Cost of Day Care For Infants

The cost of day care for infants is normally higher than it is for older children. This is sort of counter-intuitive, since infants don't really do much but when you really think about it. Most infants require specialized and constant attention.

Once you find out you are expecting, it is a great time to start considering day care options. A lot of new parents often times prefer a home child care setting because they feel as if their child will get more one on one time with the day care provider. This may or may not be true; it largely depends on how many children the provider is caring for. It is also not necessarily better in either environment for the child. It really comes down to two things: personal preference and budget.

Finding Affordable Day Care

In many cases you get what you pay for, but this is not necessarily true when it comes to infant day care. Some infant care is just astronomically priced because you are paying a cost share of a huge child care center. You are also probably paying for early childhood development specialists to sit and feed your infant, when clearly any capable adult can do the same thing.

Cost is always important, no matter how much money you make or don't make, paying for child care will play a role in the child care situation that you choose. This is a new expense and can really affect the budget.

The best way to find affordable day care that you are comfortable with is to start with word of mouth referrals, ask family and friends what they recommend and then begin interviewing the day care providers. Be prepared to be flexible in your budget. The costs will vary widely.

Preparing Your Budget

A good way to prepare your budget for the cost shock of infant day care expenses is to begin early on. While you are pregnant if you can start paying for care, put the money is a separate account where you make a payment that is equivalent to what day care is going to cost. If you get used to paying for care beforehand it will not come as such a shock later on after you have the baby and are paying for the added expense of having a baby in the house.

Paying your day care expenses forward will also give you a cushion for when the baby does arrive and you will not feel the pinch as much. You will be able to use this fund to pay for the first few months of child care.

If there is one thing that holds true it is that babies are not an inexpensive hobby. They are quite expensive to maintain. Paying for child care is just one of the expenses you will face. Doing your research and being as prepared as possible to meet the expense will take some of the stress out of making sure your infant is in the best possible care setting for you and your family.