Infants

I am having my first baby soon and I want to know how much normal newborn child care usually costs?

My fiance wants to not work for the first two years after giving birth and we are trying to decide if that is the smartest financial decision once the baby comes. Any ball park monthly expenses for newborns including child care would be very helpful. Thanks!

Public Comments

1. it depends really.. does ur fiance work full time or part time? make good money? you can go to google and find the child care rates for ur state as every state is different.. maybe ur fiance can get a job while ur home to babysit or even a family memeber..good luck i no how it is
2. Daycare Centers can cost anywhere from $250 to $1,500 monthly. It all depends on where your going to take the baby.
3. She can still take the time off but make extra money babysitting other kids, cleaning houses, extra small tasks like selling avon or tupperware.
4. Well if you use formula...cans are 15 to 26 dollars a can, so expect to get about 10 small ones every two weeks, or 5 big ones every two weeks. Clothes are a little harder, depending on how much your baby grows depends on how many sizes of clothes you'll need. Newborn, 0-3 months, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, and everything in between and after LOTS of clothes. Then later theres food, expect to spend about 20 dollars a week on that later. Diapers, you'll need a big box every week so thats 80 plus dollars a month. Then childcare, maybe 600 a month depending on the hourly rate. So I'd say about 1290 a month, depending on how much the child care is. And maybe 100 a month for clothes.
5. Childcare costs really depend on where you live. Start calling around and asking for rates. I live in WI and rates range from $150 - $210 per week for newborns through age 2. Then you need to remember the cost of diapers. I buy pampers and they are about $20 a box. Remember you need more diapers in the beginning because you need to change the baby every couple of hours. I would say for the first few months plan on spending $80-$100 in diapers a month. Hopefully breastfeeding will be successful because that's free. If not then formula and bottles are quite expensive. I used the Target brand and you end up spending $40-$50 a month on formula. Also remember the baby's checkups. If you have a copay or whatever you will be needing to see the dr. a 2 weeks, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, and so on. For us that's $25 per visit plus if the baby gets sick at all you need that visit and medications. Then clothes I would suggest trying to get hand-me-downs or buy them cheap. Babies go through a lot of outfits and unless you want to be doing a lot of wash you should have 7-10 onsies, pants, shirts, etc. I would suggest going to the store and making a list of everything you think you will need and add it up.
6. childcare for an infant is considerably higher than childcare for older kids. The cheapest in my area is $850. a month. Depending on where you live it could be more or less. We figured that I would have to give 2 weeks salary just for day care and it didn't seem worth it to us. Your baby will need diapers and wipes and you will spend about 100 a month on that. If you choose to formula feed you will be spending 80-140 a month depending on how much the baby eats. Clothes are not really a big expense at this age. My daughter is almost 4 weeks and we mainly use the onsies, nightgowns and a few sleepers with feet. Now they offer clothes in packs, 5 onsies and 2 pairs of pants. You can mix and match so that is 10 outfits and it only cost about $25. You can also get those items at baby consignment stores. When my son would grow out of his clothes I would trade them at the consignment store and save money.
7. i live in florida and daycare is 250 a week for children under 2, that is way i am a stay at home mom.