Having Kids Before or After Opening Daycare?

[hollizzle]

First post! lovethis
I'm a newlywed nanny who has worked as a preschool teacher and has a Master's Degree in ECE.

My husband and I recently decided that we should open up a home daycare when we buy our first house in a couple of years, so that when we start having kids I can raise them at home.

My question for you guys is: did any of you start a home daycare prior to having kids? Was this something you'd recommend? How about those of you who opened one up with a child already in tow? What were your experiences??

Did being pregnant while running your business cause any of you big problems?

My mother (a retired teacher) has already volunteered herself to be my 'assistant', so taking maternity time off wouldn't be too much of an issue in that regard.

Just looking for some advice! Thanks!!!

[Ariana]

I opened for the same reason (ECE here!). I opened when my oldest was 16 months and then when she was 3 I got pregnant with my second. I kept the daycare opened BUT I was extremely sick with my pregnancy. My husband had to take all of his vacation to help run the daycare. Around 20 weeks my nausea subsided and then I was just tired a lot! Having help will be great. I didn't have much help besides my husband at that time.

After the birth of my second I took 3 weeks off and gave the parents about 6 weeks notice. Everyone was great about it. By this time my parents had moved into town so I enlisted the help of my mother (retired social worker)when I went back to running the daycare. Let me tell you, she was the worst employee!! She hated taking the kids outside because it was "cold" out and just in general was not very dependable. She was originally supposed to help for 6 weeks, I fired her after 2 weeks LOL! I just ran the daycare by myself and kept baby in an infant carrier or a baby seat etc. She actually enjoyed watching the other kids and would fall asleep in the carrier. When she got a little older I would put her down for nap in her crib. I made it work

I would definitely recommend opening before you have kids. Get a feel for the business to see if it is for you. I had no intention of opening one and planned to go back to my high paying job but alas I couldn't leave my child to go look after other peoples kids, I also know what daycare life is like and didn't want that for my child. Parents are by far the hardest thing about this job. If kids didn't come with parents I would stay in this business but unfortunately it is very hard to find good parents. When my child goes off to school I will be going back to work outside of the home. It can be very lonely and monotonous and besides this forum I have very few colleagues. It was hard to leave my professional colleagues and their expertise behind at my old job. Not too many are educated in this field of work. Of course as a nanny you may have already experienced some of this.

Anyway tis has been my experience! good luck

[nannyde]

I opened seven years before my son was born but I adopted so I can't tell you about the pregnancy. I wouldn't work with family.

It is a very good experience to learn the business without having your own kid. Just be prepared to loose a lot of kids when you have your kid. I lost half the kids in my daycare when my son was born but was rebuilt within a year.

A lot of parents want providers who don't have their own kids and they are hard to find so charge a premium.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

I quit my public-school teaching job to open my family child care before having children. I knew I wanted to be home with our children, so I wanted to be set up so that I could. I'd recommend doing it that way, because it meant I could do all the prep work, manage both jobs (teaching plus setting up for my upcoming program), and work out all the kinks before our daughter was born.

I can't give advice on working while pregnant, though--I didn't (my daughter's not mine by birth). I took a month's (unpaid) maternity leave to focus on her completely. I lost one family over that, though they knew before enrollment that that was the plan, but it was well worth it. I did let everyone know our plans as they enrolled.

I took babies until my daughter was born, but after that, I didn't take anyone younger than she until she was 3. It gave her the time to be my "baby" without vying for attention from a needier infant who wasn't even a sibling. That worked for us, though of course you may feel differently.

[ChelseaB]

Ahh completely different perspective here -- I do not and cannot have children lovethis I started because 1 - I do love kids; 2 - jobs are scarce where I live, and if I didn't want to work a crazy schedule and never see my husband, starting my own business was necessary. It's a passion I've carried with me my entire life, so I pursued it once I had the opportunity.

It's both the most challenging and most rewarding job I've ever had. There is no way I could ever work under anyone else. I love being my own boss and building relationships with my families.

Short version.