Starting Infants At 6 Months And Over

[momma2girls]

I have a baby contracted for next Aug. when school resumes. She will be 8 months old.
How many of you's have a min. age requirement? SUch as 6 months and over? 1 yr. and over? Etc....
I am seriously thinking about this, with so many colicky babies, SIDS, and getting them into a routine, etc. etc....

[bluemoose_mom]

I only accept 12 month old's and over.

However, since I'm new (like, as in just finished my second week of daycare) I accepted a 7 month old. It seemed silly to me that I would reject these parents when the little girl will be 12 months shortly and I have no other clients. Especially since I'm new to area, and we only have a population of 1600, I need word of mouth more than most people.

However, I will not be accepting under 12 months once I have client base.

Good luck on deciding. My husband didn't understand why I choose to limit it to 12 months and older until I got DCG. Now he understands how much more work they are.

[Sunchimes]

Unless I'm in dire straits, I won't take any more under 6 months. But, my first dck was 6 months old, and she was a piece of cake. I have a 3 month old now...3.5 months actually. I spend much of the day chanting "He'll be 6 months old in just 2.5 months." I'd take a 6 month old any time.

[Sprouts]

I haven't really thought of if this either, but my first baby that I took was 4 months and she was and is the best baby ever! I then took another 4 month only a few months later, and ....that lasted a week I do however require children under a year to have a movement monitor (I know some people don't fully support it) but it gives us all a peice of mind!

[Blackcat31]

I have done this on and off over the years. I enrolled children from birth to age 12 the first few years I was open.

After a while, the infants were simply to stressful so I decided to take kids 6 months and older only.

The result of that was there weren't all that many parents entering the work force with 6 month olds or if parents found childcare for their infant they usually didnt want to move them from the provider they were already bonded with and used to which was completely understandable.

I then went through a period of not accepting any infants. Again, if a family had an infant and found care, they usually stayed where they were so it was rare to get someone looking for care after 12/18 months and if I had a current family who got pregnant, they would want to find a place that would take all their children together versus splitting them up.

I then decided to enroll infants and no longer take the school age kids. This has had the best results so far. I enroll an infant and they end up staying until they enter Kindergarten. I have several families that I have had 2, 3 and 4 of their children from birth until school entry.

I will enroll a new family with an infant but that is usually a rare occurance as most my current families have kept me well stocked in infants. I currently have one family with an infant now and a new one starting in the fall. I also have a waiting list of new families with infants hoping for an opening. Infant care is really hard to find around here.

I know it seems to ease our minds with the SIDS and other risks to not take infants until a certain age, but I have found from a business standpoint, it doesnt always work that way and really infants of any age come with their own set of needs and concerns. SIDS is definitely something I fear too but honestly, we can only do our part in following the safety rules and guidelines. If you only take older infants, then you run into the stranger anxiety thing and that is also not fun to deal with. Not to mention "training" an older infant into your care routine can be more difficult than one that has been there since birth and already knows your environment and routine.

Integrating new kids 12 months and older also brings a specific set of issues with them. Napping is the biggest thing. I would much rather "train" a child from birth into our nap routine versus trying to teach an older child.

Basically, in theory I think taking older infants only is a nice idea but in practice, I don't always think it pans out the way we want and to simply do it to avoid SIDS and other infant only issues isn't really realistic either since every single age of child has it's own set of worries and concerns.

Sorry for the novel but wanted to share my opinion and perspective

[AfterSchoolMom]

If I had my choice, I'd only take newborn to 12 months and then have them come back when they're school-aged.

[Creek]

I only take children 12 months and older. It's pretty common in Canada since we've got a year maternity leave.

[cheerfuldom]

I have done this on and off over the years. I enrolled children from birth to age 12 the first few years I was open.

After a while, the infants were simply to stressful so I decided to take kids 6 months and older only.

The result of that was there weren't all that many parents entering the work force with 6 month olds or if parents found childcare for their infant they usually didnt want to move them from the provider they were already bonded with and used to which was completely understandable.

I then went through a period of not accepting any infants. Again, if a family had an infant and found care, they usually stayed where they were so it was rare to get someone looking for care after 12/18 months and if I had a current family who got pregnant, they would want to find a place that would take all their children together versus splitting them up.

I then decided to enroll infants and no longer take the school age kids. This has had the best results so far. I enroll an infant and they end up staying until they enter Kindergarten. I have several families that I have had 2, 3 and 4 of their children from birth until school entry.

I will enroll a new family with an infant but that is usually a rare occurance as most my current families have kept me well stocked in infants. I currently have one family with an infant now and a new one starting in the fall. I also have a waiting list of new families with infants hoping for an opening. Infant care is really hard to find around here.

I know it seems to ease our minds with the SIDS and other risks to not take infants until a certain age, but I have found from a business standpoint, it doesnt always work that way and really infants of any age come with their own set of needs and concerns. SIDS is definitely something I fear too but honestly, we can only do our part in following the safety rules and guidelines. If you only take older infants, then you run into the stranger anxiety thing and that is also not fun to deal with. Not to mention "training" an older infant into your care routine can be more difficult than one that has been there since birth and already knows your environment and routine.

Integrating new kids 12 months and older also brings a specific set of issues with them. Napping is the biggest thing. I would much rather "train" a child from birth into our nap routine versus trying to teach an older child.

Basically, in theory I think taking older infants only is a nice idea but in practice, I don't always think it pans out the way we want and to simply do it to avoid SIDS and other infant only issues isn't really realistic either since every single age of child has it's own set of worries and concerns.

Sorry for the novel but wanted to share my opinion and perspective

This is exactly my experience as well besides the fact that I have never taken school agers. If you are going to take infants, it is probably easiest to fill those spots with newborns because it is a lot less common to find parents of kids 6 to 12 months that are looking for care. I find it easier too, just to train kids from newborn up. I would much rather do that than try to retrain an older baby. I have tried a couple kids to start at 8 to 10 months old and those were the kids that did not make it past my intro period. They are in full on separation anxiety, already have bad habits ingrained in them (like not napping) and are usually not mobile yet so they have a lot of time to just cry....not a good situation for anyone! I have started a few 11 to 14 month olds and so long as they are mobile and able to be a part of the big kid activities, I have never had any major issues. Sometimes napping can be an issue but it doesnt take too long for them to get it here so long as they are here enough. I enjoy babies actually and toddler and preschoolers. My least favorite age is the older babies so that is probably a factor in why I dont care to start them here at that age any way. Right now I take only one baby at a time (under 12 months) and since my youngest just turned one, I have a baby spot open.