the Price of Daycare for More than one Child

This for an in-home licensed daycare for 3 children. The youngest is 9 months old and attends Monday through Friday 8:45am to about 5:30pm the price is $150/wk. The second oldest is 5, she goes Monday through Friday from 1:15pm to about 5:30pm and the oldest is 8, she attends daycare Monday through Friday 3:15pm to 5:30pm. Both the older children are $65/wk each. This does not include the additional prices for no school days or half days of school. Each half day is an additional $5 per day per child and each no school day is $10 per day per child. This ofcouse only applies to the older 2 not the infant. Also the price for the older children increases to $95/wk during school and summer vacations. We are expected to provide everything for the infant, which is understandable since diapers and formula alone are quite costly. Daycare does provide the afternoon snack for the older children, however on days that they attend during lunch hour we are to provide them with a home lunch, this includes summer vacation as well as any other days off. Our daycare takes 2 weeks vacation per year paid, and several holidays again all paid.

My husband and I definately prefer the in-home daycares to the larger commercial facilities. Our experience has been that with fewer children in general our children are able to get more one on one with the care provider, who we now refer to as Mom #2. Although it is tough to swallow the large daycare bill on a regular basis, it is especially difficult to have to pay for holidays that we ourselves have to work, such as President's Day and Martin Luther King Jr Day, and find alternative care for the children.

Before chosing your daycare make sure that you shop around for quality as well as pricing. My husband and I have always made an announced visit as well as an unannounced visit to each daycare before choosing the right one. Any daycare that has a "problem" with an unannounced visit is not any place you want your child.