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[quote=Anonymous]Our path has been:

When #1 was born, DH and I both worked full time with an hour commute into the city.

DD was in a daycare center from about 8:30am-6pm every day.

Right before #2 (DS) was born, we moved to a lower cost of living area and were able to convert our jobs to remote positions.

DD moved to a nanny share during the day for about six-ish months for the end of my pregnancy and my maternity leave and was in care outside of the house for a similar number of hours. When DS was born, we hired a nanny who watched DD and DS in our home while we worked.

We had #3 (DD2) about two years later. Still working full time from home.

Nanny stayed with us until DD2 was about 9 months old and quit for a different opportunity. All three moved into the same daycare (this was kind of an emergency childcare fix at the time as we weren't expecting nanny to quit.

About three months later DD1 was supposed to start K but we held her back because it was fall of 2020 and COVID and put her in a preschool. DS and DD2 stayed at the daycare, which was lovely actually we were so lucky to have landed there. They only had so many open spots because they had opened the week before we called after shutting down for COVID.

So we did a year with DD in a prek and the other two in daycare, two drop offs and pickups, all able done in less than a half hour. That summer she was in summer camp then DS started at that prek this last year and she went to K and does aftercare there. So now we have bus to k, drop off DS at prek and DD2 at daycare. It has been challenging with the three drop offs. Next year DS will be in K with aftercare with his sister but DD2 will still be at daycare, its going to be amazing and SO CHEAP. Only one drop off in the morning and EVERYONE in full time care for the day (the prek they have been in has no aftercare so we've had a kid home in the afternoon for a couple years).

The 2.5 years with the full time nanny were the most expensive, paying about 40k+ a year in childcare (we live in a lower cost of living area than DC). I think this year we're down to like 30k? And next year it will be like 20k and will feel downright luxurious!

Childcare is challenging, working from home changed our lives in that it made it substantially more manageable and cut at the margins of time that were lost when we were in DC. With commuting, I saw DD1 like maybe two hours of awake time a day, if that, during the workweek. With the other two I could see them whenever I wanted while the nanny was here. And even with them all being back in full time care, they are all home by 5:15 instead of 6:30 and that adds up! More than an hour a day and now that no one is a little baby anymore that means almost 3 hours at night with DD3 and 4 with DD1 and DS. [/quote]

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