What are Your Business Hours? Trying to Prevent "Provider Burn Out"

[Unregistered]

I have been a daycare provider for going on 2 years now..and I'm already starting to feel burnt out like I'm doing this for years. On average I would kids here from 6:30 a.m.-6:00p.m.!!!!!! It's really starting to cut into my family and personal time.


I'm trying to think of better business hours that are still convenient to parents schedule...but doesn't burn me out and still allows me to have family time at the end of the day. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[boysx5]

I have a few neighbors who are also providers and when I opened here two years ago I was told must people wanted til six pm. I open at 6:30 but most don't arrive til 7:30 but the six pm is a killer somedays it does cut into my family time getting my kids to sports on time but on those days my husband has to do it. I just feel I would lose clients if I changed my time

[Michael]

Some hours from other posts: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14481

[legomom922]

Mine are 730-530 m-f If they want later or earlier, they can go somewheres else, because I do not want anybodys elses kids here that early or that late cutting into MY family time. Not worth it to me. And for any one you turn away, there will always be one more waiting.

[safechner]

I feel the same way as you do. I really want to close at 5:30pm but I know it is not going to work out because most of parents get off around 5:30pm to get here around 6:00pm or 6:30pm due to bad traffic. I need an income to support all four of us and paying our lawyer to file a due process hearing against my daughter's school for the second time and another filed a federal suit against school for legal fees since we won the case in the first place and section 504 (discrimination). Both of my daughters have soccer/gymnastic practice so my husband have to get off early once a week to take them to practice on time. So I don't want to lose my clients if I change my time. It is hard to replace the spots if I change my time due to economy. I have been doing this for almost 9 years but next year, I will be closed for good once we paid off our two cars payment. I will be going back to school next fall 2011. I know I have cut my family time but my husband told me it doesn't bother him since we always have family/personal time on the weekends together. I know it ****s

[momofboys]

6:30 am - 4:30 pm

[MN Mom]

The last week in Aug. I am done with daycare. If (and thats a big IF) I ever do this again...I will only do 8am-5:30pm. Never again will I do 6am-4:30pm...NEVER. I am not a morning person to begin with, especially during the summer. I am a night owl, and do not like having a bed time. I have found that having a bed time has caused me to have less sleep because I'm constantly worried about 1) falling asleep to begin with and 2) not hearing the alarm clock and blowing off my clients.

I started in January, and I bet I have averaged 4 hours of sleep during the week days. I try to make up for it on weekends, but that cuts into my family time =/

8am-5:30pm seem like very reasonable hours to me.

[My4SunshineGirlsNY]

I am open from 5:30a.m-5pm. I have 2 school age girls that come at 5:30am but they go back to sleep and my next child comes around 7:15a.m. A couple years ago I took an infant (10 months) at 5a.m. and NEVER again..he was not a bad boy but a few times he would cry as he was tired and woke up my youngest daughter and I had to deal with her being cranky all day.

5p.m. isn't too bad for me to close..my husband gets home some nights at 5:30 and other nights at 6:30. I do get many days I wish I didn't have kids here at all so I can just do whatever I wanted with my kids...but that doesn't pay the bills, LOL. I just terminated a child a couple months ago because his mom wouldn't always pick up on time, came later than 5 many nights.
That's my family time, I'm not dipping into that.

[melskids]

8:00 - 4:30

not because those are my hours, just because thats what all my families need right now. lucky me!!!

however, technically, my hours are 7:00 - 5:30. NEVER earlier and NEVER later.

before we moved to this new town, i used to do whatever was needed. i had kids from 4:30 in the a.m. (single dad who needed to go to work that early) to 8:00 at night (single mom who commuted to the city for work). i did nights and weekends for parents who wanted to go on dates, away on trips, whatever. after 6 years, i was sooooo burnt out. i just cant do that anymore. my sanity is worth more then they can pay.....

[DanceMom]

6:45 to 5:00 - I'm Ok with 5:00 as my husband doesnt get home until 5:30 so I might as well be working..

[momma2girls]

When I first started daycare I was open from 6:00-5:30. There were many commuters into a larger city for me. THen it came, where one family wanted me 10 min. earlier- but that turned into 1/2 hr. earlier all the time!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I had a single Dad that was always late. There were alot of times he wouldn't show up til 6:00. "Oh the traffic was horrible, or : I just love the overtime I am making!!! SO as I was being late at things, etc.. all the time!! I was charging him extra, $5.00 per 15 min. and he would pay it. A month went by maybe longer, and I finally told him"it's not your money I want, I want you here on time" So in all, I was working 5:30-6:00 almost all the time, for onlly $25.00 per day!! THat ****ed, til I put a stop to it!! Then we did move into a larger city, and I changed my times to 7-5:00. When you have times written into yur cnotract, you will have many families that will abuse it and keep abusing your times!! So about 2 yrs. ago, I placed- I will provide childcare for your work and commute times only- so now it is 7:30-4:30 only. I think 9 hrs./daily is enough!!! This still figures out to 45 hrs. a week. Even on this, we should be getting overtime-- LOL!!!!!! Have a good day everyone!!!!!!!!

[nannyde]

[QUOTE=Iowa daycare;39385]- I will provide childcare for your work and commute times only- so now it is 7:30-4:30 only. I think 9 hrs./daily is enough!!! [QUOTE]

I wish I could get it down to that. I hope that as I go along I can make that happen.

Right now I have six fifteen a.m. to five forty five p.m. two days a week and the other three days we close at five.

The max time per kid is nine hours. With my current group most kids are here about seven and a half to eight hours a day. One parent drops off and the other picks up.

[teacher28]

I'm currently a teacher now so my hours working and time off has completely spoiled me. School starts at 8:15 so I leave my house around 7:15 and the kids are out the door at 2:40, so I leave school around 3:00! So I am fully aware what a change this is going to be for me once I get this home day care up and running! Now this may be wishful thinking but I say target school teachers kids! The hours are great and you will never have a parent coming after 4:30 to pick the kids up! Every teacher I know who has kids in day care, rushes right out of school as soon as they can and gets right to their child's daycare. Anyways, I'm only going to start with about 2 kids anyways and I'm going to try to be picky and target teachers kids and maybe I can even have the summer off to spend that time with just my child. Wishful thinking!

[momma2girls]

- I will provide childcare for your work and commute times only- so now it is 7:30-4:30 only. I think 9 hrs./daily is enough!!!

I wish I could get it down to that. I hope that as I go along I can make that happen.

Right now I have six fifteen a.m. to five forty five p.m. two days a week and the other three days we close at five.

The max time per kid is nine hours. With my current group most kids are here about seven and a half to eight hours a day. One parent drops off and the other picks up.

THis is awesome as well!!!

[momma2girls]

I'm currently a teacher now so my hours working and time off has completely spoiled me. School starts at 8:15 so I leave my house around 7:15 and the kids are out the door at 2:40, so I leave school around 3:00! So I am fully aware what a change this is going to be for me once I get this home day care up and running! Now this may be wishful thinking but I say target school teachers kids! The hours are great and you will never have a parent coming after 4:30 to pick the kids up! Every teacher I know who has kids in day care, rushes right out of school as soon as they can and gets right to their child's daycare. Anyways, I'm only going to start with about 2 kids anyways and I'm going to try to be picky and target teachers kids and maybe I can even have the summer off to spend that time with just my child. Wishful thinking!

All mine are teachers and they all come around 4:30 for pick up- when I had 5:00 they all came around 5:00!!! I guess they all have lessons, etc. to do once school is over at 3:15!