My daughter is almost 15 months old, and my husband has been a stay at home dad since she was born. Once my olkder kis go back to school in the fall, DH would like to go back to work full time, and we will need to put the baby in daycare. we never had to pay for daycare for our older children at this age, so I have no idea what to expect as far as daycare expenses. What is the going rate in the area for a toddler at an actual pre-school facility? thanks!
Thank you for the responses, at least I now have a better idea of the range! Now I guess it's time to start checking places out.
We pay $675/month for our daughter who is 5 and will be moving on to Kinder in the Fall. She started out in the "learning center" at 3 months and I think we paid $825 back then. It got cheaper as she got older. We do have to provide her lunch and they provide her snacks throughout the day. It is a fabulous daycare/learning center in central Austin.
We pay $835 for our 3 year old. That includes meals which I found out that other schools require you to provided cold snacks and lunches for about the same cost.
I think it depends on the type of facility you are looking for. Home day cares are often less expensive - around $650-$750 a month, but you have to choose very wisely. Church and smaller locally owned day cares probably run $800-$900 and larger facilities often run $850+.
One option to keep in mind is if your company has a flexible spending plan for childcare, which you can max out at $5000. Essentially, I don't pay any taxes on that income where it goes into a special account and everytime I pay daycare, I pull out a portion of the $5000. It won't cover all of your costs, but certainly saves some money.
We pay just over $1,000/month for a similar age group (1 - 2 yr olds). I found this to be fairly mid-priced for NAEYC-certified preschools in town.
