Contract Times? 9 or 10 hours?

[thatdivalady]

For those of you who go by contract times, do you offer 9 hours or 10?

[daycare]

9.5 I dont care what times you use as long as they are between 745am and 600 pm

[thatdivalady]

Yeah, I think I'm trying to reconfigure mine because I offer evenings too. I'm thinking of going back to 9 hours instead of 10 though.

[Christian Mother]

I switch to 10 hrs to accommodate one family but all the others are 8-9 hrs.

[Mary Poppins]

I leave it up to them but I don't allow children here for more than 10 hours and really try to discourage them from using more than 9 by citing research that shows it isn't healthy for some (IMO any) kids to be in daycare more than that.

Right now all of my dck's are here no more than 9 hours per day.

[SunnyDay]

I leave it up to them but I don't allow children here for more than 10 hours and really try to discourage them from using more than 9 by citing research that shows it isn't healthy for some (IMO any) kids to be in daycare more than that.

Right now all of my dck's are here no more than 9 hours per day.

Do you happen to have any links to research? I am trying to decide what my max will be.

[Lucy]

10 because I'm open 10 hours. Times are contracted though. I only have one family that uses 10 hours. The rest are 9 to 9 1/2... contracted times.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

I ran for 5 years at 9 hours. Now in my sixth year, I switched to 8.5 hours, because most people weren't arriving promptly, and it just made more sense for my family to get a little bit more sleep. Of course, that's hours with kids...I work many more hours than that! But that's more than enough for me, my daughter, and the other kids.

Most of the parents in my program are married, so can have one drop off and one pick up, and most are self-employed, and can set their own hours. Doesn't mean they pick up on time. :-)

[Mary Poppins]

Do you happen to have any links to research? I am trying to decide what my max will be.

From http://www.psychologytoday.com/artic...uble-day-care:

But the latest findings, from a huge, long-term government study, are worrisome. They show that kids who spend long hours in day care have behavior problems that persist well into elementary school. About 26 percent of children who spend more than 45 hours per week in day care go on to have serious behavior problems at kindergarten age. In contrast, only 10 percent of kids who spend less than 10 hours per week have equivalent problems.

(9 hours a day x 5 days a week = 45 hours per week)

Of course this is a very debatable topic but I've personally noticed in my own dc that the children who are here the longest and get the least amount of face time with their parents per day are the worst behaved. Hands down.

It may just be a coincidence but either way, I really don't want children to be here more than 9 hours a day, but I do max out at 10 because some people's schedules are wonky and they may need 7 one day and 10 another. I just really discourage it to be an every day thing.

[3girls]

Its common here to work 4 10s. All my families have different schedules. Even the ones with "regular" schedules are 8-5 with travel time thats 10 hours easy. I'm always confused when people talk about 9 hour limits...must live in a different area than me!

[Childminder]

Parents traditionally are at work 9 hours (8 work, 1 lunch) plus 1/2 hour drive time each way at least. So minimum contracted 10 hours.

[Country Kids]

My families all have 9 hour work schedules so there would be no other way for me to do this. So to be save I would do the 10 hour days I guess.

[wdmmom]

I am open 10 hours per day. Since revamping my contract, I now limit kids to being here a maimum of 9.5 hours per day. I have 1 family that is here 4 10 days and pays for a full time spot.

[Lilbutterflie]

I have a max of 10 hours; and they can pick their contracted hours anytime from 7am - 6pm.

[Blackcat31]

ALL my parents are on contracted times and pay according to their contracted "needs". I have a daily rate based on pick up times that gets more expensive the later in the day you pick up.

I am NOT willing to work beyond 5:30 and open at 7:30 so the max any one family can use is 10 hours in a day and if they do use the 10 hours, they pay dearly for it.