Tweet
My original business plan included infants. As I'm getting closer to opening I'm thinking about 12 mos and up. What are your thoughts and/or experiences with both situations? Thanks
-
-
I do not like accepting infants. I have decided that in the future, infant spots will be charged a premium (50% more than 12 months and up). Infant spots are in high demand, and infants are very demanding, requiring more work from me, as well as more times that I need to hire a helper (we have frequent field trips).
It's all a matter of what you prefer. Some prefer to have ONLY kids 0-12 or 0-24 months. I prefer 24 months+. -
You can take more kids if you take older kids. If you can keep full with older kids, I would suggest that. Infants are a lot of work, especially working with part timers and first time moms, plus you will be taking fewer and there will be less time for anything but because care of diapering and feeding. If you plan to do a curriculum, any field trips and that sort of thing, it will be so much easier without infants.Comment
-
I'm also thinking about the amount of equipment I have to purchase before opening like cribs. I only have the capacity for 33 kiddos. If it were a larger center infants may not be a big deal. Thanks for responding.Comment
-
Some of my thoughts on infants. Disclaimer: I am an infant room teach in a small center so I could be biased
. Pros: long term client hopefully you get them for 5 year plus any siblings continue to come to your center. You get to watch these little people grow up! They are fun and very loving. Usually easier to find because a lot of places won't take them. If you get them young they adjust easily to a workable schedule.
cons: lower ratio so you have to pay more staff. More work because of bottles and diapering. Sometimes first time parents that have read every new book and have ideas on how to do things.
just my thoughts hope this helps.Comment
-
I love taking infants! Watching them learn something for the first time is priceless to me! They also come with no bad habits, they learn to share, they don't tattle, the list goes on & on. Cons? Diapering & bottle feeding. I pick that over a 3 year old pooping a pull up.Some of my thoughts on infants. Disclaimer: I am an infant room teach in a small center so I could be biased. Pros: long term client hopefully you get them for 5 year plus any siblings continue to come to your center. You get to watch these little people grow up! They are fun and very loving. Usually easier to find because a lot of places won't take them. If you get them young they adjust easily to a workable schedule.
cons: lower ratio so you have to pay more staff. More work because of bottles and diapering. Sometimes first time parents that have read every new book and have ideas on how to do things.
just my thoughts hope this helps.
Comment
-
I am more looking at it on the business side. I love infants and if I work there, this is the age group I would prefer, but with the capacity of only 33, I am unsure that this will be a profitable move. My current infant room will fit 8 which is 2 teachers.Comment
-
I would look at it from this prospective..
do you plan to do a preschool type program with activities? if so, then you might want to rethink your age range. I only take 20 months to 5 years of age. I have a preschool program with after care.
Infants are a much bigger liability in my eyes, reason why I decided not to do infants as well.Comment
-
I only have a small family daycare and would actually prefer infants to older kids but right now I'm willing to take any age to fill these spots! LOLComment
-
OP mentioned that the capacity would be 33 children so I'm thinking it's a small center. OP also mentioned that there'd be an infant room with 2 employees and 8 infants so if they are in a separate space with their own staff then a curriculum won't be an issue.
I'm thinking from a parent prospective that this would be fine for a family with toddlers and older children or for a family with only one child. If a family decides to expand their family and add another baby there's a possibility of losing these families. Most families tend to want to keep their children together, many don't want to take baby to one place and older siblings to another so if they have another baby they may look for another alternative. Also IME first time parents look for infant care and typically don't move or change their child if they like it so if you don't accept infants then you'd be turning off these first timers unless they don't like their child care and need to look for a new daycare and that's if their children hit the age that you start accepting them.
Personally I'd charge a premium price for infants (but still competitively priced) and accept them, then once they hit the "not infant" stage lower their rate. This way you'll be enticing to families with single children that are infants (that tend to stay until school) and families with multiple children that have infants.Comment
-
I love babies!
...as a new enrollment, I find an infant much easier than a 2-3 yr old that comes to me already spoiled and disrespectful ...I have an instant bond the minute I hold a baby
draw backs are...
1) the cost of food (I provide all baby food)
2) the fear of SIDS or other complications
3) the outdoor activities ...hate taking infants out in the snowComment
-
Thank you for your response! I actually have a laddered rate that goes down once the child turns 12 mos and then again when the child turns 24 mos and so on. Another concern I have is that I would like to accept children through 4 years old and the way the center is set up, I am unsure I will be able to. It has an infant room (once was the master of a house), an office space, a great room (previously the living/dining room), and another small room in the back. I can extend the age group in the infant room, but I am still not sure.Comment
-
To be real honest, if I didnt take infants I would be out of business. They do need more hands on care but I love getting a baby and breaking it in so that there used to the rhythm of dc. I know of quite a few providers that dont take infants for one reason or another. I think its a personal preference thing. In a way it may limit your ability to keep your dc full. I think if you can afford to be picky then you could take older kids only. Sorry if that's not much help.
DebComment
Comment