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11:41 here again. I should also mention that real estate prices in the eastern part of MoCo are much cheaper than in the Rockville/N. Bethesda area. Some 3-4BR SFHs start in the $300K range. You could easily pay double for a similar home (and double the property taxes) in the N. Bethesda/Rockville area. If you are thinking that the public schools are better in N. Bethesda/Rockville than they are on the eastern side of Montgomery County, you are probably right. However, those public schools have 26 students per class in Kindergarten, and the classroom size rises quickly from there. if you pay $2,000/month less for your mortgage and taxes to live in an area where the schools aren't rated as highly, you would have that money to spend on a private school with smaller class sizes and choose your own school at virtually the same cost to you as living in a pricier area (and your kids needing to attend a school you may not end up liking anyway).

To sum it up, on the eastern side of MoCo, you pay half for daycare, half for housing, and you can look at your decision as a "win" for school choice.

We live near just north of the Beltway in Silver Spring. Our preschooler is at the YMCA (hours are 7:00 - 6:30) and the cost is about $1,000/month + membership (under $100/month for full family access to the YMCA's facilities). Licensed in-home care for infants and toddlers (any child under 2) runs about $250/week in our area. Daycare is much more expensive in Kensington and points west and north than it is anywhere east of Viers Mill and north of the Beltway in Montgomery County. The commute to downtown Bethesda from the YMCA during rush hour is about 25 minutes. In other words, you could have your childcare needs covered in eastern Montgomery County for about $2,200/month.

Anonymous wrote:Home daycare is around $250/kid/week in the suburbs. Centers are $300-350/week. I didn't find anything close to $500/week.

Not sure what suburb you are referring to but here in Gaithersburg/Rockville, the average home daycare cost for infants is $300-350 per week. There aren't many $250 and those are not good. My baby is going to a center and we are paying $500 per week. Children in the Shoe, Goddard, Georgetown Hills all cost about $2000 per month and the cost for after 2, is maybe $200-300 cheaper per month.

Please feel free to call us! We are a small center for 12 children in Bethesda and have spots available in August-September. We charge for infant and toddler- $3200. The price is driven by real-estate. We are local daycare in Bethesda (Fernwood-Greentree-Bradley). The benefits of socialization, learning, playing for children in daycare are great. Please feel free to give us a call at 301-828-5258

www.creative-learning-school.com

Have you considered a nanny or au pair? Au pair would be cheaper than daycare at those ages. I think our center is 3500 for infant and toddler. But I don't think you'd get both in this year with the wait list.

We are in Fairfax County. We spend $290/week currently for a 3 year old. Have a baby coming--when we have infant and 3 year old in daycare it will be btw $550-600/week (cant remember exactly) after a 10% sibling discount on the older one. Basically $2400/month or slightly less.

We pay $400 weekly for an in home in Bethesda. The price is the same for infants and toddlers. For us the excellent personalized care is worth the expense but it is pricey!

Home daycare is around $250/kid/week in the suburbs. Centers are $300-350/week. I didn't find anything close to $500/week.

We pay 3770 for a toddler and preschool. It was more expensive when the little one was an infant. But we want to the center and we wanted one of the best.

A nanny won't cost you anymore and will make life so much easier. Our nanny did all the laundry and some light housekeeping. When the kids got older and were in preschool part of the day, she started doing more housework and running errands for us.

That is an expensive daycare.

I am paying $2400 for a baby and four year old--it would be more like $2600 if the four year old was still a toddler.

Look into in home options.

Look into a home daycare. Big centers around here tend to run about $2000 (or more) per kid. I have my 2 year old in a home daycare and we pay about $1200 a month. So when I have my 2nd this fall, it'll be $2400 a month. Still a lot, but not $4k that's for sure.

I'm in Arlington, but I'd think you could find something similar in Rockville?

This area pretty much has the highest daycare costs in the country. I got spontaneously pregnant with twins ended up being a SAH because the daycare costs were ridiculous.

We are moving to the area next month. Average cost of two kids in daycare (infant and toddler) where we live now (NJ suburb of NYC) is $2800, $3k at the MOST. Here I did the math at Children in the Shoe, and its close to $4k/mo. Is this right? Am I calculating this correctly? Did a quick look at some other daycares and its comparable, give or take a couple hundred. This is in the North Bethesda/Rockville area. Wow, this even beats what my friends pay in SF. Do I just have mom brain right now and am doing the math wrong?

For baby and toddler, where are you located and what do you pay?