Rates for In-home Day Care

I get $10.00 to $15.00 an hour but only take in 1 or 2 kids at a time to ensure more one on one care.

In California home daycare rates are often per day or per week regardless of how many kids. Being a home daycare provider myself my rate is based on age. I charge more for the infant. Once the child turns age 1, I lower the rate. Once the child is completely potty trained the rate decreases to the lowest rate I offer. Often you will see lower rates in lower income cities and higher rates in expensive cities.

I do a daily rate because I take part and full time children. I also offer discounts to families with more than one child attending my daycare. It is a personal choice of the provider that she needs to work out depending on where she lives, her experience, reputation and what works best for her to run her business. Also many home daycares are part of a food program offered by the state that allows the providers to feed the children at no cost to the families and the provider gets reimbursed for the food. Other daycare providers decide to have the parents pack lunches. I know of one daycare provider that charges a little more money and provides the meals.

I hope I helped a little ;o)

Hi S. the price of daycare has nothing to do with capacity
some daycare charge by age of the child where under 2 is moe a week than over 2, however I;m a daycare provider and I charge 120.00 a week regardless of age and attendance. J. L.

Reading back, prices have not changed much since 2009. I own a daycare and do charge more for infants than older children. But they all receive same quality care & attention.
-A..

My son goes to daycare in Costa Mesa and the rate is $195/wk... no matter what the age. He has been there for nearly 2 years however when i was originally looking I saw pricing varying from $165 to $225/wk. Find someone that you really like and feel comfortable with. My daycare lady and her family are now very close friends of mine. We celebrate birthday and special occasions together... its like having an extended family which is great as I have a very high spirited child and its nice to know that he is being taken VERY good care of while I have to work.

Hi S.,
I am a provider in the San Fernando Valley and I have a capacity of 8 (2 of which can be infants). I charge $145 from ages 0-2 years old, and $135 for children 2 plus. I go based on my area and other childcare facilities in my area. In addition, I am a 24-hour 7-day per week childcare.
Hope that helps out!
N. Sanchez Kimp
www.aroundtheclockchildcare.com

I charge $ 160 per week for children 0-2 years. It really doesn't matter how many children are in the home.Unfortunately infants are expensive and in a daycare settinf they can only have 2 infants at a time so you are paying for the spot. Hope it helps!
K. Sauer-Fontana
Sauer Family Childcare

Are you a day care provider trying to set your rates? Or a parent trying to choose one and understand which setting has reasonable rates for your area?

Personally, if I were choosing a day care setting, I would want one that had fewer children, in the hope that my child would receive more personal attention. And lets face it, even though we know how hard day providers work, in this economy we all have to keep our expenses to a minimum. But....The amount you pay for child care is actually not as important as knowing that your child is being well cared for in your absence. You may find many high priced settings that do not have the loving touch that a lesser priced one does and the other way around too.

You should visit day care settings you are considering during their operating hours. Unannounced is best. You want to make sure it is clean, safe, the children are happy, stimulated, have age appropriate toys, spoken to with respectful kindness, disciplined in a way that corresponds with your own family's views. You'll want to know their policies on toileting, meals and feeding, fees, hours, and other important considerations that will occur to you.

If you are planning on being a daycare provider or already are and perhaps evaluating your fee schedule, my hat goes off to you. It's a hard job that garners little respect & nowhere near the pay it deserves, yet it is a vitally important one that allows mothers to support their family and know that their little ones are in good hands while they do so.

Please let us know if we answered your questions. Take care.

As Julie L. said, it has nothing to do with quantity of children. But some charge more, per age, or if it is a newborn/baby.

Each location/State, has differing rates.
Some are per hour, and some are a Flat Rate, weekly or monthly.... REGARDLESS if you attend or not... because the Care Provider has to keep a slot open just for you and wait for you if you are late for example or give a last minute notice you are not coming. They are still always "on call" for your child. Thus, they are always working and they have to be available for those pre-stipulated hours. Like any other job.
Caring for other's children, is a big job. And many care providers are under-paid.

In my State, each month can cost even $650 plus or minus. This is for a flat rate, for in-home care. For "hourly" rates... the MINIMUM can range from $10/hour and up.

I babysat before... and I charged a flat rate, regardless if the child was there or not, and regardless if there were "holidays/vacations' or not. It was up to the Parent to honor that and the 'rules' and to notify me of non-attendance or not, or IF they were going to be late in picking up their child. There are also often "late fees"... if a Parent is late in picking up their child.
At least in my area, this is the norm.

A 'reasonable rate' would be what is your budget? And if meals are included or not, at the care home.

All the best,
Susan