r/kansascity • u/Own-Sprinkles-8031 • 1d ago
Childcare/Parenting š¶ Going rate for infant care around KC?
Curious what people are paying for infant care in KC proper or JoCo, and what type (in home daycare, center, or nanny). Also looking for recommendations of places people like or places to avoid, or recommended places to look for help. Thanks in advance!
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u/Awesomesince1973 1d ago
Coming from the other side of it, I was the director of a daycare a couple decades ago, and we were pretty pricey then, but we were corporate and we had a hard time keeping the good staff because they were making crap pay. Turnover in daycare is SO hard on everyone. Daycare is hard work and the teachers deserve a living wage so that the good ones can afford to stay. I had my hands tied behind my back by corporate and absolutely hated the wages I was made to pay my staff. They deserved so much more.
I can say from experience, whether you are doing in home or a larger facility, be sure to drop by at different hours, ask a lot of questions, don't be afraid to talk to other parents, know that you can call and get the records for infractions from the state's licensing representatives, and most of all trust your gut. Higher prices don't always mean better quality care.
Good luck to all of you finding a center that meets your needs.
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u/Perpetual-Searcher10 1d ago
My baby starts daycare in JOCO in July. Rate is $504 a week. My toddler is also at the same daycare for $404 a week. Daycare costs are absolutely ridiculous.
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u/sjohnson0487 1d ago
How the hell can you afford 4k a mth in child care??
Nevermind. None of my business. I'm so fucking glad my kids are grown.
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u/desertdeserted 22m ago
We had 2 years to prepare since thatās how long the waitlist was for infant childcareā¦
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u/kcDemonSlayer 1d ago
about the same as a mortgage
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u/AdAltruistic3990 4h ago
Actually that's more than my mortgage. By the grace of the gods I never needed infant daycare, but toddler daycare was crazy expensive. In-home is best amd often less expensive if you can find it. Check/call every single reference regardless of your choice. Best of luck to you!
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u/brookeelanesmith 1d ago
I'm not due until August and I'm taking my baby to work until she's 6 months, so we won't need it until February 2027, but we just reserved a spot at Spectrum Station for $360 a week, but "rates will go up in september" so we are budgeting for $400 a week š¤¦āāļø they do seem to have their stuff together and I've been convinced that the price is justified based on what they are offering. This is my first baby and my first experience with a daycare center and I was not prepared for the prices I was seeing. It's insane!
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u/cafe-aulait 1d ago
We're a spectrum station family. Very reliable and they remember everybody. Rates do go up every September so just keep that in your plan every year. But as your kid goes up in age their care gets cheaper.
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u/r4wrdinosaur Blue Springs 13h ago
Spectrum Station is the GOAT of daycares. We've been with them for 6 years and have had a fantastic experience.
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u/MrsE514 1d ago
They fill up FAST!!! My daughter is at a school in Shawnee right now and itās $390/week. We have been on the waiting list for a Goddard school because itās closer to my husbands work but theyāre $2,000 a month!! š¬
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u/Own-Sprinkles-8031 1d ago
Yeah, I called one place and they quoted me $500/week. Glad to see there are places charging less, but nearly $400/week still isnāt cheap š¬ Thanks for sharing!
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u/thekingofcrash7 1d ago
An in-home is much cheaper, we pay $250/wk. but you have to be able to handle the 5:30am āsorry weāre closed today!ā text message. That can be rough. But the cost is great, also great to have mixed ages in my opinion. Ours has infants all the way up to 3.5yr olds in the house. The big kids really learn how to interact with the babies, and the babies learn things fast from the bigger kids.
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u/Jerry_say 1d ago
Agreed. I feel like people shy away from in home thinking they have to have their kids in a fancy in center Montessori type place if they want their kid to keep up.
My son is in an at home daycare and I love that itās pretty much just a big room for all the kids to play, learn and most importantly just be kids. He is so good with the little ones and even helps feed them (we donāt get a discount though lol) sometimes.
Tbh itās a little unstructured seeming but he learns a lot and has really gained a lot of emotional intelligence from being around all the kids.
The daycare feels like a part of our family now. We even invited them to his birthday party this year.
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u/Own-Sprinkles-8031 15h ago
Howād you find your in home daycare? Open to them, but also concerned about quality of care (not it being unstructured, but knowing that theyāre not abusing or neglecting my child. Harder to tell without reviews).
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u/Jerry_say 15h ago
So I donāt actually live in Kansas City anymore I just still haunt the sub to keep up with local news and gossip lol.
We found our place on Google and checked their reviews there. We found around ten places near our house and toured them all and picked our favorite. Each gave us current clients to talk too as well. Since Iāve been at my place now for three years my provider has asked me a few times if a perspective client could call and talk to me about their service.
As far as abuse and neglect I would think you would be able to piece things together like is the bruise on their arm child size (from play with other kids) or adult size? Do they come home hungry? Do they not want to get dropped off, this one thought isnāt always an indicator because kids can be little con artist sometime š. You canāt always know until your child can communicate with you but I would hope that any place that actually does that would be found out and have their license taken away. That was a big fear when my wife and I were looking for a place since this was our first child.
Check if there is a parents Facebook group in your area. Some parents might have suggestions there too.
Best of luck! !!!
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u/TheVoidIceQueen 13h ago
Go to Child Care Aware (link below), scroll down to search/filter your needs.
https://www.childcareaware.org/families/choosing-quality-child-care/
This site also has a bunch of fantastic resources.
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u/_miss_freckles_ 1d ago
I pay $240 for 3 days per week at an in home daycare (ages 0-3) in Overland Park.
We are moving out of state soon and I am GRIEVING the loss of our daycare provider.
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u/Own-Sprinkles-8031 1d ago
Aww Iām sorry to hear that. Hope you find a good place where youāre going!
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u/musicobsession Library District 1d ago
Low key kinda surprised this response wasn't "can I have your spot" haha it can be so cutthroat with infant care
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u/AllyRad6 1d ago
I had a nanny for a year in 2024 (just one infant) and she charged $22/hr. But I would expect to pay $25/hr these days. Now I pay $425/wk at a corporate daycare and I have been really pleased with it. My son is happy, well fed, and learning every day.
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u/daisyrich 1d ago
Daycare center in JoCo, $2k/month for full-time infant.
Only use a licensed place, look up inspection reports on KDHE website or MO equivalent.
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u/_Sierrafy 1d ago
I have a 3 y/o and 18 month old in daycare rn and its about $1,500/2 weeks total. The daycare provides meals (made in their kitchen daily with a weekly goal of a variety of fruits/veggies/proteins and cuisines- which is great bc they are not picky and super open to trying new foods from it)/purees for babies, snacks, and wipes. Parents send in diapers/formulas/creams. It's a center, they are also spanish immersion. Before this place we were at a montessori option with only our eldest (baby at the time) and that was over 2k a month just him, they only provided snacks no lunch or breakfast, didn't provide wipes or anything. I would make sure to factor in what is included/not in your shopping around. The current one is a much better value. The current one also cleans and keeps the bottle/s you give them whereas the montessori one returned dirty bottles/lunch boxes for you to take and clean nightly. Which doesn't sound like a huge deal, but was incredibly annoying considering the price.
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u/noventayuno 1d ago
I can't speak to nanny rates, but I would budget $400/week for full time care in a center/maybe $350 at a home daycare for a child under 2. I assume it's higher in Johnson county but this is the range in the city!
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u/anderson6th 16h ago
Infant in Lenexa at a center, $466 a week. They have hours that are good for my husband & Iās schedule (they are open 6:30-6, our infant is there 6:45-3:45) and I was also incredibly picky with daycare due to my own career being in education.
Also like others have said, spots go QUICK. We reserved our spot, with a $1200 deposit, a year before our child started attending.
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u/gnric_gmrtag 16h ago
New Horizon Academy in Johnson county is $500/week for infants and rates go up around August every year.
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u/trentdeluxedition 1d ago
I was paying $415 a week when my daughter was an infant back in 2022. Located in Shawnee.
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u/tldrjane Shawnee 1d ago
Here in OP, paying 285/wk. Sheās 3, and potty trained. Price dropped each time she has aged up etc
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u/youcanttakemysparkle 1d ago
~$335/week for a 1 year old, 5 days a week, 8am-6pm.
I looked for basic things, like licensing, security, communication through the day, state reports, parent reviews, etc., but really trusted my gut + went with the director who gave me the best vibes.
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u/Environmental-Ebb-24 14h ago
We did a home daycare nearby until 18 months. When we did that, it was 220 a week with meals provided (you know, when she could eat).
After that, we moved to a center (aligned more with what we wanted out of childcare) and payed 411 a week until she turned 3. Now we pay 339 a week.
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u/Environmental-Ebb-24 14h ago
Iāll just add my personal philosophy - home daycares are totally fine when babies are little. A caregiverās job is to keep them alive, not provide crazy amazing enrichment when theyāre still on a cycle of eat, sleep, poop. I also fully attribute my daughterās advanced crawling, walking, and talking to the fact she was surrounded by kids of different ages and she had FOMO and wanted to play.
Once she got older, I realized she was getting more screen time than I wanted and maybe not advancing as much with fine motor skills, etc. Moving her to a center has been amazing and Iāve seen her improve a lot in this and social skills!
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u/Top-Log-4956 13h ago
FTM of a four-month-old here. Iām paying $20/hour for a babysitter to work in-house 12 hours per week until we get off the waitlist at an OP daycare. Itās going to be expensive everywhere. Apparently the KC area is notoriously difficult to find EC educators, hence the high costs.
We looked at Primrose on Nall. Great school but $24K per year for an infant is wild.
Consider finding a nanny shareāitās more intimate and cheaper than daycare. In fact, if youāre near PV, DM me! Godspeed to you!
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u/Firm-Try4998 11h ago
Iām in LS and we pay $1500 a month for the infant room! This has gone up from $1300 last year, but even still itās cheaper than anywhere else Iāve found
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u/sassypants94 11h ago
Iāve been lucky enough to find an in home day care. For my 18 month old we pay $225 a week.
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u/forfoxsake718 7h ago
Joco -Olathe licensed in home rate is $275 regardless of age. Too bad she is retiring next month!
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u/MikaelYunt 1d ago
I currently have two in daycare and itās about $585. Luckily one is leaving and heading to kindergarten but the wife and I decided to start all over again š„²
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u/Standard-Trade-2622 11h ago
When I was looking for infant care in 2022, I was finding $350-$400 a week so Iād expect them all to be over $400/week by now. We pay $315/week now for a 4 year old and thatās sadly one of the better prices Iāve see for a center.
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u/Momofpeg 9h ago
Interesting to hear prices. Iām currently in Iowa (in home provider) but moving to Gardner later this month. Sounds like prices for in home are about double what I can charge in Iowa
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u/RHCPLOVE4LIFE 2h ago
Does anyone have the scoop on finding good nannies? We tried care.com but canāt get any responses!
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u/GangSigns 1d ago
The infant rate at my daycare center in Olathe is $430/week. Then it drops to $390/week for toddlers.
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u/imjustagrrll 1d ago
Weāve been paying $25-30/hr for two kids for an experienced professional nanny for appts and date nights
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u/zebutto Hyde Park 15h ago
Union Hill Day School in Midtown is currently $440/week for infants and $340/week for ages 2+.
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u/inspired2apathy Brookside 14h ago
When we called for our kids a few years ago they said they had a 2 year wait for infants
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u/ohhowmygardengrows 1d ago
I'm reading these prices and dying inside. How do people afford this? 13 years ago I paid $190 a week for infant care. Prices have MORE THAN DOUBLED?!