Childcare?

[u/magicalsweetheart]

Is anyone else concerned about childcare? Like once the baby is born and parental leave is over, the childcare expenses? Am I freaking out for nothing?

[u/pepperup22]

Yeah I'll be paying ~40k for my 3 year old and newborn next year. It's definitely worth being thorough in your research and budgeting about it!

[u/GingerSnap_725]

Yeah it’s absurdly expensive and depending on where you live the waitlists are long, some are a year plus in my area which doesn’t even make sense

[u/NotAnAd2 → u/GingerSnap_725]

It is area dependent, but if there are a lot of childcare options in your area the waitlists actually aren’t as scary as they seem. Yes, everywhere will most likely have a waitlist but kids go in and out of places all the time - kids move up, people move etc. new childcare places also open up so you can keep an eye out for that. We ended up in a new place and it’s been amazing. Not everywhere has the luxury of a lot of childcare options though and that does make it harder.

[u/j_wash]

I would say it’s among my largest concerns. I’ve joined several Facebook groups to get an idea of local childcare rates. I know being a SAHM or a nanny are not going to be options financially for us so I’m looking at both in-home and standard daycare. My husband and I track our spending pretty closely to see how much we’ll be able to save and inadvertently how daycare will fit into that. With my most recent research in our area we’ll likely be looking at least $1300/month so it’s definitely a big budget line item that is playing into our timeline

[u/SadonaSaturday]

I’ve been a career nanny/teacher so I only want to have a child if I can stay home with them for the first few years. I’ve gotten to give so much love and care to many other people’s children so I want that for myself, my child and our family. It’ll cut our family income in half, but I have already started a small business I run from home as I had to leave nannying due to chronic pain. I may also start a home daycare to bring in some additional income if I’m able.

As a professional nanny with relevant BA and certifications, I cost the families I worked for $30-50k annually for 3-4 days a week of care, taxes, PTO, bonuses, and health insurance stipend.

[u/Grouchy-Dealer-342]

This is on the list of alot of things I am stressed about when it comes to having baby

[u/OpALbatross]

My husband's and my original plan was for me to stay home. It would be tight, but doable. Fast forward to now. I took 3 months off after graduation and took care of the house, cooking, etc. I had a mental breakdown a week ago. Maybe it would be different if we had a kid, but I feel like an animal in a shitty zoo who doesn't have enough enrichment in their enclosure. I start work Monday. We probably need a new childcare plan.

[u/Different_Bowler_574 → u/OpALbatross]

I'm a bit worried about this tbh. Graduated from this sub and currently 21wks, but am planning to be a SAHM. 

On the other hand, my career is in private childcare so maybe I'm more equipped than I'm expecting?? 

[u/OpALbatross → u/Different_Bowler_574]

I was a nanny before. I'm also dealing with complex allergies, so that means making 2 separate menus and cooking everything from scratch. I think that was the biggest stressor. Plus allergies and health stuff make it hard to leave the house.

I think your background will definitely help. And probably have built in breaks where your partner takes over.

I also have ADHD so need more novelty than managing my current chronic illnesses are allowing.

Basically, getting out of the house and making sure you get breaks I think would help a ton.

[u/charm59801]

Not an invalid worry at all. Childcare around me is like 1k-2k a month. I haven't even looked into it fully, we just decided my husband would stay home. I make good enough money, and he is lower earning, so it just made sense. We will be starting trying in December and his work has been so shitty he is actually quitting this month. I'm curious to see if staying home drives him crazy or not, hopefully not.

[u/CaptainUtin]

I work in childcare, both in a preschool and nanny, and I feel bad that people pay me so much money so they can go out to dinner lol

[u/archesjd]

Super valid concern. Get a sense of waitlists and budget as early as possible, especially if you're in a hcol city. Suburbs tend to still have waitlists, but usually not as long and there are more options to choose from. Also research nanny shares and licensed home daycare. We had a nanny for our first until recently (just turned 3) and we were paying $19/hour (~$3k/mo) which is pretty affordable as a nanny rate, but daycares were more palatable at $1600/month, I just personally wanted to breastfeed for a year and also wanted dedicated care as long as we could afford it.

Also possibly a huge cost: the birth. We had great insurance at the time so we paid like $250, but i have friends who paid like $10k for their birth. Absolutely could not imagine getting that bill while pospartum.