Childcare in the Twin Cities
Posted on September 26th, 2007 – 11:44 AMBy Kay Krhin
Today we have Cribsheet reader (and mother-to-be) Jana with an inquiry on childcare costs in the metro area.
… as an expectant mommy I would really like to see what parents in the Twin Cities are spending today on child care- the differences between home day cares, day care centers, church centers, etc….
I sent her a link to this site
- but realize there are many variables. Please feel free to weigh in on weekly/monthly childcare costs and your comparisons between the different options for daycare that she mentions above.
25 Responses to "Childcare in the Twin Cities"
Wwe choose a center last year after interviewing both centers and the few in-home daycares in our area with openings. We where paying $263 a week for an infant.
take the time to check out all the home daycares in your area. I was afraid of homes because of all the horror stories and the fact that there is a lack of accountability, no one looking over anyone’s shoulder. so I thought I was stuck shelling out thousands to a center, which I wasn’t very happy with either. but then I found the most awesome home EVER!!! she is the nicest grandma you could imagine, and has so many families who love her that she has to employ another grandma and her grown granddaughter full time to help her. she has a large house, and with the 3 women and tons of kids it is very comforting. and, since she has so many kids, she can afford to be flexible with her hours and pay. we, along with a few other families, have a flucuating schedule and she lets us pay her hourly. it just doesn’t get any better…and I didn’t know such a thing existed until I stumbled across her by accident. so my advice is to keep an open mind and check out all your options throughly…
When we were deciding on daycare for our son, we felt that a center was a better fit. We liked knowing that if our son had a hard day, there would be more than one person who could care for/help him. We feel that more eyes the better. However, you do need to make surprise visits to make sure the daycare it what it appears to be. My son is now in the 2yr old room, and we pay $263/week. Knowing that the cost goes up about $10 each Sept., it would be close to $300/week if he were the infant.
We have had our daughter in an in-home daycare since she was 12 weeks old. When we were choosing, we interviewed both in-home and centers in our area. The biggest drawback to the centers was seeing all those generic, stark-looking cribs lined up … it looked so institutional and orphanage-like. And the cost seemed so high to me, for the same service we get at the in-home, but the atmosphere is much warmer. We currently pay $150/week and my daughter is almost 2 (after her birthday it goes down another $10). Our provider also is a member of our county’s daycare association, attends monthly meetings, must be involved in ongoing training and is checked periodically by state agencies to keep her license. She also provides preschool curriculum to the older kids, which my daughter is now part of and loves.
I have a 2 and 4 year old and I pay $130 a week to a home daycare for only 2 days. My mother in law watches them the other 3 days, but we also pay her $130. From what I’ve researched this is a fairly reasonable price. I know also that if my children were there full time it would be a little cheaper. I didn’t really like any of the centers that I looked at. I’ve taken my children to this provider for over 3 years and they seem to be thriving.
We have a 9 month old. A friend refered us to a center that we went with when I was still pregnant and with in three weeks of her starting, I had her completely pulled out. In hind-sight, I had no idea what I was looking for when we toured/interviewed. We found an in home daycare and I knew with in the first day or two that my daughter liked it. It’s hard to make decisions when you don’t know your child’s personality…. other kids at the center were thriving… so it was a good fit for them, but not us. We’re paying $230 per week for her daycare.
We have 3 month old twins and we pay $150 (total) a week for just one day of daycare at a very nice center in Bloomington. One thing to keep in mind is that the cost per day is higher the fewer days you have your child there. If we were going 5 days a week the per day cost would be slightly lower. I believe our center charged $250-$300 a week for full-time. With twins, there was absolutely no way we could make that work.
So we fought for and won flexible schedules from our employers for this first year and (long story short) they only have to go to daycare 1 day per week. I liked centers better for the reasons that the other poster mentioned above: I know firsthand how overwhelming twins can be for one person to take care of, so if they are both screaming I know at a center that there is probably enough staff to take care of both of them (which is actually better than what they get at home sometimes when me or my husband are home alone with them!).
Another thing to be aware of is that quite a few at-home daycares and centers only take full-time infants, so you may have to search longer (and be flexible) to find one if you decide to go part-time.
I had called at least 40 different in home daycares and centers before I found one that would consider taking two infants part-time. I would think it would be a little easier with one though! 
Good Luck!
Our nearly 2 year old goes to a wonderful home daycare for about $150 a week. The provider was the mother of a good friend growing up and happens to be where I went before school as a child. We love her. Prior to getting set up with her we did interview and look at several options, centers being some of them. The thing that I really didn’t like about the centers are the numbers. It may be more eyes looking at your child but it is also many more children to be watching. I have experience from working in a center as a high school student and know from this experience just how different each center can be…just like all options, some are great and others are horrible. Go with your gut and look into many options. Even at the infant age you will know from your child if they are liking the place…they can’t say it but they will let you know.
I have a 10 mo old who goes to a fantastic babysitter. It is just my child and hers in her home - she is not a licensed center, but had great experience, an education, and stellar references. I found her by posting a very specific ad on craigslist. We pay by the hour because my schedule is flexible and no two weeks are the same. It is around $7/hr.
It was hard to find childcare - I had worked as a nanny, as an in-home sitter, and in 6 different childcare centers (corporate, non-profit, and family run) over the years. It was clear to me that I did not want my infant in a center b/c the ratios, the high staff turnover, and it’s tough to find a center that shared our AP-ish ideals. But, I think preschoolers do great at centers.
We have a 3-year-old and a 6-month old at the same center. We pay about $300 for our baby and $220 for the toddler. It is tough when a teacher leaves, but the director does a good job of hiring quality replacements and we grow to like them just as much. At least it teaches children about change. Also we feel our children are getting a much broader experience at a center. The center has music class, bike day and water day during the summer, and the center hosts different programs (Underwater World, or firemen and a firetruck for example) to teach the kids about different things. Our oldest also has dance class at daycare during the day, and she has a blast. I don’t think we’d ever get that with a home daycare. Our infant does well also, you can tell the infant teachers love to take care of babies.
We’ve done both the home daycare and center as we moved from the SW suburbs to St Paul recently. The home daycare we had in mpls was outstanding - 3-4 adults for up to 14 kids, but only 6 or so young ones at a time. The older kids entertained themselves mostly so our daughter had a lot of attention. But having multiple caregivers at a home daycare is the exception I think. I think we payed $190 for 4 days.
When we moved to St Paul I looked for a home daycare. I thought I found the right place - a husband and wife team who appeared to be caring and have nice structure for the older ones. But after checking references and then calling them to say we wanted to use them the wife told me that they were “too christian for us” and then recommended someone else who she knew who had “had better luck with Jewish clients in the past” than they had. What year is this???? What state is this???? I am still dismayed at this experience.
We continued our search for home daycares, found a very nice woman (we thought), who yelled at our daughter when she spilled milk from her cup during our transition day (when I was there with her). I realized it wasn’t the type of person I wanted my daughter to be with everyday.
So we ended up at a center - a montessori daycare/preschool - and I couldn’t be happier. The staff are terrific and they have a really wide variety of activities as others have mentioned are a strength of centers. I wouldn’t have liked it when my daughter was a baby (I really liked having her in a home environment then), but now that she is 1 1/2 I think it is a great place for her to spend her days. We pay $220 for four days (but five is pretty much the same).
Sorry for the long post - but I just know that finding daycare is sooo hard! And it’s nice to get my bad stories off my chest. It still makes me so angry and hurt.
We pay $165 for three days in a center in the very outer northeast suburbs for our 1.5 year old. We chose a center for a variety of reasons. One was the time they are open. I used to work at 7 in St. Paul so if I had to drop her off it needed to be close to 6 and most home daycares aren’t open that early. I now have a new job closer to home but I work long hours three months out of the year so the center hours help with that as well as they are open until 6:30.
Another reason we chose a center is our schedule changes frequently. Right now we need at least three days a week, but my husband sometimes works different shifts or has training so we’ll need additional days. The center allows us to be flexible. In fact when she was an infant we were able to change her schedule if need be, which was very helpful, but from what I hear not all centers are as flexible.
Also, with home daycares they sometimes get sick or take vacation days and you have to make other arrangements for your child. This would be difficult for us as our family does not live close enough to help out and we don’t want to have to let someone else dictate our vacation days.
Finally, I liked how the center structured things and had programs and lesson plans even for infants. The kids always seem to have fun and my daughter appears to enjoy her time there, even as an infant. There has been some staff turnover but it hasn’t been too bad and I’ve liked all of her teachers so far.
On a side note, some, including our, home daycares do offer the structure and “lessons” that centers offer. Our provider have a scheduled day with various activities and arts and crafts in addition to making music lessons available as well. It all depends on who you find.
Thanks everyone! I appreciate all your insight and information… talk about a big decision! It is just amazing the wide range of prices I have seen.
My husband and I were set on having our son go to a center. We liked the structure and accountability of it all. But we just couldn’t afford the $300 a week fee. I put an ad on craigslist and found the daycare provider of any parent’s dreams. My 10 month old son ADORES his provider, as well as her children and she’ll call me out of the blue to tell me how “cute” or “smart” he’s being that day. And she emails me photos of them at the park, beach, etc. I ADORE HER and am so grateful to have found her. I had interviewed about 6 other homes and she was the only one who asked to actually hold my son, she took an interest in him right away. After seeing the horrible story on the news last night, I realize how lucky we are to have her - I’m going to give her a big hug tonight when I see her!
We went with a center after not finding a home daycare we liked in North Minneapolis. One benefit, center’s don’t plop your kids down in front of the TV like nearly all of the home daycares I interviewed did. They also are more comfortable and informed about breast milk. We did try another non chain center, but pulled her after 5 minutes because the person who was there when we dropped off for the first day was someone we were never introduced to, said she didn’t do diapers unless she had to, and put a bouncy chair on a table.
When she gets older they have music class, lots of out door space, and I know I’ll never have to call in to work because of daycare.
I found my home daycare on craigslist.com too. We have had him there since he was 9 weeks old full time and pay $150 week. I have some things I’d change if I could, but she’s great with the kids, does a pre-school curriculum and activities and field-trips, and all of the kids love my baby. Now that he’s older (9 months) it’s obvious that he LOVES it there. He starts bouncing around and smiling as soon as he sees the house. I really think he’s bored at home with me on the weekend! No other kids to chase, just parents and the cat. I toy with the idea of switching daycares when he’s a little older and we can afford a little more, but I think the older he gets, the harder it will be on him. And what I don’t like is mostly nutritional choices for the older kids…and I can put my own rules in place for that when he’s eating table food.
My gut tells me to stick with my original instincts. She’s good with kids, and enjoys them, and he is happy there. We can work with the rest.
Picking daycare was the hardest part of having a baby. We ended up with an in-home daycare and we love it. She only has 7 kids (3 of her own), and has lots of activities for them. There are definite pros and cons to both sides.
A wonderful resource if you are looking for average prices is this page. It’s for Washington County, but will give you an idea of different averages for both in home and centers.
http://www.resourcesforchildcare.org/pdf/washingtonrates2007.pdf
Good luck!
We pay 190/week for our toddler at a home daycare. My biggest advice is to interview and tour different types of programs - and then call the county and check on complaints against them. I originally wanted a “center”, toured, suprise visits, etc., even pre-registered. Then I called the county licensing office and heard all the complaints that had been investigated and proven true and I started my search all over agian.
We found a home provider who is young (early 40’s), a licensed teacher who continues to get lots of ongoing education, and who has a daily schedule and offers pre-school curriculum to the kids. We absolutely love her and our new baby will be going there in a few months, too.
Good luck to you!
To add to what Julie just wrote, call the local police dept to see if there have been any issues at the center/home. They can also tell you what has happened in the neighborhood. This way you also have some info about the surrounding area that your center/home may not tell you/know about.
Referring back to Amalia - your statements regarding a home daycare provider just plopping kids in front of a TV seems a bit judgemental. When interviewing daycare centers and home daycares I found just as many centers who use movies to “babysit” the kids as homes. It is all about finding the center or home who shares similar values and beliefs as yourself. Our home daycare does not even have a TV where the kids are at any point in the day. This was something that we valued and wanted for our nearly two year old.
My son is 4.5 and goes to an amazing daycare center. $219 is the weekly rate for him now that he’s preschool age, $254 for toddlers, and $304 for infants.
Our family has had experience with both a center and an in-home provider and we have loved both. The center was $290 a week and the in home is $120 a week. We reluctantly switched to an in-home provider as we decided to start adding to our family. What I can say as a Social Worker in Child Protection is do your research. I highly recommend calling the licensing worker of in-home providers. They can tell you if there have been any correction orders or complaints. The state of Minnesota can tell you the same for centers. Also I recommend calling references and doing at least one unannounced visit. We never would have gone with an in-home provider if I had not know other parents who send their children there and love it. But, I know that due to my job I am somewhat biased. Good Luck on this big and exciting decision!
Wow do I pay a lot more than what that website says I should. We live in Woodbury and take our 6 month old son to a center. We pay $696 biweekly for a total of $1392 a month. I also loooooooove our daycare. I feel completely safe taking Ben there. It wasn’t even the most expensive one we looked at! The cost is definitely more than we can really afford.
We live 30 miles west of Plymouth and pay an absolutely wonderful in-home daycare provider $115/week to care for our 3-year-old son. She’s been our provider since he was 4 months old and knows his quirks in and out and has been a fantastic 2nd mom for him — we couldn’t be happier. She maintains a good structure to the day and does preschool curriculum, which our son loves. I will say this - we interviewed several in-home providers when our son was an infant and he absolutely showed us right away who he was most comfortable with. Even though he was barely 2 months old, he seemed to sense who he wanted to be with and he was right on!
