Maternity Leave

[momma2]

Hi folks! Im a mother of 1 and have a baby on the way and am curious.. for you day care providers, when one of your moms takes maternity leave(and keeps her kid that you normally watch at home with her) how do you handle it?

Do you charge a fee to keep the child/kids spot while shes on leave?
If so what do you charge? if she was working 40 hours a week would you still charge her 40 hours even if the kid was never there?
Dont charge anything but keep the kid's spot saved?
other ideas??

hope that makes sense...Im having a brain fart trying to type this out. Thanks for your help

[Crystal]

I charge half of my weekly rate. This holds the space for when they return, and they are able to use child care service part time - typically I offer my preschool hours 9-12, 4 days per week, for a half time rate.

BUT, I've never actually had to do this. My parents have always kept their kids with me, mostly full-time and have paid my normal weekly rate of $150 (which is now $160)

If you were to choose not to bring your child at all and wished for me to hold two spaces for when you return without paying a weekly rate, I'd consider charging a non-refundable holding fee, equal to one weeks fee for each child
($320 total) that would NOT be credited to your first week of care. This is something I would consider on a case by case basis, with factors I'd take ito consideration: your history within my program - how long have you been a client, do you follow program policies. how long you will be on leave - I couldn't hold a non-paying space for too long.

Good luck to you, and congrats on your new addition to the family!

[DCMom]

The last few times that a family has had a baby, we agreed that I hold the infant spot for them if they continue to pay full time for the current child. It has worked out well; that way the older child's spot is available when they need it and my income stays the same until the baby comes.

Most families choose to bring the older child one or two days a week; by the end of the maternity leave the older child is generally back to full time

[momma2]

THanks for the replies.

I was planning on keeping my daughter home with me and save money but found out the day care is going to be charging me full time rates to hold her spot, whether shes there or not so of course if Im paying Ill be sending her to daycare!

I talked with the day care and got her talked down to charging me part time cause Ill be going back to work part time for awhile. I just never thought about this and Im trying to figure out how Im going to pay for this-I get nothing for my mat. leave from work and can only afford to be gone for 6 weeks.

I wasnt sure if all day cares do this or if I was being taken advantage of. I love my DDs day care shes gone since its been open and Ive never had an issue or late payment so we have a good history..Im kinda a push over so its nice to hear people accutally do charge for this sort of thing. A few people Ive talked to told me its crazy that Im being charged..ugh who thought maternity leave would be this stressful!

[DCMom]

THanks for the replies.

I was planning on keeping my daughter home with me and save money but found out the day care is going to be charging me full time rates to hold her spot, whether shes there or not so of course if Im paying Ill be sending her to daycare!

I talked with the day care and got her talked down to charging me part time cause Ill be going back to work part time for awhile. I just never thought about this and Im trying to figure out how Im going to pay for this-I get nothing for my mat. leave from work and can only afford to be gone for 6 weeks.

I wasnt sure if all day cares do this or if I was being taken advantage of. I love my DDs day care shes gone since its been open and Ive never had an issue or late payment so we have a good history..Im kinda a push over so its nice to hear people accutally do charge for this sort of thing. A few people Ive talked to told me its crazy that Im being charged..ugh who thought maternity leave would be this stressful!

Oh I understand, it's hard to pay for something you are not using.

But, from my point of view I have a limited number of spaces that I can charge for. Infant spots are the most in demand. If I don't charge you SOMETHING what is your incentive to come back to daycare?

Several years ago, I had a mom who was due to have twins and wanted (obviously) two spots. I held them for no charge for three months and dropped her preschooler down to two days. I ineffect was not getting paid for 3 of my 10 spots. A 30% drop in my income. 2.9 months later she called and said 'We've decided we can't afford daycare for 3 kids, I am going to be a stay at home mom'. I could have filled those spots 10 times over in the 3 months that she was gone.

I'm not saying you would do that to your provider, but I am sure that there are many providers with the same story. Unfortunately, good parents pay for the bad behavior of the few.

Good luck

[Jewels]

I havent had a maternity leave happen yet, But I would charge at least part-time, Or figure something out, Its hard to just hold a spot for nothing, for 6-12 weeks, Thats quite a bit of money in that time thats lost, and with nothing coming in for that spot, If I got a call for care needed, it would be hard to not take it. But I do understand the frustration on the other side..........I opened my daycare when my daughter turned 6 months old, and when I got pregnant with her, I was pretty sure I was going to open my own daycare, But still wasnt positive, And my son was in daycare, And I was sure I couldnt just take him out, But I also did not get paid for maternity leave, And could not afford to still pay for daycare, I didnt end up having to, since I did do daycare, But It would have sunk me to have to have done that.

[Unregistered]

I'm not sure about your dc provider but I'm licensed for only 6 spots at any given time. As much as I would love to be able to allow moms to go on maternity leave (or vacation weeks, summer vacation for teachers, etc...) and not pay to keep her child's day care spot open, I simply can't afford to do that. I always explain it to my dc parents this way: Just as you work to support your family, I work as a child care provider in order to make money to help support my family. Like any business owner, I have to make enough money to justify keeping my business open. If I were to hold day care spots open for families who aren't paying for them (whatever the reason may be), I would no longer be earning enough money to support my family or keep my business running. I need to keep as many of my spots filled and paid for as possible. If I don't, I can't afford to stay in business. I offer one of two choices: pay me to hold your child's spot and I will guarantee that spot will be available to you when you need it again or don't pay me and hope that I will have an opening when you're ready to return. All of my dc parents have said they understood and that it makes a lot of sense when they thought of it that way. After the new baby arrived, they also said how glad they were they decided to pay for the spot because they enjoy the one-on-one time with the new baby and the older sibling was bored being at home.