Cost of Day Care

Hi J.,
Congratulations on your upcoming nuptuals! How exciting. I live in Chalfont and pay $225/wk for my 5 month old baby. Right now I supply her formula but once she reached 1, they supply breakfast, snack & lunch. You are definitely a planner thinking about daycare when you have a wedding coming up. Good to be prepared and informed.

Hi J.,
It really depends on what type of day care you go to. Some are better than others and its always more expensive the first year of care while they are infants. My daughter goes to Bright Horizons in King of Prussia and for 3 full days (she is 2) I pay $950 a month. Its expensive but this daycare is top notch! It also includes snacks, drinks and a hot lunch. When she was an infant, I would say add another $75-$100 to this a month.

Other centers I priced such as Goddard School, Malvern School, Chesterbrook are slightly less, maybe $100 less a month when she was an infant. There are other places such as the YMCA which I know are cheaper. But, you get what you pay for. I would DEFINITELY start making calls once you know you are pregnant, if not sooner cause a lot of places are full and are on 1-3 yr wait lists! Good luck!
K.

Congrats on all of the exciting things happening in your life! I am about to send my first child to daycare today.

I live in Philly and will be sending her for three full days (the minimum) and it is $160 a week. I understand this is on the low end of the scale.

Good Luck!

If you can swing it, i would say stay home. Daycare is expensive and you will be doing a wonderful thing for your baby. I do realize though that it is not a choice for some people to stay home. I wish you the best of luck with your choices.

Congratulations on your soon-to-be wedding!

When my oldest was in daycare, it cost about $175-$195 a week (keep in mind that was for the preschool room thu kindergarten). If I remember correctly, the infant room cost about $205-225 a week. But they supplied everything except the breast milk/formula (ie-diapers, hot lunches, snacks, etc). Good luck with your decision.