Need Help Finding Affordable Daycare in Andover Area

When I looked into daycare for my twins, the going rate in Andover/Anoka area for a newborn was $140. Since the girls were there parttime, my provider worked out a deal to be $100 a week per child - I was still paying $200, then after a year realized that I was only working to pay daycare I decided to stay at home. I worked part time in retail to help out, doing nights and weekends worked around my husbands schedule. My older child has complicated special needs so getting SSI helped us out, now I am his caregiver and getting paid for it. You can always look into setting up your own daycare. It took my cousin a good year before she got her full house, and now a waiting list. So there are different options out there, just make a list list all the pros and cons. Figure out your budget, and factor in the daycare costs and see if it is worth it.

M.
mom to Ryan 9 special needs
Abbey and Alexa 3 identical twins

Have you thought about having someone come to your home a few times a week? I know there are some local nanny websites, Nannies4hire.com, that my friends have used. If you wanted to you could even pay a fee (I don't know how much) to go through a nanny agency. You could also consider watching another child in your home to make some extra money and be able to stay home. Its such a hard decision, and with day care costs there is no point to working! Good luck!

I don't know of any childcare in your area, but I wanted to lend my advice anyway:)

If you really don't make that much money I would stay home and work weekends. When I had my first little girl we were in the same boat. We sat down and crunched the numbers and realized I would be working just to pay for daycare with a little bit leftover and that wasn't worth it to me. And my Mom even did daycare and didn't charge very high prices. I decided to start my own daycare, but I worked weekends and evenings until I had a steady business. It was hard and money was very, very tight!!! It took at least a year to get the daycare going (as most providers can tell you) and it still wasn't a huge money maker :) You could give Resources for Child Caring a call for some help with a list of daycares in your area and they usually have an idea of what it will cost in your area. I am in St. Paul and on the cheaper side with my prices ($150/week for an Infant) just so you have and idea. You can then sit down once you have an idea of what it will cost and see how much money you will have leftover after paying for daycare. Also, I know in my area people have been having a very hard time finding infant care so it would be wise to start looking now. You are also right that a lot of daycares don't do part-time rates anymore. I know I decided not to about a year ago. They will take your child part-time, but it will be at the full-time rate. If you find a daycare that is just starting up they may be more willing to offer part-time or less expensive care. I did in the beginning:)

Good luck to you as I know stressful this decision is !!!

I see your dilema. I know I am not a mom yet and I wouldn't want my child in daycare all day. I would suggest finding a daycare center or home center that can provide part time care that you can still bond with your baby part of the day and the other part you work for a few hours a week ( 20 hours)

Hope that helps
C.
Caring for kids daycare/ teacher MPS