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Most of my friends who have kids complain that they spend like 3-4k per kid per month only to have the carer not even pay attention to their kid or worse totally ignore them or make them feel bad. That sounds horrible.

What do you guys look for in a day care? Just curious as I don't have kids.

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At $4k per kid you’re looking at $48k a year, could probably hire a nanny at that point if you have two or split with another family.

If you only have one, $4k/mo is still cheaper than a nanny in MTV especially if you don't have an extra bedroom to subsidize with room/board.

Going rates for a nanny are around $25/hour, which comes to $50K/year for a standard 2000-hour work-year.

And yes, nanny-shares are considered a "budget" option in the Bay Area, for when you can't afford a good preschool or can't get off the waitlist. Unfortunately the quality tends to be more variable...I've heard some horror stories about irresponsible nannies. There isn't a vetting & licensing process the way that there is for institutional childcare.

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