Current childcare costs for our daughter, who is currently two and half years old amount to approximately $2,200 per month. When our daughter was younger, she was cared for by a full-time, live-out nanny who came to our house at 7 a.m. and left at 6 p.m. Since December 2006, a couple of months after turning two years old, our daughter spends her mornings (between 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m.) at Discovery Isle and her afternoons (between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.) at home with the same nanny who has taken care of our daughter since she was two months old.
We wanted individualized attention for our daughter when she was younger and contacted several nanny agencies in town before she was born. We ended up using Loving Nannies of San Diego which charged $1,000 back in 2004. Loving Nannies conducts a background check (SS#, crim, DMV) and interviews each nanny before the nanny is referred to a family. Loving Nannies forwarded to us the applications of nannies who seemed to fit our needs and we ended up interviewing eight individuals. During the interview, I asked the nannies basic questions regarding how they would interact with a child at various ages, their prior work experience, how they would deal with emergencies or difficult situations, how they would discipline or teach a child, etc. I also tried to learn about the nanny as a person by asking her about her interests, etc. Having the nanny was great because we did not have to worry about scrambling to get our daughter packed for daycare and the nanny was able to take our daughter to the doctor's office on when our daughter fell ill. The nanny maintained our daughter's room and play areas, did laundry, cleaned/sterilized her bottles, prepared meals for our daughter as she started solids, and would drive our daughter to classes (baby sign language, baby gymnastics, etc.) once or twice a week. We had two logs that the nanny completed each day. One log noted when and what our daughter ate, when her diaper was changed, and when there was a bowel movement. The other log noted what activities were engaged in (tummy time, singing to baby, stroller walk, class, nap time, etc.). When our daughter was younger and slept a lot, the nanny would prepare dinner for us. The situation was great but we had to scramble when the nanny got sick was took vacation or personal days off. We of course, had concerns in the beginning about how reliable and trustworthy our nanny would be but we have been very fortunate and have not had to change nannies at all.
When our nanny became pregnant, we started our daughter in daycare at Discovery Isle. My husband and I visited three daycare centers close to our house and met with the providers. I then asked the nanny to visit and give her opinions on the daycares we were considering. We decided to go with Discovery Isle because it was structured, because they have a camera that would permit us to check in on our daughter's room via our office computers, and because our nanny told us that the childcare providers there were the warmest and most attentive. Before our nanny gave birth, we had our nanny take our daughter to the daycare a few days a week for a couple of hours to get our daughter acclimated to the new environment. Our daughter went through a week long honeymoon period where she really liked the novelty of the daycare setting. However, she cried every day for the next three weeks when she had to go to daycare while the nanny was on her maternity leave. Now, our daughter loves Discovery Isle and the various activities she does there (art projects, story times, outdoor jungle gym, etc.). I like the fact that she is learning to interact with other children. She is exposed to activities and people that she would not be if she were at home with the nanny. Seeing how other toddlers conduct themselves has helped (with her pacifier use, toilet training). A big downside is that our daughter has been sick quite frequently since starting at Discovery Isle five months ago.
Even though our daughter only attends daycare between 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m., we are paying about $975 per month, plus an additional $60 per month for lunch, for full time care at Discovery Isle (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.). This is so that we have a "back-up" when the nanny is sick or on vacation and cannot pick our daughter up at 12 p.m. We allow our nanny to bring her new baby to our house with her and now pay the nanny $8.50 per hour on the reasoning that the situation is comparable to a nanny share situation. Our nanny is compensated for mileage, gets two weeks paid time off, and is paid $10.00 per hour for any additional time she works beyond her 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. hours (i.e. when we need her to work a full day because our daughter cannot attend daycare due to illness). So far, this has worked out to be approximately $275 per week part-time and roughly $500 per week full-time. Each Christmas for the past two years, we have given her a bonus equivalent to two weeks salary along with a personal gift from our daughter such as a piece of jewelry.
Sorry this is so longwinded but hopefully this information is of assistance.
Here take my daughter on occasion, like when I need to get my hair or nails done, to a Day Care center they charge 14 dlls. a day or 70 dlls. a week! She's 2 so there's no way she going to sit still. I am sure there are more expensive places if I look but since I know and trust the owner that's where I take my DD.
