Daycare for 2 Children?

I'm on the same boat! One toddler in corp daycare and one on the way, and I work full time. After #2 arrives I plan on returning to work full time because I value what I do professionally. However finding child care for two is a big one we haven't figured out yet!

Scaling back to four days a week or something is actually worse for our family financially so that won't work since daycares are often priced for you to get the best value out of it when the kids are enrolled 5 days a week (ie you get a more expensive per day rate if they're in there 2 or 3 days a week. So you pay more for daycare, and you lose work income! So we're debating hiring a nanny (which has risks because if they are a no show, are sick, decide to quit unannounced, or want to take vacations you need a back up plan for that), plus you lose the socialization and structured toddler friendly environment that they get in a toddler daycare setting. The other alternative may be home based daycares which I understand are a bit cheaeper than corp daycare but I need them to be open for long hours (ie until 6:00 pm) so I can spend a full day at work.

The light I can see on the horizon is when the older child gets into K0s K1s or K2 - once the older toddler is old enough to get into some pre-K or Kindergarden program in schools, that should ease the financial burden but that is a few years out where we're facing a financial crunch I'm afraid.

So while we don't know what we're going to do yet we're considering nannies or a nanny share, or home based family daycares even though we'd much much prefer a corporate daycare center (so you don't have to worry about a staff not showing up or scheduling etc - very reliable and available, but pricey.)

Good luck w/your search and keep us posted with suggestions!

Best,
I.

i am "drooling" for greenbaby home daycare! sound like perfect daycare to me.. i wish i live closer to billerica so i can enroll my baby in greenbaby daycare :o( natural daycare is rare to find tho.

i noticed small home daycare owner is cheaper than big daycare that charge overrrr 40 bucks a hour. so try find small owner daycare and you might save some moolah compare to big daycare?

Hello J.
I am 28 years old mother of 2 (7 year old boy and almost 5 year old girl) I ran my own Daycare out of my home for almost 5 1/2 years. I live in Lexington. I would love to here about your kids and see if we could work something out.

Hi J.,

I run GreenBaby Home Daycare in Billerica, MA and am currently interviewing for enrollment in 9/08. I provide high quality childcare by utilizing organic and all natural resources, practices and products. I am licensed for four children and have full and part time slots available for children 6 weeks to 5 years old. Tuition includes diapers, wipes and meals. I serve organic food/milk and use non-toxic products in my home. GBHD is open weekdays from 6:30am to 4pm and in conjunction with the Billerica Public schools. Daily curriculum includes activities that promote all areas of development, and I do not use TV in my program. I have a Bachelors degree in early childhood education, experience as an infant, toddler and preschool teacher and have two children ages 5 years and 19 months. I am trained in CPR and First Aid and have experience working with children with allergies. If I am fully enrolled in Sept., I will have a co-provider working with me which will allow for more individualized care and assure that I would not close if I was sick or had an emergency. My home is smoke and weapon free and I have a fenced yard for outdoor play. I charge by the hour and ONLY charge for the hours your children are in my care. My hourly rate is $9.50 if I have the assistant and $8.50 if I don't. Please contact me at ____@____.com or call me at ###-###-#### to see if GreenBaby Home Daycare can fulfill your family's childcare needs.

Sincerely,
J. Croce
License ####-###-####