I am planing to have a child with my wife. How much is childcare?

Question

I live in Cardiff and we both work full time and would need to after the birth, Howm uch is it weekly? Who is best to use and what else should we know?

Answer 1

Call around and ask daycares:

1) What is the ratio of the teachers to kids?
2) What sort of education do their teachers have?
3) Can parents visit at any time? (the answer should be yes)
4) What sorts of foods do they provide for the kids?
5) What is their philosophy of child care? (You can look it up when they tell you.)
6) How do they discipline the kids?
7) Do they provide training for their teachers? What sort of training? (If they do Parenting with Love and Logic that's a great program.)
8) Do they have a waiting list?
9) Can they provide a list of people you may call for a recommendation?

This should help you get started brainstorming. Sit down with your spouse and come up with more questions.

Your last question should be about price and you should never decide on a daycare based solely on price.

Your choices are a home day care, a day care center, a nanny or a baby sitter who comes to you. They will vary in price.

Call the state that oversees daycares and provides licenses to ask about the best daycares. If they can't say, ask them to provide you with a list of any that have been reported and for what. If they can't do that, ask where you can go to find that out.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I don't know where Cardiff is, but I have lived in Wisconsin, Florida, and North Carolina. The cost for a new born will be about 225-250 per week for a day care center. The cost for a "nanny" to come into your home would be about 400.00 per week. The cost goes down to about 195.00 per week when your child is two and stays that cost until they are about four and the cost would be about 175.00. Of course the cost may be more depending on when you decide to have a child. I have read that the cost is going up around 8% per year. This is the reason that many people choose to stay home with their children.

When my older son was young... he is now 12. I stayed home with him... so I "saved" 200.00 per week and got a chance to spend time with him. Then I cared for three other children the same age as him (playmates!) and made $600.00 per week on that. Not bad.... it was the same as if I made $800.00 per week and that was 11 years ago.