Waiting lists for centre-based care have reached unprecedented levels with many parents opting for the more informal family day care.

Many child care operators are reluctant to cater for the 0-2 year age group because of the high costs associated with the service, including high staff to child ratios.

Director of St Joseph's Family Services Marina Hynes said demand for care for children under two years of age was high.

"Our own waiting list can mean that people waiting for care for places for children under two can be waiting up to two years," she said.

Mrs Hynes said St Agnes Long Day Care Centre had 140 children on its waiting list.

"They are waiting different degrees of time depending on their care but it's still a long waiting list," she said.

Port Macquarie's ABC Learning Centre also has long waits for care for 0-2 year olds.

"0-2s are always difficult, no matter where in Australia. That is the highest demand area," an ABC spokeswoman said.

"The baby to staff ratio is very high and with that comes additional costs."

There are 29 licensed children's services in the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area with 1557 places for 0-6 year olds.

A NSW Department of Community Services spokesman said waiting lists for those places fluctuated.

"Waiting lists are not necessarily a reflection of demand as parents may list with several services," he said.

"The supply of places is determined by market forces and may vary from day to day depending on the requirements of individual families. This is beyond the NSW Department of Community Services' control."

Mother-of-three Kerrie Carney spent more than three months searching for care for her youngest child, 11-month-old Mason.

The Port Macquarie hairdresser tried the local day care centres before settling on a family day care place.

"I rang all the child care centres ... without luck," she said. "Joey's House occasional care centre helped me out on numerous occasions until I could get a family day care place."

A spokeswoman for the Family and Community Services Minister Senator Kay Patterson said the federal government was providing "unprecedented support" for families in terms of making child care more affordable.

"Our role in child care is to assist parents with affordability through the Child Care Benefit," she said. "We have more than doubled our spending on child care to $9 billion.

"We don't bill child care centres. Any operator is free to go into an area and set up a child care centre where there are areas of demand."