Emergency childcare when daycare closes.

When your daycare closes without warning, work down a pre-set tier list: a family member or friend on call (free), splitting the day with a partner, an employer-paid backup-care day if you have one ($0 to $25 copay), a drop-in daycare slot ($90 to $180 a day), or an agency in-home sitter ($200 to $360 a day). The trick is setting these up before the morning you need them.

What do I do the morning my daycare closes?

Work down a tier list you wrote in advance, easiest and cheapest first. The order most families land on is: a pre-arranged family member or friend, then splitting the day with a partner, then an employer-paid backup-care day, then a drop-in daycare slot, then an agency in-home sitter. The reason to decide the order now is that 6 a.m. with a closed daycare is the worst possible time to start comparing options.

Unexpected closures fall into a few predictable buckets: a staff illness that drops a room below required ratio, a facility problem like a power outage or burst pipe, a weather closure, or a licensing or health closure. Most are well-child situations, which means group options stay on the table. The exception is when your own child is the one who is sick, which narrows the list sharply.

How much does emergency childcare cost?

Emergency childcare ranges from free to about $360 a day in 2026. Employer-paid backup care costs a $0 to $25 copay per use; a drop-in daycare slot runs roughly $90 to $180 a day; an in-home agency sitter runs about $200 to $360 for an eight-hour day, drawing on US Department of Labor National Database of Childcare Prices ranges. The cheapest options, family help and splitting the day, cost work disruption instead of cash.

Day rates vary by metro and by your child's age, because infant care sits at the top of every range. The DOL price database shows infant care running materially higher than care for a four-year-old in the same county, so a drop-in infant slot trends toward the upper end of these bands.

Which option works when my child is sick?

An in-home sitter through a backup-care agency is the main widely available option for a sick child, because the child stays home and a vetted caregiver comes to you. Drop-in centers and employer-paid center care almost always exclude sick children by design, following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state exclusion rules for fever, vomiting in the past 24 hours, and diarrhea. The typical cost is $200 to $360 for an eight-hour day, often with a four-hour minimum.

The reliable no-cost fallbacks for a sick child remain splitting the day with a partner and using your own paid time off. Agreeing in advance that the first sick day defaults to one parent and the second to the other prevents the early-morning negotiation when nobody has slept. For more on this, see sick child care options.

Can I use a Dependent Care FSA or tax credit to cover it?

Yes, when the care lets you work. The IRS allows Dependent Care FSA funds, up to $5,000 per household ($2,500 if married filing separately), to reimburse drop-in centers, backup-care copays, and in-home sitters for a child under 13, as long as the expense is work-related and you keep a receipt with the provider's tax ID. The same costs can count toward the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit instead, though not the same dollars twice.

Care while you are not working, such as a sitter so you can run errands on a day off, does not qualify under IRS Publication 503. Keep simple records: date, provider, amount, and tax ID. See how to use a Dependent Care FSA and the daycare tax credit explained.

How do I set this up before I need it?

Spend two hours now so a closure never becomes a crisis. The setup is a short checklist you complete once, then refresh once a year. Aim for at least two options per scenario, because the first will not always be available on the day it matters.

1. Pre-arrange two or three people. Have the specific conversation: "If daycare closes and I cannot get out of a meeting, can I call you?" Reciprocity is the glue.
2. Activate employer backup care. If your benefits include Bright Horizons Back-Up Care or Care.com, create the account and verify the in-home and center networks in your ZIP code now.
3. Register at one drop-in center. Most require an advance enrollment packet, immunization records, and a registration fee before they will take your child on a walk-in day.
4. Line up two sitters. Find them through a platform, hire them for small evening jobs first, and save the numbers you trust.
5. Write the partner rule. Decide who defaults to which kind of coverage, and put it in a shared note.

Common questions

What do I do when daycare closes unexpectedly? Work down a pre-set tier list: family on call, split the day, employer backup care, a drop-in slot, then an agency sitter.

How much does it cost? From free to about $360 a day in 2026; a drop-in slot is $90 to $180 and an agency in-home sitter $200 to $360, per US Department of Labor childcare-price ranges.

Does an FSA cover it? Yes, when the care lets you work, for a child under 13, with a receipt and the provider's tax ID, per IRS Publication 503.

What works for a sick child? An in-home agency sitter, splitting the day with a partner, or paid time off; group options exclude sick children per CDC guidance.