Central Florida Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Daycare question for CFL Moms
So unfortunately, I didn't marry a suga daddy and will need to stay employed after baby comes next year. (I think I actually qualify as a suga momma) But anyway, I digress...
I wanted to check with some of you moms and see what the average day care cost for your little one is for this area. My company's open enrollment for flex spending is next week and I need to guestimate a figure for how much I will contribute.
Also, if you can recommend any day care facilities that your child has attended, I would really appreciate it. Before my mom died, she was the asst director of the DCF in Delaware and I'm SO afraid of placing my child in a bad facility. I've heard all the horror stories I can handle for a lifetime.
Thx ladies
Re: Daycare question for CFL Moms
My mom actually keeps Taylor but we've priced out daycare several times. We had her in a licensed DCF home daycare for over a year but the lady went back to school
At the home daycare we paid $125 per week but most of the regular daycares I have spoken to were $175-$225 per week ie La Patite, Kindercare.... Not sure if that was much help! Good luck. I hope you find a good place 
If it makes you feel better I am stuck working as well. My husband is a police officer and I am definitely his sugar moma LOL
Sorry, I don't think my info is going to help you. When MIL isn't here (about 3 months at the beginning of the school year), Aidan goes to an in-home baby sitter. I found her through my bff and another coworker who both take there children there. It is a 45-ish year old woman with her 22-ish daughter and they are wonderful!! They charge $25/day, I have to pack his lunch and a snack... but they celebrate all the holidays with the kids and do weekly arts and craft projects and it's like a little pre-school (without desks)
The other months of the school year, Aidan goes to my MIL's house. We wanted to pay her, but she won't take the money... we finally got her to accept $50/week... thats the most she would take... and I think she is putting the money aside for her grandchildren's college fund.
Good luck.... those day care stories scare me to death too!
The one we take Angelica to is $172 for three days a week...it'd be $229 for full time.
As far as picking a good center, the best advice I can give is to read reviews of the site, check their inspection records, and go in and interview/observe the caregivers. Ask them a million questions...if they ever hold back on an answer then that should be a red flag for you.
Good luck and HTH!
LOL at "didn't marry a suga daddy".... : ) Me either... this is a very sad subject for me right now cause I have two weeks of leave left before I go back and I am really dreading leaving her right now.
I have three choices: a parent of a student offered to take care of DD as she stays home with her one year old, an home babysitter who is the daughter of a lady I work with, and Ladybird daycare (the only center close to us)
Anyways, to answer your question, the cost for an infant is $195 part time (3 days) $235 full time for Ladybird (in Lake Nona). They are really good from everything I've heard, they have web cams, good security, very clean, educational, etc.
The in home ladies are less expensive I just have to decide if I would trust that situation.
Thx ladies! Day care is so scary and I'm going to try to work from home 2x week which will help.
I was figuring about $600-$700/month so I wasn't too far off I guess. I'm hoping my dad volunteers but I'm not going to get my hopes up. I need to be prepared for any scenario.
Sorry your maternity leave is almost up Jen. That's really hard ... Good luck with your choice!
Wow, interesting thread. I was wondering about this myself (even though we're still a while from TTC).
Dang, that's a lot more expensive than I was expecting. I wish DH would be an SAHD, but with a newly minted degree, he probably will want to get back into working full-time. (Alas, no chance of me staying home; I'm definitely in the "sugar mommas" club. LOL)
I guess no matter who you are or what your situation is, this is a tough choice.
- Diane
I worked for DCF for a while so maybe i can shed some light. I know you are talking more about horror stories re: issues with staff, and i don't really have any insight there other than what pp have said. However, one little tidbit of info is that there is a program called 4C which is offered to low-income families, families involved in the "system" (aka DCF), and foster families. It is a county program (in Orange cty) that subsidizes daycare cost. The downside to putting your child in a daycare that accepts 4C is that he/she will be in a facility with low-income children or children involved "in the system". Not an issue with an infant but can pose behavior issues in the older children. (sorry if this sounds discriminatory, but this is just my experience). So you may want to find a facility that does not accept 4C if this is an issue to you.
I have heard amazing things about Star Child Academy (there are a few of these around). I hear they have a very long wait list so i would think about adding your name now. They have security, webcams, etc and for the older kids it is more academically focused rather than just baby sitting (my friends 3 yo goes there and she says it is a "baby genius factory" lol) but they are on the pricey side --- i guess you get what you pay for.
That being said, i don't have kids and have never experienced any of this first hand, so take my advice with a tiny grain of salt.
Thanks for the thoughts. : ) It is constantly on my mind right now...
Cocadoll- what church has webcams that you found?
StarAcademy sounds a lot like this Ladybird over here...they are so education focused, even for the infants, which I do love of course. : ) The other thing I like is that the entire wall is a giant window that way anyone and everyone can always see what is going on in there!
$165 a month or a week?? THAT IS AWESOME if it is a month.
Lisa, I think she meant $135/wk but if it's a month, I need the name of that church Pronto!
It's amazing to me that people can even afford to have children nowadays... providing for them is so expensive. I don't think my dh realized how costly it is to put a child in daycare. Flex spending is really going to help since that money is pre-tax.