Losing Income Because of the Girl/Boy Ratio

[Unregistered]

No issues with wrestling and play fighting here with the 5 boys I have.

Agreed. I have mostly boys now and no issues. Some of my dcgs can be much worse than the boys!

[Blackcat31]

I only have boys. And since doing daycare for the last few years, I have literally only had one girl. Honestly, I've never even thought about the girl/boy ratio or it being difficult to find another child to fill a spot. If the family is a good fit, that's all I care about! I don't see why it would matter

I agree! I've never thought about gender as a deciding factor when enrolling but if I had to choose, I'd rather have a dozen boys than a group of girls.

The drama girls bring is so above my pay grade
The physical element the boys bring is so much more manageable.

(generally speaking)

[Play Care]

See, I don't view one gender as better or worse than another.

But I do see the value in BALANCE.

With the gender neutral trend in parenting I find that issues that were once "girl" issues and "boy" issues have transcended genders. Girls are just as likely to be loud and play fight and boys can be just as dramatic and verbally aggressive as girls.

In general though I do find having an even number of boys and girls to be ideal for me.

[knoxmomof2]

Haha! I've joked to my DD that I would prefer an all-girls group.

Right now, my dc is all girls, except when my 8 yo dcb comes during days off from school. I really love my group now and have kidded with dcms who get pregnant that they cannot have a boy.

[knoxmomof2]

I currently have 2 girls, 1 boy. My max is 4, so I'm trying to fill that last spot. The child in it previously was a boy (older stepbrother of the 1 boy I have left). He left me for Preschool after the parents took forever to come to an agreement on which school - they're split, so everything is a fight. By the time they found a place, he was just too much behavior-wise and I just needed him gone. I didn't care about notice.

So... Between my own boy (13) and these two boys, I'm kind of jaded in that regard 😕 I wouldn't turn someone away based solely on gender, but I would definitely prefer at least 50% girls. I have a good lead (a referral) on a baby boy, so I'll probably end up with 2/2 if all goes well. I like the parents so far.

[Leigh]

I would absolutely not hold a spot based on sex. I had all boys for years, then had one girl for 2 years with the rest boys. Now, I do have more girls, but am still weighted toward boys. I agree that I'd rather take boys, I find them so much easier, but I don't turn away either sex. I get my spots filled-that's all that matters.

[laundrymom]

I worry more about parent personality than gender. Lol.

[Mike]

I won't have any preference when the time comes, mostly.

I agree! I've never thought about gender as a deciding factor when enrolling but if I had to choose, I'd rather have a dozen boys than a group of girls.

The drama girls bring is so above my pay grade
The physical element the boys bring is so much more manageable.

(generally speaking)

I'm opposite you, probably because I take after my father, but not as bad. We all knew he preferred our little sister over myself and my brother. Could be just because she was the baby of the family, but he had a definite bias toward her. Arguments or fights, it was always the boys fault. Choices, always our sister first. It was so bad that he would send one or both of us to our room, and our mother would then send our sister to her room, (takes 2 to fight), then we'd hear mom and dad fighting.

The first 2 families I babysat for were mostly girls. 4 girls in one and 2g and 1b in the other, so I had an excuse to have fun doing pretend baking and playing with dolls. ::

See, I don't view one gender as better or worse than another.

But I do see the value in BALANCE.

With the gender neutral trend in parenting I find that issues that were once "girl" issues and "boy" issues have transcended genders. Girls are just as likely to be loud and play fight and boys can be just as dramatic and verbally aggressive as girls.

In general though I do find having an even number of boys and girls to be ideal for me.

If I had to choose between boys or girls, I would choose girls, but my preference would be a nice balance.

What should OP do? Take whoever fits best, boy or girl. The limit where I will be opening is 5. If I had 4 of one gender, it still wouldn't affect my choice for the last spot.

[MunchkinWrangler]

Yeah, I have never considered enrollment based on gender....

I have wished for more boys but have always had girls for enrollment and my son was the only boy.

I would assume this would be considered discrimination.

[Blackcat31]

I won't have any preference when the time comes, mostly.



I'm opposite you, probably because I take after my father, but not as bad. We all knew he preferred our little sister over myself and my brother. Could be just because she was the baby of the family, but he had a definite bias toward her. Arguments or fights, it was always the boys fault. Choices, always our sister first. It was so bad that he would send one or both of us to our room, and our mother would then send our sister to her room, (takes 2 to fight), then we'd hear mom and dad fighting.

The first 2 families I babysat for were mostly girls. 4 girls in one and 2g and 1b in the other, so I had an excuse to have fun doing pretend baking and playing with dolls. ::



If I had to choose between boys or girls, I would choose girls, but my preference would be a nice balance.

What should OP do? Take whoever fits best, boy or girl. The limit where I will be opening is 5. If I had 4 of one gender, it still wouldn't affect my choice for the last spot.

I agree with Playcare about BALANCE

I've had both genders be rough, dramatic, easy-going, and/or difficult.

I think your (caregiver) temperament and dominant traits directly affect which behaviors or temperaments you relate to or manage better. Generally speaking of course.

[Orange2001]

I have 5 kids right now as a Lealy License Exempt Provider and have 4 girls (2, 10 month olds, 1 19 month old, 1 4yo) to 1 boy (2y 4m). I have a good mix of toys probably boy heavy actully cause my sister has a 2 yo boy and sends me all his stuff. And my 4 yo goes to K5 next Aug so I won't have openings till then unless I finish my licenses and I'm still on the fence on if I want to or not ...

[KiwiKids]

I always seem to end up with girls. I've only had 3 boys in 11 years! I don't pursue girls... I'd rather have a mix but I don't seem to get as many boys.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

I have had the whole mix- all boys, mostly girls, a mix. I have a mix right now. What I find more important is the right mix of ages
I usually look at my group and say I need a_________. 2 yr old or an infant. Not I need to balance my boys and girls. Right now I have a nice match up of ages so that they play nicely together.

[thrivingchildcarecom]

I have a colleague that faces this issue regularly. Actually, I think we all do. I have looked up and realized that I have mostly boys now with only 2 girls. It happens and then it flips and there will be more girls than boys. The simple fact is for many of us this is simply out of our control. We decide to enroll the children that come to our child cares. We never know who is coming it could be girls or boys, we just never know.

My suggestion would be to fill that spot. Even if its another girl. If prospective parents have an issue with the ratio, I would point out that it changes all the time. While there may be more of one sex than the other, it is an opportunity for the child to get along better with that other sex.

Hope that made sense.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I have one boy and the rest are girls. I choose whomever is the best fit, regardless of gender.

I choose like this, too. My group has cycled and I've only ever had ONE parent who cared. They're enrolled 2 days a week.