After the balloons and cigars, it has long been the tradition among new parents to open a savings account for their newborns for college.

But new statistics from the National Association of Childcare Resource and Referral Agencies indicate parents might be wiser to open that bank account long before conception – not to pay for college, but for child care.

According to the Association, full-time, year-round child care for young children now costs more than public university tuitions in 44 states.

There’s sort of good news for Missourians. The state is one of the six nationwide where the average tuition of its four-year state colleges — $6,845 – is slightly above its average $6,539 tuition for full time infant child care at a center.

In Missouri child care tuition amounts to about 10 percent of the $66,580 median household income for a married, two-parent household with children under 18.

The stats aren’t so rosy for Illinois where 13 percent of married parents’ income goes toward an average $10,550 in child care tuition, versus $9,008 for public college tuition. That means Illinois parents are paying almost 15 percent more for their kids’ child care than they would for state college credits.

Parents. Did you find yourself going through sticker shock when it came time to find child care? Did you know what you were in for financially?