San Diego Military Dad w/ Ques re: Cost.

[gmac121]

I'm a new military Dad who was deployed when my wife gave birth to our son last year. She had the responsibility of finding a caregiver by herself in a short time before she went back to work. She found a friend who decided to start doing it and they worked out a contract. This situation has been in effect for about 6 months.

I want to throw out the situation and get some reports from the masses on if what we are paying is fair:
We pay 1750$/month. She cares for her 3 yr old daughter at the same time as our 10 month old son. SHe comes over to the house and picks him up at 0700, she takes him to her house for the day, and I pick him up at 1800. 5 days a week. Holidays are on us. We pay for all supplies.

She was a single parent under the stress of me being gone and doing it by herself. This was an opportune gig that presented itself. I came back from deployment and my question is:

Are we paying too much for this????
Thanks in advance.
G

[Michael]

Paying Too much for Daycare?

Depending on the area you are in and the service you get you could be paying a lot more. The amount you are paying seems about right.

[Unregistered]

Military financial help

There are some programs available for people that are in the military, but I know that contacting them will at least let you know whether the cost in your area is outrageous or not. I went through NACCRRA.org to get help and information when my son was born.

[AC23]

I don't know what is normal for your area but you might want to contact the child developmental center and even the Family child care coordinator on your installation. Either of these places could give you a rough idea what is being charged. Depending on if you want to use the child center on base both of you being military will fall in Cat V or VI which is usually close to $130 a week but there are limitations like your child can not be in care for more than 10 hours a day or 50 hours a week. A home provider on base may charge a bit more but may be easier to work with as far as your schedule and if you go over 10 hours a day or during any exercises your installation may have.

As far as what you are paying regardless if this lady is registered or not you are entitled to ask her for her social or TIN number to claim child care cost on your taxes. If she chooses not to give it to you talk to legal.

The fact this lady comes and picks up your child in the morning is a convenience for your family she should be compensated for that. How you decide what is fair is up to you guys. Consider how much more time you would need to leave your child in care or travel time before and after work to get your child? Gas money to travel back and forth. The fact you have an infant may drive the price of care up since under 2 slots are harder to come by. Many people prefer older children vs. infants. All in all you can't really put a price on your child. If you trust this lady and she has done a great job that is something that is really important especially when you have an infant that can not tell you what the lady does when you are gone. Grant it you can get some tell tell signs like if your child cries when left with her or doesn't looked care for. Older children can tell you hey this person ignores me or this person is great etc etc.

Its normal for many child care to expect parents to supply an infant's food supply. Usually once a baby/toddler turns to table food then child care should supply it. Although many programs run differently.

I hope that helps some.