What's Your Limit?

[Meeko]

I'm licensed for 16 (four babies) but have an assistant. I can only legally tend 8 by myself (with only two babies under 2 years)

[TBird]

I'm licensed for 16 (four babies) but have an assistant. I can only legally tend 8 by myself (with only two babies under 2 years)

Me too...8 by myself and that's comfortable for me. I'm gonna go group soon though so me and an assistant can rock it out though!!!::

[newtodaycare22]

I can have 8 kids, two under the age of 2. I only take ages 3-5 and my personal (regular, full time) max is 6. As someone else said, I've had 7 before and it was ok because of the combo of kids. Some days I've had 4 and gone nuts though.

[blueclouds29]

Wow, I feel like a failure. Just kidding. I prefer only four and that includes my own preschooler. Somehow when I have that many it just 'works'. Having 5, 6 or 7 is doable, just not my preference.

I'm with you! I have 4 altogether including mine which is 2 and she's the oldest. In Jan i'll be getting a newborn (bro/sis to one of the babies i have) and i'm planning on getting pregnant soon! So with that, that's enough for me!!

[MN Day Mom]

Depending on my Infant/Toddler enrollment I can have 1-12 kids by myself. Currently I am running at 8, that said in the past my numbers mostly ran at 10 to 12 full timers. Sometimes more is easier for me

[momma2girls]

I can have 5 children, but I usually always run 3-4 children. It is nice to only have this many.

[cheerfuldom]

It also depends on the ages. I can have four plus my own 3. I feel comfortable with 7 but prefer 5 or 6. I have everyone on a routine and I am very particular about the families I take because most of the kids are under 2 so everyone has to get along, nap, minimal crying, etc. One rowdy little monster can send the whole group into a tailspin.

[boysx5]

we can only have two under two and only eight at one time I have six and that is enough for me but will have 7 over the summer I think anymore than that is a hand full

[Ariana]

If I was responsible for making lunch, bathrooming etc there would be no way I'd be comfortable with what they're asking of you. I'd definately say "no way"!! I can't even believe thats legal!

[Missani]

I have 8 (all under SA) and I am comfortable with that. In the fall, I have an assistant starting 3 days/week and we will likely run 10 on those days. I think it's perfect. Enough to have a routine, but not too many to handle at once. I do have a young group right now, though. I have 2 4-year olds and the other 6 are of the 2-and under crowd. I do have several 2-year olds, though, so they aren't all babies or anything. There are times they "keep me hopping" but I like it that way.

[logged out]

Our ratio is 10:1 as well. I definatley prefer having 6 to 8. At 8, I start to feel a bit over run. At 10, I am stressed all day. Like you, I have a couple of days a week throughout the summer that I will have 10 kids. I just keep in mind that it's only for a few months. If it was everyday, my husband would probably leave me by the end of the summer! 6 is a very comfortable group for me, but I have so many part timers that I have the higher numbers occasionally.

That's a good way of describing the feeling: "over run".
I'm very comfortable with 6, and 8 is okay, depending on the ages and behavior, but we have a rowdy group, and a couple VERY stubborn two yr olds in the middle of potty training. Plus the school agers are new this summer (have only been here for a week so far, and some of them are pretty sneaky) and we have a new 3 yr old still trying to get adjusted to not being with her mom all day. So with our group, 10 seems like quite a few to me. Someone asked why I'm being forced to do it. It's not "forced" really, just the owner saying she wants a day off each week and did I want her to take off this day or that one each week.

The way our building is set up, it's pretty much impossible for one person to keep an eye on all of them at once, but I don't want to say anything to her because I'm afraid she'll wish she had someone else working for her that wouldn't mind taking care of 10 kids. Neither of us is ever alone with 10 kids except for a few minutes at a time, or an hour at the most, but now I'll be taking on 10 all day.

We have a nice schedule, but summer times are more flexible, with more free time (and our materials and toys are geared for preschool, so they get boring to the 6 and 7 yr olds pretty quick, as you can imagine).
Anyone have any ideas on what kind of group activities I can incorporate into the schedule? After suggestions of "planning ahead" I'm looking for specific details that could involve even the 2 yr olds.

[Abigail]

I have to say you're going beyond what I could do! I can not mix school age with young ones. We have a 7 year old visit us once in awhile who use to come to our daycare until school started and he just runs the group wild! He needs more redirection that the littles. If you have an even number of big and little kids, you can encorporate a "buddy system" into part of the day where you assign a school age to a toddler and create crafts together or art....make the school age child feel like a "helper" or "assistant". You could also start doing a daily tasks chart to help keep the school age kids out of trouble due to boredom. Have someone be your book assistant (picks out reading book and brings it to you and puts it away), have someone be your lunch assistant (may pour the milk or set out the plates, etc).

Try to write out what your whole day schedule would be for what the school age kids and doing at the same time the young kids are doing something and also write down the transitions to help the day go smoothly.