Sibling Discount Calculator
Two kids in full-time daycare costs more than the median mortgage. Sibling discounts help — but how much? Enter your situation to see exact savings by care type.
What Sibling Discounts Actually Save — and What They Don't
The discount applies to the cheaper child — but you're paying for the expensive one at full price. Centers discount the younger sibling (typically 10%), but infant care is the most expensive age group. When your first child is a toddler at $1,100/month and the new baby is an infant at $1,400/month, you get 10% off the $1,100 toddler rate — saving $110/month, not $140/month. The total bill is still $2,390/month. That's more than the median U.S. mortgage payment of $2,045 (Freddie Mac, 2025).
Family daycares offer bigger percentage discounts but from a lower base. A family daycare charging $900/month per child with a 15% sibling discount saves you $135/month ($1,620/year). A center charging $1,300/month with a 10% discount saves $130/month ($1,560/year). The family daycare discount is larger in percentage terms but the center discount is similar in dollar terms — and the center's full price is $400/month more per child. For two children, the family daycare total ($1,665/month) is $935/month less than the center ($2,600 before center discount). The care type decision matters more than the discount percentage.
The window for sibling overlap determines lifetime savings. If your children are 2 years apart, you'll have approximately 3 years of simultaneous enrollment (from when baby starts at 6 months until the older child enters kindergarten). At $1,500/year in sibling savings, that's $4,500 total. If they're 4 years apart, you may only get 1-2 years of overlap — cutting total savings to $1,500-3,000. But the shorter overlap also means fewer years paying for two children simultaneously, so the total childcare bill is lower even without the discount.
Employer benefits compound with sibling discounts. Dependent Care FSA lets you shelter $5,000/year pretax ($2,500 if married filing separately) for childcare expenses. At a 24% marginal tax rate, that's $1,200/year in tax savings — applied on top of any sibling discount. Some employer backup care programs (Bright Horizons, Care.com) provide 10-20 subsidized days per year that work alongside your regular sibling discount. Check whether your employer's childcare benefits apply per-family or per-child.