Breakfast?

[Maddy'sMommy]

I'm drawing up my meal/snack policies and details. I am going to offer 2 snacks, and a lunch.

I plan on opening at 7:00 am, should I be offering a breakfast too? Should I offer it for an extra fee if the parents want their child to have it, or will that just cause a headache. I feel like it would just cause trouble.

[daycare]

do you guys have a food program??

[Maddy'sMommy]

no, no food program. And I don't work through an agency.

[daycare]

I think that I would do a breakfast and two snacks. Have the kids bring their own lunch. breakfast is easy.. You can serve oatmeal, grain, and fruit with milk. Lunch is much harder to do.

I am on a food program now, although I was not in the start and I used to do it all. I lost way too much $. Now I am on the food program and it all worked out, but if I had to do it again without the program, I would have done it this way....

what hours are you going to be open?

my hours are 7:45 - 6:00pm
I serve bk- 8:30
, am snack-10:30
, lunch-12:30
pm snack-3:45

[Maddy'sMommy]

That's an interesting idea. I never thought about doing it that way. We don't have a food program like that here in Ontario, at least not that I have ever heard of. I wish we did. .

I plan on being open 7:00 to 5:30, or 7:30 to 5:30.

I had planned (approx)

AM Snack 915
Lunch 1145
PM Snack 3:00

[momatheart]

I would say they can bring in their own breakfast until 7:15 if arriving after that they need to be fed.

[Rachel]

Yes, I also think with a 7am opening you need to make sure the kids can eat. How far are most of your clients going to be from you? If the kids are arriving at 7, they are probably finished eating around 6:30 and that's a long wait until snack. I would let them bring breakfast, supply it, or move morning "snack" up until 8:30. If you don't want to do breakfast I would go with snack at 8:15 or 8:30, and then lunch 3 - 3.5 hours later (assuming you are giving a filling snack).

[Abigail]

How did you decide to serve two snacks and a lunch? I would aviod having parents supply lunch because that becomes a hassel and most will be unhealthy or just a soda--which would obviously keep them awake for nap time NOT helping you any. The kids might want what the other child is eating and you'll wish all along you would have created a menu yourself.

I would offer breakfast until 8:30 am or whatever time you find reasonable to serve breakfast 8-8:30 or even earlier. If you serve it around this time you wouldn't necessarily need a snack time if you serve lunch at 11:30-noon or close to that time frame. Nap time comes next and when they wake at 3 pm to have a snack.

I would suggest you review your rates and just work it into your rates because food is a necessity and it's not uncommon to include it into your rates.

[Meyou]

My kids are allowed to bring breakfast to eat at the table if they arrive before 8am. I don't have time to feed kids trickling in each morning when I'm busy trying to hustle my own two out the door dressed with everything they need. Quite a challenge with my 7 year old most days.

[DBug]

I have breakfast available til 7:45, snack at 9:45 and lunch at 11:45, and then two more snacks at 3 and 5. I've got mostly toddlers and they get cranky if I don't feed them every couple of hours.

Also, it is a big advantage for parents if you offer breakfast. They have less to worry about when they're hustling everyone out the door in the morning.

As far as charging for it, I just work it into the fees regardless of whether they're here for it or not. That way you're paid for it, but there's less math involved . And if anything, you'll make money on it for kids that don't show up til later on in the morning.

[daysofelijah]

We do a late breakfast at 8:30. Then lunch around 11:30-12, a snack at 3:15. I don't do morning snack, because then the kids wouldn't eat their lunch. My really early arrivals (6:30) eat a little early morning snack from home on the way here in the car and are fine until breakfast.

[Maddy'sMommy]

Thanks for the input everyone, that's what I like about this board. Planning this all out on my own would be much harder, and much less fun.

I think I am going to move my "AM Snack" up to 8:30, then lunch at 11:30, then last snack at 3:30ish. That should work with out day, and be evenly spaced out enough that the kids are hungry when it's time to eat, but they aren't starving.

[SilverSabre25]

Another option would be to offer only cold cereal, milk, and a simple fruit (banana, apple, whatever effortless fruit is in-season), and let parents know that you prefer the children to be fed before arriving, which is why breakfast is so simple and the same everyday.

[nannyde]

If you don't do breakfast at all you may have parents who just want the a.m. snack to be breakfast. They may not feed breakfast at home because they know you will give them "snack" a couple of hours after arrival.

If you allow them to bring it you may find a lot of junk food and upset between the kids for what the others have.

I did a few years of no breakfast and I loved it. I had to do NO breakfast tho... that meant:

I do not serve, supervise, or clean up breakfast. Please make sure your child is COMPLETELY done with breakfast before entering my home. This includes eating and cleaning the child up BEFORE coming to day care.

It was HEAVEN for a few years but it didn't ultimately serve the Nan Plan so I went back to doing it. It's a little money on our food program but them having the healthy hot meal in the morning pays forward for good behavior, good sleep, and great lunch eaters.

[Maddy'sMommy]

That was my worry, that some kids would come without having eaten anything, and then I will end up making breakfast anyways, or end up dealing with crankapopotamus’

damned if you do, and damned if you don't.