Numbers/Ratio

[SimpleMom]

i have two one yr olds, a three yr old and 4 yr old ft...a 4,5,2,and 6 yr old pt. a baby to start in the summer ft (3m). my numbers are in ratio according to the state regs, but do you think having a baby with two one yr olds would be difficult? during the summer one one yr old will only be pt.
does anyone else consider an infant to ber 6wks -1yr or do you wait til rhey are 2yr before calling them a toddler?

oh yaeh, i also have a three yr old starting in fall or spring and two going into kindergarten in the fall.

[marniewon]

In our regs, 0-18mos is considered an infant. When they say we can only have 2 infants, we can only have 2 under 18mos.

[Abigail]

Our infants are under 24 months for home daycares. I don't call the ones over a year an infant, they're babies I guess. We always tell the older kids "be nice to the babies" because they can all walk around with each other.

I work at a center right now and infants are under 18 months in the center instead of 24 months. I had two who were almost two, one who was just over a year, and a young infant. It works very well because the older three would listen when you told them something and they would follow each other's lead, . I was certainly in heaven when I told one to lay back down and the other two listened as well while I fed the young infant. I love my job.

I don't think it would be a problem at all to have the three month old even though you have others under your "infant" stage. I think it's harder with the older children anways. I love infants.

[ninosqueridos]

Your group this summer will be almost exactly like mine last summer. Baby was 4mo, 2 one year olds, and three kids age 2-3. The only challenge was getting outside and keeping everyone happy outside.

I had an easy-going baby, but for me it was hard to keep the baby entertained with 2 "early" walkers who still were getting used to falling in the grass, playing with sand without eating it, falling on the concrete and needing bandaids, keeping bugs away from everyone, etc.

I pretty much limited our outdoor times to when the baby was sleeping, but when the baby would unexpectedly wake up, I had wash everyone up quickly after rushing them back into the house. Then I'd end up with crabby toddlers who wanted to stay outside and now they were back inside. I think now that everyone can run and sleeps at the same time, outside will be much easier to handle.

If I had to do it over again, I would. Perhaps I just needed to get better at going out.

[Blackcat31]

In MN:
Infants are NB-12 mos
Toddlers 12 mos-2 yrs
Preschool 2 yr-4mos PRIOR to Kindergarten age.

[MN Day Mom]

I have...

One Infant (7 months)
Two 1 year olds
Two 2 year olds
One 4 year old
Two 5 year olds

Getting outside in the winter is more of a challenge for me than in the summer... looking forward to warm sunny days again.