I have two kids — a 2yr old and 3yr old both in daycare full time. I’m also trying to pay off about $50K in debt quickly and daycare costs are slowing down my progress. Would you recommend I do halftime daycare which I believe is 3 days a week or half days 5 days a week? My company schedule is a “lax” hybrid so I could make it work. I’m just concerned the kids are too young to be left playing for hours while I try to work.

I wouldn’t. I have a 5 and a 3, and you’re right- at that age, they can’t just be left to do their own thing for hours at a time. You don’t want them to just watch TV all day for those days.

Your company is a lax hybrid- could you do flexible hours, like start at 4 in the morning or something?

Do you have any family that could potentially come over some afternoons?

It’s rough. Finally getting some of that day care money back feels really nice, but it may just be something you have to deal with for another year or two…

My child is almost three. I don't think I could work for 15 minutes with her in the house, let alone a half day or a whole day. So if it were me, I absolutely would not be able to plan on taking care of her while I worked.

Send them to daycare now. Pay down debt when they’re in school. As a mother of two toddlers, there’s no way on earth I could focus on work for more than 5 min if the kids are both home during the work day.

Get an aupair (student) exchange housing for child care.

Could grandparents cover those days for the majority of the day?

My thing would be, ‘What if’ …what if I couldn’t give adequate attention and something serious happened in the blink of an eye. Esp if you have a climber. I’d make other arrangements. Lots of great advice/options from ppl here. Good luck!

Not a chance I would sign up for that arrangement. I know it sucks that most of your disposable income is going to daycare right now but it’s not forever. I guess it depends on what your role is though, too. If you are set on choosing one part time option, I’d go with half days. You could likely settle into a schedule. I don’t think it’s realistic that you’d be able to work and stick the kids on screens for a couple full days per week.

The 4K a month I’m paying for childcare is an investment. Our mental health, our little guys’s mental health and 1:1attention on him at home is 💯 worth it.

If I were you, I’d cut expenses elsewhere.

Also check to see if your area does pre -K, which I've noticed a lot of schools starting to do more of. My daughter started school this year at 4, and even with paying for aftercare and with the camps she'll have to do over the summer, we'll still save $14k this year on childcare. Such a relief.