What are the rates for infant care in Minnesota?

Question

What would be a fair rate of pay for a 5 month old child for 45 hours a week. All supplies will be provided. This would be out of the home.

Answer 1

My kids go to an in-home daycare. We provide diapers and wipes; everything else is provided. She also does a preschool curriculum with all the kids, has an art person and a music person come in, and they take field trips and go on picnics.

We pay $140/wk for our three-year-old (that's the rate we've always been charged, since she started there when she was 8 weeks old), and $160/wk for our one-year-old (Deb raised her rates a bit right after our younger child was born).

We drop off at 8:30am and pick up just before 5, but other parents drop off as early as 5:30am, and some even occasionally arrange to leave their kids overnight. So the hours are pretty flexible.

We live in Saint Paul.

This is less than half the rate for infant care at a center. A nanny that comes to your home would usually expect to get at least $8/hr, and many of them charge as much as $11.

I should note, too, that Deb can be so inexpensive (relatively) because she takes in the maximum number of kids allowed under Minnesota law. So she will usually have 10 children in the house, 1 under 6 months, and often 2 or more under the age of 2. It's kind of chaotic and crazy (and I don't know how she does it!), but our kids are thriving there. It's definitely not for everyone, though.

Answer 2

The cost would be huge, because NICHD research shows that an infant separated from mommy for more than ten hours a week has a lower IQ, poorer relationship with daddy, detachment from mom, lack of trust for mom, poorer social skills, more anxiety and depression.

That's an awfully high price to pay - but, of course, it's mostly only your child who has to pay that price.

I don't understand how people can still be having babies in this day and age and not have the research on how devastating day care is to children. The NICHD data holds true whether the substitute caregiver is mom, dad, or a nanny, not just high quality day care. Why? Because human infants evolved to need their mothers.

Answer 3

As we all know, here in Minnespta rates are ridiculous. When my daughter went to New Horizon in the infant room the rates were $437 a week. We live in Minneapolis, I noticed that you may find some a little cheaper but not by much.

Answer 4

If you are in a big city, I don't know. If you are in a smaller town I would charge 130 a week. (since all supplies are provided) That would be 2.80 an hour until they are 2, then I would lower rates