Part Time Daycare

When we put our son in daycare we pay what she calls a drop in rate - basically means we're part time. We pay $36/day. Her normal rate is $32/day. My son turned 2 in July. When he turns 2 1/2 in January his rate will go down to $32/day - which would make the normal rate $28 - but that is for a preschooler.

$40/day for Grandma to watch her is a lot to me - but maybe that is because I couldn't imagine paying anyone that much to watch my child (because we don't have that kind of money).

I'm not saying that Grandma shouldn't get anything, but the amount she wants is extreme in my opinion. Did the Grandma ever state why she is charging so much? Are they having financial problems or did she quit a job to stay home with the baby?

-J.

-J.

My daycare is in Shoreview and she charges me $160 a week, per child full time. My rates don't change, but her newest clients pay $175 a week full time, but that's for full time. I know my provider had lower rates for part time care, but since I don't use it, I didn't pay attention to them.

Is your friends mom a daycare provider or is she only watching her grandchild? If she's a provider, she's probably using her normal rates.

I assume the mother is providing the formula and when the baby is old enough to eat food, the grandma might? Definatley if the mother will be providing all the food, the price should be a little lower.

How much is grandma charging?

My mother in law watches sister in law's kids once a week and she watched my son for 4 months and watches and she doesn't charge anything.....not sure if my sister in law ever gives a little something, but we're taking her and my father in law out for a nice evening as a thank you (since she didn't charge us for anything).

I think my old daycare lady was charging $24 a day for FT and PT was $25. I'll have to look back at her paperwork but I think it was $6 hour if it was only a few hours a day or something.

Hi S.,

As far as I know the going rate for in-home daycare for an infant is about $40 per day, depends on the provider, and $270 per week for center based. Of course you can always find cheaper, but then you're usually compromising quality. And as for watching your own granddaughter, I have know family members to give discounts up to 50%, it is her granddaughter after all. I hope this helps.

Hi S.,

When I busted out the calculator, $120 a week/26 hours a week equals $4.62/hr. My very cheap home daycare lady has my kids about 40 hours a week and charges $170/week for infants - which boils down to $4.25/hr. Most home daycares charge around $200/week, which for 45 hours (including commute time for parents) is $4.45/hr. So the trend here is that Grandma is charging a little high for $26 hours of work. The problem is that any home daycare isn't going to do what I just did - a cost analysis of part time care vs. full time care, so it can be a tough call.

I definitely think $40/day is high. I haven't seen anything above $32/day - but maybe Grandma is thinking "if I watch this kid for 8 hours for 1 day, what is that worth to me?" Of course I'm just guessing, but I do think $40/day is high.

What I really fear for your friend is, where the line will get drawn? When would she be willing to watch her granddaughter just because she's a grandma, and when will she charge for watching her? The fact that grandma even mentions a daily rate makes me worry about this. I would suggest your friend find out where exactly the line is before she agrees to it. Also, it doesn't hurt to find out what 26 hrs/week would cost with someone licensed. The exposure to other kids would be good for her daughter, too.

We pay $50 per day but know it is a little more expensive than most. We take our son to a great lady who doesn't watch any other children except her own two. My mother and my mother-in-law would never charge us for daycare. We happen to live 350 miles from them, but they have watched all their other grandchildren for free. I'm not saying that's what all grandparents should do because it is a sacrifice to do day after day. I would think that a more reasonable rate should apply though. I would think $25-30 per day would be good for family.