What Type of Child Care Can You Afford?

If you're looking for quality child care, you know it can be a time-consuming, overwhelming process.

While there are many competent child care services and professionals, there are also many subpar ones as well -- and they're all expensive. For instance, a 2013 report from Child Care Aware of America found that in 38 states and the District of Columbia, it costs more than 10 percent of a two-parent family's median income to have a baby in day care for 36 hours a week.

So if you're trying to decide who to leave your children with -- a baby sitter, a day care or a nanny -- here's an estimate of what you might pay for each, as well as what you'll get for your money.

A baby sitter. This arrangement that can work out beautifully. For instance, Tanya Walton, a health care marketing communications professional in Miami, is a stepmom to a 14-year-old and 17-year-old and has two young sons, age 5 and 6. "We've been lucky to have teenagers live across the street from us who have been great baby sitters," she says.

On the other hand, you can easily find stories online of baby sitters run amok. For instance, in Toms River, New Jersey, this summer, local media reported that a mother returned from work to find her 2-year-old son crying in a soiled diaper. The baby sitter had evidently been drinking heavily and passed out next to the toddler.

How much does it cost? UrbanSitter.com, a site that helps parents find baby sitters and nannies, releases an annual survey of baby-sitting costs. In 2014, the national average is $14.97 an hour for one child, $17.12 an hour for two children and $18.27 per hour for three.

More to consider. Walton, who pays her sitters $10 an hour, loves that they are in such close proximity. That can be a plus.

But, of course, you should vet your baby sitter as much as possible. Walton, who has used just about every caregiving service available, including day care and a nanny service offered through her employer, says when she hires a nonprofessional to baby-sit, it's always someone who comes recommended by friends and family. Sometimes neighbors baby-sit, Walton says, adding that she has a demanding work schedule involving early morning and evening meetings.

If you're planning to hire someone you don't know, find out what other parents think about the sitter, including whether they feel the person is dependable, says Johnny Castro, program coordinator for the child development department at Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch, Texas. "Always be aware that word of mouth goes a long way," he says.

Day care. While day care is expensive, it's often considerably cheaper than hiring a full-time nanny or baby sitter. Still, as with baby-sitting, you'll want to choose your child's day care carefully. In 2007, a survey of over 1,000 children and their families by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that most day care centers are "fair" or "poor." Less than 10 percent of the nation's day care centers provided what was considered high-quality care.

And while you might reason that spending more money means you'll get better and safer care, that's not necessarily true, Castro says. "Cost doesn't guarantee quality," he warns. "Pop-in visits and really looking at what the program or caregiver is doing is the peace of mind that parents need."

Along those lines, Sandra Saucedo Scott, professor of child development and teacher preparation at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas, says, "I would highly recommend checking with the National Association for the Education of Young Children website for a list of NAEYC-accredited child care centers in their area, because these child care centers have one of the highest standards in the nation."

How much does it cost? The cost of day care varies so much from state to state that it's difficult to estimate what you'll pay. But generally, as your child gets older and more self-sufficient, the price will decrease. For instance, in Massachusetts, the nation's most expensive state for infant child care, according to the 2013 report from Child Care Aware of America, it costs an average of $16,430 a year to have an infant in a day care. Parents of a 4-year-old in Massachusetts will spend $12,176 a year, on average. By the time that 4-year-old is in school, the average child care cost drops to $4,378, partly because more time is spent in school, not in day care.

More to consider. Ron Lieberman, a family law attorney in Haddonfield, New Jersey, who has a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son, says he and his wife found that "day care offers the type of professionalism and experience in a caregiver, while baby sitters were more fluid and less dependable."

While they pay about $200 more a month for day care than they'd pay a baby sitter, "the socialization and educational opportunities are immeasurable," he says.

A nanny. If you can afford it, it's easy to see the appeal of a nanny. Instead of sending your child to be taken care of along with other children, he or she receives one-on-one time with a caregiver.

How much does it cost? The more you want, the more you'll pay. For instance, do you want a live-in nanny, or a nanny who takes care of your kids after school and before you get home from work?

"This is usually based upon location, duties and amount of children, but the average range is $12 to $18 an hour," says Tammy Gold, author of the forthcoming book, "Secrets of the Nanny Whisperer: A Practical Guide for Finding and Achieving the Gold Standard of Care for Your Child."

If you paid a nanny $18 at 40 hours a week, that adds up to $720 a week, and since your nanny will be considered your employee, you'll also pay employment taxes. Your homeowners insurance may go up as well.

More to consider. As noted, there's that one-on-one time your child won't always get when he or she is competing with other kids and staff at a day care.

"I tell people that it really felt like we were renting a grandmother," says Jennifer Starkey, a media relations officer at Webster University in St. Louis. Starkey had a nanny for her son when she lived in Chicago, and because she found the cost of a full-time nanny to be too high, she opted for what's known in the caregiving industry as "nanny sharing."

"I was on a Chicago parents' message board, and I found another woman whose little girl was only six weeks older than my son. We pooled our resources and hired a nanny," Starkey says. "It came to about $275 a week for each family."

So it wasn't one-on-one attention, but close enough. "I loved this arrangement," Starkey says. "We got along well with the other family, and the nanny was wonderful."

And it was cheaper than day care. Starkey called a national day care chain and was told it would cost her $465 a week for full-time care for her 12-week-old baby. Another day care was more in reach -- $330 a week -- but it had a waitlist and 32 other parents in front of her. One significant downside to a nanny, Starkey says, is that if he or she is sick or on vacation, you or a spouse will need to find alternate caregiving arrangements -- or you may find yourself working from home and using your own vacation days.

Now that she lives in St. Louis and is a mother of two boys, ages 6 and 2, nanny sharing doesn't seem to be as prevalent. But she found an affordable day care she likes. It's a road many parents find themselves on, where they end up using multiple forms of caregiving at one time or another.

"There's really no one-size-fits-all answer," Starkey says. "So much depends on a parent's budget and the options available where they live."