Daycare Center Question.. Infants?

[sfp]

The building I'm looking at will absolutely work for ages 2+. It needs some work to accommodate infants and toddlers.

So my question for the center owners on the board is... Is it worth it? Do infants get you that much more business or would I be wasting my time/money?

[Springdaze]

There a definately pros and cons to both.
Pros
children will be enrolled longer, you may get 5 years out of one kid
if older kids have young siblings, it would be a benefit to parents
you can charge more

cons
more staff
opposite of others above

[snbauser]

Also, typically in centers you can charge more for infants so it helps with your budget. It all depends on what type of facility/program you want to run. I think a lot of parents like to be able to find a place to put their child in care as an infant and keep them there until they move to kindergarten.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I own a center, but don't do infants, HOWEVER, I do get lots of.calls for them. I personally find demand for infants quite high, but this requires additional staff.

[Crystal]

I would definitely include infants, even if it cost me money to do so. There is high demand for infant care. You will likely fill all of your infant spaces quickly, and those infants will provide you with job stability, as they get older and stay with you, filling the more difficult to fill spaces of toddlers/preschoolers. By the time those infants move to the older rooms, you will likely have a waitlist for new infants. It is more difficult to fill the spaces in preschool because there is not as a high of a demand.....so starting them as infants will result in a higher chance of staying full.

Now, infant care is definitly less profitable. Due to ratios, the overhead for infant care is high. But, I think it is worth it. I think parents value programs who offer a continuity of care until their children move on to school.

[permanentvacation]

Yes, it is worth it to add an infant room. You might be able to open with just a small infant room and then enlarge the infant room/s as you get clients and more income.

[CheekyChick]

Pros:
1. You can usually keep an infant 3 to 5 years.
2. Higher rates.
3. Babies are SO cute.

Cons:
1. I personally make very little off the infants due to needing additional staff. On a positive note - see Pro #1.
2. Need additional sleeping space. It does NOT work to put 8 babies in one sleeping room. You need to separate the good sleepers from the screamers. I wish I had a room for every infant, but that's not possible.

Good luck.