How Much Should You Pay for an at Home Child Care?

I pay $220.00 a week. I live on Long Island, New York. I can't believe some of the prices that have been posted regarding this post.

I charge $160/week for F/T care and $35/day for P/T, I live in Sterling, VA. Which is very resonab le. Most daycares charge $200+, and honestly I prefer in home daycare, if I was taking my child to daycare I would do in home. There is way less kids, they generally are much cleaner, and less kids equals more attention, and less sickness!!

I charge $15 a day for full time kids. And it doesnt matter about age unless they are in school most of the day and i have them part time. so its $75 a week. I do activities, go to the park and much more

D., congratualtions on the birth of your daughter...at least I'm assuming from your letter above that she was born, now:) I hope motherhood is everything you had hoped for and much more! I'm sure your question has already been answered a 100 times. However, here is my take...I am also trying to care for children in my home (I say trying because I am currently running an ad and waiting for responses), and I charge $50 per week if the child brings their own food or $75 per week if I supply them with their meals!! I know that people charge much more than that, but I do my job out of love for the children not to get rich!! I truly enjoy taking care of children and I think that is the most important quality to have as a care giver!! I hope your daughter is a healthy, and happy child and lots of luck in motherhood. I hope I was able to answer your question.

This is a tough one. There are some schools of thought that say you get what you pay for. I have a lot of friends that over the years payed college girls or people who could not get a job anywhere else a really cheap price and they went through them like water.
There are also a lot of great facilities and in home situations that are very reasonable. I think when you are shopping around you should look for somewhere in the middle. There are a lot of in home situations (that are not licensed, because they don't need to be if they have under 5 children), that are great.
Use your mom instinct, call around in your area and if this person is worth it (that is if you feel she is), pay her somewhere in the middle. I think it also depends on what the person is offering.
I have an in-home childcare. I was a director for large corporate childcare centers for years and before I graduated from college I was a nanny and a teacher. I have over 20 years experience. The children in my care get individualized curriculum, one-on-one attention and a great loving home to be in while they are here. My parents pay me $200 a week and I provide food. They get a daily journal of their child's day and I follow their directions when it comes to nap and feeding. We work together as partners on their child's development and curriculum. It works out really well.
Good Luck

I just have to laugh at charging someone $75 a week, that is a total rip off! At the end of each month for a full-time child you should be paid $800 BUT $75 is a TOTAL rip off!

D.,

It depends on what you are comfortable with. But I would say you should definitely be paying someone who provides childcare from their home less than what a day care would charge (they are outrageous in our area). Additionally, if the childcare provider is watching other children in her home, I would think you should pay less than you would for someone who was going to provide one on one care. I pay my childcare provider less than $10 an hour to watch my 14 week old daughter 2 full days a week.

Hope this helps,

T.

It really depends on where you live, how many hours and what is included. I paid $100 a week per child and had a wonderful woman watch them full time. She provided meals and plenty of learning, love, & support. The other lady I had before her was cheaper, but did not provide the same level of care. Really research! Make sure you can drop in at anytime - good luck.

Hi D., My daughter is 6 months old right now and we live in the Framingham area.. we pay $40 dollars a day which compared to some of my friends taht live east that are paying about $80 dollars a day thats cheap, i have found that this price she charges us is ver resonable and also is pretty much across the board.. Thanks M.

It depends where you are located and if she only has her own child an yours than you have to think of it as almost like a nanny. Your daughter will be getting a lot of individual attention. Does she have good references? We had a babysitter and started paying her 11/hr and she had great references. And then we realized she was so great that we gave her a raise in only a few weeks! Good childcare is hard to come by. You do pay for what you get! Good Luck!

Hi D., congrats on Brianna's upcoming 'birth' day!!
When my son was almost 1, we switched from a daycare center to a home daycare. It's been nothing short of wonderful. She only charges us $80 for 4 days (she doesn't work Fridays). I know that is much less than the federal/state minimum wage, but the care he is receiving is of a MUCH MUCH higher quality than his old daycare center.

for in-home licenced day care i pay $200/week in Providence, RI. my daughter has been there since 10 weeks and is 1 yr now.
that seems to be the standard rate here.

I provide childcare in my home and I charge $3.75 an hour, meals are included. I also offer a 10% sibling discount. I do charge less than a lot of people around my area and much less than all of the daycares, but I don't think that anyone should have to break the bank for good childcare!
Good luck with everything!!

I had a relative come to my house and she watched my daughter from six weeks old until she was 2.9 years old. I paid her what she wanted $4 per hour and she did laundry and dishes. After reading some responses I guess I had it pretty easy. I now pay $180 a week for daycare so she gets the interaction and structure.

I think it totally depends on how often this person will be watching her. I watch a 6 yr. old and a 15 mo. old, sisters from 1-5 in the afternoon, and I charge $125 total.
I think that you probably shouldn't be paying anymore then $275 for a 6 mo. onld, considering it is an at-home daycare.
C.

Hi, I live in Rochester, NY. I think judging from the responses you have gotten the best thing would be to call your local Licenced Child Care Center (yellow pages) and get a list of local moms in your area that provide child-care. Call them to get the rates. For a baby in this area it would be about
$150.00 per week. The teens get about $7.00per hour to sit.
When I work for a local Nanny agency I get $10.00per hour.
I would not go for the "cheapest" person either. Ask for a list of refrences and call them ! Best wishes to you and your new baby on the way !

Hi D.! Congratulations!

I live in the Lehigh Valley, PA and pay $90 a week for home care. That includes snacks and drinks but I provide breakfast, lunch, and diapers. This woman also provides the best care I could ever ask for. It really does depend on where you live because in the NY area I know people that pay for full time infant care $300 a week and in the Connecticut area I know people who pay close to $400 a week. I would suggest calling around your area to find out what the prices are and pay accordingly. Most places around here charge over $150 a week for full time infant care (up to 50 hours a week). So $90/$100 for 8 hour days for in home care isn't too bad.

More importantly, feel comfortable with the person watching your child. I had issues with a local daycare and I'm just so thankful that I found the babysitter watching my daughter now.

Hope that helps!
S.

This is a tricky one. I live on long island (NY) and the going rate here is anywhere from $85 - $150 a week. I would suggest that you call a few day care centers in your area and average out their prices. When you come up with a figure, subtract $50 from the price (this will give you room to negotiate) and discuss it with your new babysitter. Hope this helps and good luck to you.

I pay $125 a week, and before that, it was $400 a month. Every home daycare operates differently, but of course, it depends on your parental instinct.

I pay 150 week for in home childcare...great but make sure you understand what the limitations are with it...ie. no state regulations, personality quirks of the caregiver...pets...how often will the child be stimulated etc...things I wish I had followed advice on.I mean its great but just make sure you outline e/thing with the person in advance....

Hey. We use a home daycare. The lady we use is licensed and treats our son very good. We pay $150 a week. This is very reasonable compared to centers. One center we were looking at wanted $260 a week. My husband and I personally like the idea of a home daycare better. Less kids and more attention. Hope this helps.

D.,
When my 7 year old was 1 year I was paying $25 a day or $5 an hour if it was going to be less than a full day. That was in Lawerenceville NJ. One of my co-workers in Lancaster PA will be paying $2.50 an hour for her sitter. Hope that this helps. Also I pay $5 an hour for evening baby sitters. These are teenage daughters of my friends (I was so spoiled in the summers with sick time until they both started driving and began working other jobs.) Good luck.
L.

Hi D.,

I watch my girlfriends son 3 days a week and she pays me $20.00 a day. She brings him here and picks him up, and I'm able to be home with my own two children as well. It's been a nice arrangement for all of us for nearly a year now. But like someone else said, ask her what she wants to be paid, before you offer more than she is expecting.

Good luck,
M.

My siste-in-law charges 125.00 a week. I know some daycares charge up to 200.00 a week. Hope that helps. What is she charging you?
D.

I pay $9.00 an hour - the woman who watched my child has one other and I have 1 child too

I have always paid my caretakers from $10-$15/hr depending on experience and how many children I've had. Make sure this woman is infant CPR certified for your childs sake and that her home is babyproofed well. For one child $10, 2 children $12, and 3 children $13-15/per hour. Good luck. Usually pay mother's helpers $5-$8/hr, but they are usually younger helpers.

I D....
This is one of my first replies, but I care for three children out of my home and I do a little more like take them to soccer practice and other activites, do some light house keeping and get paid $300/ week for 52 weeks hope that helps.

We pay $30 a day for home child care. I think that that is a good amount to pay!

WOW!!! I just read some of your other responses!!! In upstate NY, certifited daycare is $3 per hour!!! And that is for someone with a liscence!!! I would definetly ask the provider what she is charging, you may be willing to pay her more than she expects to be paid! Good luck! If you move to NY, I will watch your baby for $3 per hour!!!! And I have my bachelors and LOTS of experience... Have a good weekend!
:-)

When my daughters went to "in home" child care I paid $45 a day. She would provide all the meals (when they were eating "people" food. Otherwise, I would bring formula and baby food. I was responsible to bring diapers, wipes and ointments. Hope this helps.

D. - Congratulations you have your little girl by now! I wanted to make a comment on childcare providers. Is this person someone you know well? The rates people on here quoted seem pretty reasonable. I do want to make one comment though that I'd really try out the daycare situation before 6 months with her. Go spend a day at her house letting her try to manage both kids! I hired a nanny before our daughter was born who had a son........and she came to our house. We paid her $10 an hour. She really struggled trying to entertain a 2 year old and care for an infant! I work from home so I witnessed what was going on! I'd go there and make sure she is a strong provider and make sure you feel comfortable with things! GOOD LUCK!!!

When my daughter was a little one. The at home daycare cost 110 a week. But be wary, at home day-cares have more leanient demands on them by the state and I had a bad experience with mine. My children go to a comercial day-care and I am paying a lot for only two days a week. So I am now looking closer at all day-care possibilities.
Good luck with your search.

I watch children during the week and I charge $120 a week. I provide breakfast, lunch and depending on the time you pick up your child I also do dinner. I have a great backyard for the kids to play in and I live in a big house, so there is always plenty of room for the kids to play on rainy days. But please look around because there are many of us out there with all different prices.

Hi D.! I am a nanny and go to the family's house to watch their child. I am paid $12 per hour, which is average in Baltimore for a nanny for one to two children. Since you will be taking your daughter to the care provider's home, a rate of around $8 per hour is acceptable.

I hope this helps!

Hi D.,
Our children were in a home daycare when they were infants. Our provider charged $150 per week for infants which is pretty reasonable.

Good luck!
C. (mom of 2 in CT)

my lady charges 25 dollars a day and 15 for a half day !
hope the info helps !!

D.,
The price for home daycare really various. I have my own home daycare in Stfd. & I have found that certain towns are higher than others. For a full-time infant or toddler you should expect to pay at least $175 = $225 per week. Good Luck with your new baby girl! D.

I agree that you should call around (a LOT) and find out what the range is. Prices vary from city to city, neighborhood to neighborhood.

But, most importantly, make sure you only go with someone who is licensed or registered and if you can, find one that is accredited. Being accredited doesn't mean it's necessarily better than one that is not, but if you narrow it down to only a few, this might be the deciding factor.

Infant care is usually more expensive since having infants lowers the max number of children a provider can have and then there's the issue of supply and demand.

You do get what you pay for. Don't discount someone because they cost a little more or even a lot more (if you CAN afford it). Maybe they've spent more on equipment, maybe they buy more fresh fruits and veggies (and even organic), maybe they attend EVERY class/workshop offered, maybe they've gone the extra mile to be accredited. These things cost the provider more and it's fair to pass this onto the client.

You might feel more comfortable if you can find someone who operates in a professional way and treats this is a career and a calling, not just something to do until something better comes along. There are a lot of WONDERFUL providers out there who earn every penny they charge, and then some.

I realize that some people have a very limited amount of money to spend on childcare and MUST get the cheapest provider available. I'm not faulting them, not at all. I was in that position years ago.

Good luck!

Hi D. my name is K. my daughter had twin girls and when they went to daycare at a woman house she charge them $25.00 a
day for each one.I hope that can give you a figure to work with.

Hi D.,
It depends on how many hours your child will be there, also, do you provide lunch, etc.. or are they provided. Another big question is....Is she licensed? Remember they are caring for your most prized possession, so if you like and trust this person with your baby, I think you should pay a minimum of $140. per week and that is cheap for someone good.

I say it depends on number of factors... where you live, how many kids, etc. I run a home daycare in WIlkes Barre and I normally charge $110 per week fulltime (up to 45 hours per week) or $75 per week for part-time (25 hours or less per week). I also give the parents a good deal if they have more than one child 10% off per extra child. I have been told that's a good deal because I provide all the snacks and meals for the children.

You pay between $25-30 for new borns a day at a daycare. It is not reasonable for you pay that much. It is reasonable to pay for a newborn $15-20 a day as long as you provide wipes, diapers, formula.

D., a lot depends on the area you live in and if you are using a licensed person ( which I recommend) a good way to find out a base is most states have a gov. agency called "info line" this has licensed providers home and center in your area, and ages, etc.. it should also have info about price range.. where I live south eastern ct. an average week for an infant is 150-200 per week for full care, remember that licensing is different for infants in most states only allowing 2 children under the age of two in their home at any given time.. good luck with your search

chris v
smile giggle and laugh