Our infant care is $2,100/month for 3 days a week. THREE DAYS. I make decent money but I might as well be working for the daycare. We're looking at switching to a nanny share but the transition period terrifies me. How are people in HCOL areas even doing this? Should we just go back to one income? I hate feeling like I have no options.
One parent going part-time was more viable for us than the daycare vs nanny math. Not an option for everyone but worth running the actual numbers - sometimes working fewer days is cheaper than childcare.
$2,100 for 3 days is absolutely brutal. That's almost $900/day. A nanny share makes sense financially but yeah, the transition is rough. How many kids are you splitting with?
The transition period struggle is real though - how long are we talking? Nanny shares can take 4-6 weeks to ramp up while daycare winds down. That overlap period sucked for us financially.
Before you jump to nanny share make sure you've asked daycare about infant vs. toddler rates. My daycare was way cheaper once my kid hit 2. Sometimes it gets better if you can stomach 6-12 more months.
This is the part nobody talks about - you're literally working to pay someone else to watch your kid and barely breaking even. A nanny share at least gets you more flexibility even if it's the same cost.
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Infant care pricing is truly insane. We went through three daycares before landing on a nanny share with another family. Best decision we made. Yeah the transition was chaotic but we're saving $600/month and the care is way better.