be lobbying Congress to subsidize daycare, period. They waste so much money on ridiculous things, but the care of our children always seems to be at the bottom of the list. ~Kenyatta
I also am in the Northern VA/DC area, and I send son to a Kindercare. He's in the "2's" room and I pay $175 per week. As he gets older, it gets cheaper. When he was in the "infants" room, we were paying $207 per week. The discount (if you can call it that) I receive from the center for 2 children is minimal. I checked out home care prices, and they were pretty much the same as what I get with Kindercare - so hopefully that gives you an idea of what's here. I have a hard time swallowing the cost but all I have to say now is I am grateful I don't live in NJ or NYC! ~Becky
I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, and we pay $225/week to put our infant daughter in a New Horizon daycare center. We have to provide diapers and EBM (expressed breast milk), too. ~Amber
