First time poster, questions about starting a daycare!

[Buttercup]

Hey all! I've been lurking on this site for several months now, and I've finally decided to sign up and post!!!! I've really enjoyed reading the posts of all you wonderful people...It's all been so helpful because I currently work in a center and am considering started my own daycare someday! And I'll admit - reading horror stories about rude/clueless/drama filled parents and bratty kids has been a guilty pleasure of mine I can relate so much to parents who treat their kids like little princes/princesses and let them run the show! I can't believe how parents cater to their kids' every whim nowadays, boy does it make this job tougher. But that's an issue for another thread...

Anyway, here is my dilemma. I'm 99% sure that if I do daycare someday, I would not want to take infants under 12 months. I worry about SIDS and it just seems like too much of a liability to take on for me personally. I also don't want to deal with bottles. I know some of you great providers don't do infant care, and I'm wondering about a few things.

1. Do you interview infants and offer to hold their spot until the baby is old enough?
2. What if you have an existing dcm who gets pregnant? Do they generally leave you, or do they arrange alternate care for the baby until they are old enough to go to you?
3. Would you charge a holding fee for either instance, #1 or #2?
4. Have you ever come across any other problems by not offering infant care?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, I'm just wondering if this is something that works out, or if I should just **** it up and take care of babies. Thank you so much in advance!

[Shell]

Welcome to the forum! To answer some of your questions as best as I can: whether you decide to take infants or not is certainly a personal preference and one you are entitled to. I would love to take only 15 months and older, but I have to. Around my area, most three year olds go to center preschools, and the market is more profitable for infant care, as they will likely stay put until at least age 3. Some ladies have luck pairing up with other providers- for example, one takes infants and sends them over to another provider at age 2 or whatever age they decide. I would strongly suggest doing your research in your area. If you have to take infants, maybe only take one at a time, as it can be quite overwhelming (speaking from experience). Best of Luck!

[daycare]

welcome to the form

I do not take children under 18months I never have issues with this. When I first started it was very tempting, but never took them.

I do not hold spots for more than 1 month and when I do I charge a holding fee that is 50% of my monthly rate.

I don't interview pg moms. They would have 18months to wait to enroll and I won't hold a spot that long. there is never a guarantee.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

Welcome!

I started with kids all under 3, but over the years, I've been aging the group slowly up. Now they are all 2 and older. I say do what you love best and what makes you most comfortable. Isn't that why you're working for yourself?

Answers to your questions below in blue:

1. Do you interview infants and offer to hold their spot until the baby is old enough? I tell parents on the phone that I don't take infants and that I am currently only taking children 2 and up. I give them an estimate of when I might have an opening. I suggest that they might want to visit to get on my waiting list, but it's a long time to wait, so they don't always do it.
2. What if you have an existing dcm who gets pregnant? Do they generally leave you, or do they arrange alternate care for the baby until they are old enough to go to you? Silly me, this didn't occur to me at first! I planned to have my first year be 0-3, my next year be 1-4, and then be 2 and up (trying to keep the ages close to my daughter's age), but that first year, half the parents got pregnant with a second. I like to keep current families, so I took their babies. But at some point I started telling them I would take the babies when they turned 2.
3. Would you charge a holding fee for either instance, #1 or #2?No. I only take a deposit once I know for sure I have a spot to offer. When I tell current families I'll take their baby when they are 2, I mean they'll get priority when I have an opening after their child turns 2. I'm not really promising a spot.
4. Have you ever come across any other problems by not offering infant care?Only one family left--and it was very reluctantly and also temporary. They had 3 kids. I had 2; the baby was somewhere else. But when the oldest went to kindergarten, they didn't want to drive to 3 places each day, so they pulled the middle child to go to the same place the infant was enrolled. As soon as she turned 2, they both came back here. Most of the calls I get are for infant care, so probably it would be easiest to fill up and stay full if I took babies. But I have a great reputation and a good waiting list, so that's not really a problem.

Sorry for the barrage of questions, I'm just wondering if this is something that works out, or if I should just **** it up and take care of babies. Thank you so much in advance!

[Buttercup]

Thanks for the info guys! Sounds like you're able to make it work. happyface