Daycare costs

Hey Everyone,
So im about to return to work in 2 months or so and im trying to sort everything out now so i dont get stressed and i was wondering how much money an average daycare charges for a 6month old? Or how much you guys spend to send your child there?. Im not to sure how often il need to send him there but i would imagine itl only be a few hours a couple days a week if that. smile

Where are you looking? Location effects cost.

I live in Rotorua. Anything closer to the center of town i spose so its easier to pick him up. smile

I'm in west Auckland and MY DD's childcare charges $235 for full time under 2 yrs care - you have to provide lunch and nappies.

Check out the childcare subsidy from work and income

http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/individuals/forms-and-brochures/help-with-childcare-costs.html

As a general rule you have to pay the centres for a full day regardless of how long he spends there. The childcare DD goes too is $120 for 2 days a week for an under 2 yr old. They have to attend two days minimum.

Perhaps you want to look into Porse or another home based care where the hours are more flexible...something like $5 an hour I think??? Not sure.

There are so many variables, it's best just to call centres that you are interested in and ask. For example, some centres include nappies and food, other centres include one or the other, and then others don't include either.

Most daycares have part-days which are usually 9-3 or 9-3.30, anything outside of those times and you'll be into paying for a full day. Most daycares accept bookings for anything upwards of 2 days per week, but if you need 4 days then actually it's probably cheaper to just book for all 5 days.

There are WINZ subsidies available to help with costs but your entitlement will depend on your household income and how many hours you work per week, so don't forget to look into that.

As PP mentioned, there might be better options available to you if you're looking for flexible hours. Barnardo's is another home-based option. You can look around for other home-based care, or see if you can find a family to nanny-share with. Also, some councils provide creches which are way cheaper than daycare, but this will just depend on what you have in your area. We have one near us which apparently has a ridiculously long waiting list because it's so cheap.

We had Paulette from Home grown kids for both our children and she was amazing. The kids loved going there, they always had so much to tell us about their days with her and she was so accomodating if we needed anything or to anything.
Dylan and Kate both thrived on all the attention she gave them. They are still good friends with Paulette's kids. If I could have more kids I would go straight to Paulette.