Daycare "Extras"

Hi,
I have my 3 yr old twins in daycare 4 days per week. The only things I provide is diapers and wipes. She feeds them breakfast and lunch and has all the toys they can dream of.

We pay $60 per child per day. I don't pay for holidays are missed days, which is really nice because some of the larger daycares you need to pay if they are there or not.

Good luck

It really depends on the daycare.
We have always provided diapers, sunscreen and extra clothes. The food is usually reimbursed by the state to the providers. A lot of times my kids bring their stuffed animals that they happen to be attached to that morning.

I have never paid for a curriculum.

My oldest attends a part time preschool and parents are responsible for snacks on an assigned basis as well as an annual "art fee", and general supplies twice a year. THe totals for me last year on top of the regular tution payment were about $150-175 for the whole year.

I am an in home day care provider. I have my clients provide diapers and formula. I supply everything else: wipes, food, bedding, pretty much everything.

My clients do usually bring cupcakes or something to share for the childs birthday.

I am at a small professional center (not "in Home"). We provide diapers and wipes. That's it.
We are actually not allowed to bring any food or drink to avoid allergen contamination at the center. Kids can bring loveys or other toys, but they must stay in the cubby.
I do occasionally drop of a bag of knick knacks, such as hair clips or stickers. My daughter often brings home those little things (for example from playing dress up) and I know they teachers buy them out of their own pocket... so I make little "donations". But this is not a requirement.

Again, this is a professional center and I know it is a lot different for in-home daycares...

My daughter is in daycare (she's 3) and in her 2-3 year old classroom, we paid $121 per week (five days) and provided diapers, wipes and extra clothing for accidents. All food, snacks, toys, curriculum, etc were included.

Providing Diapers, Wipes, and any special Food or Formula that the daycare doesn't provide is normal. Being required to bring all your child's food is not normal.

Most daycares will accept donations for toys, equipment, books, extra clothes but in my experience don't ever ask or require them. When my youngest outgrew his super expensive bouncer (gift from grandma), I brought it in for the nursery and the gratitude was amazing.

Paying extra for curriculum is also not normal unless there are special circumstances. Since my oldest is school age and in summer care, in addition to the higher daycare fee for longer hours, I have an additional weekly fee for him to go on field trips. (he's a bit shy, so on the weeks that he doesn't feel like going on the trips I don't have to pay)

During holidays or special parties, it is also normal for the daycare to send home a wish list for the food or drinks they'd like for the kids party and every child usually brings in one item from the list. It's also pretty normal for parents to forget or bail so I'm on a volunteer list for the daycare to call if they need extra items.

My 4 kiddos go to a Childtime daycare which is a huge chain where the staff can sometimes be treated the same as at McDonald's. I sometimes stop by starbucks on my way and bring the teachers iced mochas or coffee cake.

My advice is to add up your all monthly or quarterly daycare cost, including any items like food or other extra stuff that is not normal. If everything added together comes out to more than what the standardized daycare down the street charges, then you may want to consider if you prefer the small family setting in which case the cost is totally worth it.

We just started our 2yr old son in daycare. We provide diapers, wipes, a crib sheet, and anything he would want to nap with (blankie, paci, pillow). If you want your little one to have sunscreen, you would provide that too. I usually send him with extra clothes and shoes, just in case.

But food is covered where we take our son. They have toys, sippy cups, and beverages. Curriculum is no extra charge where we're taking him. If we want to send a snack or something for a bday, we can... As long as there's enough for everyone and it doesn't contain anything with peanuts. Allergies are a big deal. They request that a snack sent by a parent is prepackaged and sealed with the nutrition label visible... Also for allergy concerns.

I pay $176/wk and that's for 3 full days/wk.

I ran a home daycare. not sure if your talking home daycare or somewhere like kindercare. in the home daycare. I provided the meals and snacks. parents provided all diapers, wipes etc. in the summer i asked each parent to bring a box of icees or popcicles type things. parents always provided the treat on their childs birthday. as far as curriculum I did charge for that. I charged each family $25 per year and I purchased at Sams Club a really cool program for preschoolers. they each had their own set and we did the stuff in the program.

I have had a Day Care inmy home for many years. I have always asked parents to provide me wipes and diapers in advance and any special drinks they want thier child to have. I don't let the children have soda so if that comes then it goes backhome. Its not fair for 1 and not all to have it. Today I had 3 children under 2 1/2. I have no idea what specail things they would need to do. We have music time, a letter of the day, a word of the day, a color of the day, and often a theme. Today was Dome tents( have one for nap time inside and one outside for a camping place). and lake( the wading pool andhose) If they are watchinfg TV then its an educational channel or Veggie Tales which is fun since they love Bob the Tomatoe. If your child was older then it might be different becasue keeping the mind of a 8 year old busy and creative is different than letting the child have paint brushes and water and let them "paint the back yard" and see what ideas they come up with and talk to them about. My granddaughter has a wonderful Day Care provider in her area. She is 3 and they do many of the things I do but she also has the children in an exercise program and doing letters and useing a ruler for math. They pay $40.00 a day for my granddaughter and that is very reasonable for the area. She has to provide any pull ups, wipes and 3 boxes of kleenex . They do charge if she is going to be gone for the day, and they have a holding charge that is not refundable . The parents had to sign a contract tht was very good with one provision that if the child leaves with out 30 days notice the parents are required to pay. Now if it is becasueof lost job - the care provider knows she too will loose her job so this is only fair. But I do know that they make exceptions for special reasons. Hope any of this helps you.

I've made it my business to provide all these things myself. I have had too much trouble getting parents to bring wipes. I'm lucky if they bring a box once every 6 months or so. I hate asking all the time. So it's just easier to provide it myself.

I have asked some parents if they want to participate or throw a few bucks in towards my computer expenses. I have 5 computers available for the kids and I buy programs all the time. Some of the programs I have are 10-15 per month per child. Some are just 10 per month or 60 per year. I am always on the look out for new programs because kids get bored easily. I don't require them to pay though and those that don't still get the same care as those that do.

Food wise, I prefer people don't. Seems like the only time anyone brings anything is when it's total junk food and we have enough vices of our own :) Toy wise, again, maybe they shouldn't. Sometimes people offer hand me downs and they are usually dirty, broken, cracked, etc. I don't much care for being put in the position to feel like I'm supposed to be grateful when it would have been better for them to throw their junk away.

Do please remember though.. You said you are not asking about wages, but extras. If you don't donate good quality and new things or at least enough wipes and diapers, paper products etc... The provider then has to pay for these things out of her "wages". My wages are reduced by a full 50-60% before Uncle Sam gets his hands in the til. I end up getting to keep and spend on my family only 30% or so of my income when it's all said and done.

If your provider is on the high side for your area, then she should be providing most of these things. If she's on the low side, then consider just giving her a raise and asking her to provide these things since she knows best what's needed.

I have a home daycare and require parents to provide supplies specific to their own child-diapers/pull-ups, wipes, diaper cream, 2 bottles that I can keep, formula/breastmilk, baby food/cereal, medicines, spare clothes. I provide all food and milk for children over 1 year of age. Parents whose children have allergies are required to provide their food for safety sake. Many commercial daycares do not have kitchens on premise, so parents are required to pack lunches, sometimes even snacks and milk. I do not charge parents extra for doing a loose preschool curriculum with my older kids, but some home daycares do charge which I think is a rip-off. If a commercial daycare has a separate preschool program, it would be considered an extra that you would have to pay for to enroll you child in. I've never asked my families to provide toys, cribs, highchairs, etc. Those are all supplies I need to run my business, so they're my expense. Occasionally, I will have parents give me toys or other baby items that their children have outgrown, but they do it out of kindness. Same thing goes with special treats for the kids.
Hope this helps!

I pay 200 a week for daycare per kid. My kiddos are 2.5 and 10 months. That includes everything except diapers. She provides all food and formula and wipes and activities. She does preschool from 3 and up and the cirriculum is included. She takes them on field trips and to activities and all of that is usually included. There are some exceptions....like in the winter they did ice skating lessons and it was 10 per lesson.

Oh and we all bring in a bottle of sunscreen at the beginning of the summer.

Good luck!

my son goes to preschool, not day care, but all I pay is the regular monthly fee, there are no "extras" I have to pay for.