Need affordable childcare options for 2 kids

My wife and I have an adopted three year old daughter who is currently
in a daycare center that we're pretty happy with. We were planning on
adopting again but not right away since we don't feel we're financially
ready. Well it turns out that a friend of a friend has a pregnant 17
year old daughter that wants us to adopt her baby. Anybody who's been
through the adoption process knows it would be insane to pass up such
an opportunity. After looking at our finances there are some options
(refi our house, student loan hardships, etc.) to ease up some extra
cash for daycare for a 2nd child, but it will be quite difficult. We've
been looking into a number of care options (au pairs, live-in or
live-out nannies, in-home daycares, etc.) but want to be sure we're
exhausting every possibility before deciding what to do. Hopefully
somebody reading this has been in a similar situation and may have some
advice to share, or can at least point me in the right direction. (This
is my first time on this group so I'm not even sure if this is
appropriate here, and posted a similar message on alt.childcare).

Bottom line, I guess what I'm asking is what is the best
bang-for-the-buck option for childcare of an infant and a three
year-old. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

cjra...

Some places have a discount for multiple kids. But I think your best
bet is to just start looking around. Obviously you need to find a
situation you're comfortable with and not just the cheapest option. You
may find it more effective to have a live-out nanny, even tho that's
likely most expensive.

We use a licensed in-home provider, which also happens to be cheapest
but is first and foremost the environment we're happiest with for a
variety of reasons. The downside is that she doesn't have an assistant.
So when she's off, I need to find alternate care.

Ericka Kammerer...

The most affordable option is often to find a
way to flex your schedules so that you can provide most
of the childcare yourself while still being able to work.
Obviously, that's not always possible, and it is also
exhausting and sometimes hard on a marriage, but it works
for some and you can't beat the price.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Thanks so much,
Nate

-L....

Good luck with your adoption. Is one of you staying home with the
kids an option? You may have to change your lifestyle, but IMO, the
benefits are incredible.