Not Licensed - Do I have to be??

[Carole's Daycare]

By the way- my husband called one day a few months ago while on the job- rather upset-he was at the scene with a dead 8 month old- amidst crying family etc he had to investigate the scene etc - The cause of death was strangulation by the infants baby blanket- an otherwise normal, healthy baby in a caring, intelligent, upstanding family.... I don't care how comforting a blanket is, or what a family allows at home- after a few days the baby adjust to sleeping without it- it just isn't worth the risk.

[emosks]

I guess the point of the original post was if you had to be licensed or not. My state says yes. I did run an unlicensed daycare for almost a year until one of the parents got pissed at me and decided to turn me in. DHS said I had to cease care immediately which I did. I got my license and opened back up. Was I following all the rules DHS sets forth? Nope. I thought I was pretty close but until I got the rule book and found so many more things that I was not doing. I did not practice fire/tornado drills, did not have smoke detectors in all the rooms required, only had 1 fire extinguisher, etc. I was putting blankets in with the babies per the parents request and now realize that you can not do that. No matter what. Rules are not made up for fun. They are made up for the safety of the children.

[Carole's Daycare]

I guess the point of the original post was if you had to be licensed or not. My state says yes. I did run an unlicensed daycare for almost a year until one of the parents got pissed at me and decided to turn me in. DHS said I had to cease care immediately which I did. I got my license and opened back up. Was I following all the rules DHS sets forth? Nope. I thought I was pretty close but until I got the rule book and found so many more things that I was not doing. I did not practice fire/tornado drills, did not have smoke detectors in all the rooms required, only had 1 fire extinguisher, etc. I was putting blankets in with the babies per the parents request and now realize that you can not do that. No matter what. Rules are not made up for fun. They are made up for the safety of the children.

Excellent post and to the point. Thank you

[grandmom]

One of the things I learned early on, and refer to often is this:

Never underestimate the power of an angry parent.

If you're not licensed, and need to be, count on an angry parent to turn you in.

If you are licensed, but aren't following the rules, count on an angry parent to turn you in.

Keep good records and document all those questionable conversations. And do business legally. I've only had a couple angry parents. One turned me in. It took 2 months to clear my name.