Do You Supply...

[Unregistered]

How does it work with the food program if you don't supply formula?

I supply pretty much everything. I buy diapers with a coupon or sale, stock up when I can. Sometimes I even buy generic diapers. I supply all diaper changing supplies, children motrin, baby cereal and baby food ( i make my own usually) and of course, meals. I am on the food program. It dosent pay for diapers and stuff but with smart shopping, coupons and home cooking, I never spend all of what is granted, on just food. Gotta love the dollar stores and bargain bins! I also use my tax ID to be a member of the local restaurant distributer depot and buy in bulk at wholesale AND I have a garden! I have a pile of old clothes from Good Will plus I accept hand me downs from everyone. I dont supply formula. My contract states I do supply these thing but the brands are at my discretion. If you prefer a paticular brand or do not approve of generic products, then you must supply it yourself.
I do this for 2 reasons. One is, I find it easier. I try to avoid the BS and aggravation. Forever reminding them to bring wipes, clothes to change into, diaper supplies...nag nag nag. I keep it simple. I even charge a flat rate for the day. You have all day, the whole day and it avoids adding hours up and late fees. The other reason I do this is because it justifies me to charge little MORE, not less. Quality care, drop off your child and go. Easy breezy.
I am not opened 24 hours but I do offer extended hours, weekend care, overnight care and drop in care, when available and at my convienience. I charge hourly. Everytime I offer, someone takes me up on it. If asked, I often say yes but not afraid to say no. I must be paid on the day of service. Its a nice bonus
I have 4 full timers and 1 part time and a couple of drop ins. Ive been doing this for years.

I am just curious because a lady I know in my state was cited for this as major violation. Formula is really expensive and if there is a loop hole I would love hear about it.

[Unregistered]

I supply diapers, wipes, diaper cream, sun screen, and even tylonol/motrin . I also open 1/2 hour earlier than most providers in my area and stay open longer. I don't charge for a set amount of hours per day. Your kid could be here 6-6:30 and pay the same as the kid who left at 3. I don't charge enrollment or deposit fees either. I let them take free vacation if I get at least 2 weeks notice as well. I also don't charge late fees for late pick ups if they call. I cover all meals and I have been known to purchase clothes for some of my DC kids. Normally though they just bring 2-3 outfits and I keep them washed and rotated as needed. I do all this at a rate that is $20-$40 less for infants in my area and $10-20 less for older children.

I have been really fortunate and picky with the clients I take. I have yet to have a parent abuse any privilege or take for granted my extras. I have been doing this for nearly 20 years

[CdnMumof4]

WOWZA!!! that's insane....if I provided that stuff you better believe my rate would represent that, it wouldn't be cheaper than the rest. is this for real?

in the summer the parents all provide sunscreen- but we all share. I also use my own sunscreen, it basically depends on which bottle is closest at hand.

I would be skeptical of the type of care these daycares are offering- esp. 24hrs and only 12.50 a day? ...where's the catch ?

[nannyde]

I thought you HAD to provide formula if you were on the FP?

Mine fp is that you have to offer A formula. I offer Kirkland formula and no one ever takes me up on it. I've never supplied formula for an infant.

[sharlan]

I provide lots of hugs and kisses and a safe environment. I do not provide infant formula, baby food, diapers, or wipes. I ask my parents to provide an extra can of formula when the can in use is 1/2 full. I keep an extra supply of food, diapers and wipes, just in case.

I provide sunscreen, rash cream, and items like that.

[kathiemarie]

I couldn't stop laughing ::

But sadly it's true. I've been trying to raise my rates for a bit now from $155 to $160 per week for full time to new clients and I'm having a hard time of it. Most people around here are charging $155 or even $150 per week and offering all kinds of crazy extras like preschool program and 24 hour care.

It's hard to compete with that. These aren't your newbies either. These are providers that have been around the block and back. I know a provider that has been in business for 25 years and always had a waitinglist (large daycare home) and only has 6 DC kids. Everyone now wants more daycare for less money and it's the licensed providers that are offering everythin including the kitchen sink that makes it difficult. But hey, everybody has to pay their bills somehow.

I'm in the same town as you and I charge 170 to 180 full time and 125 afterschool. I get it and I'm full.

[MarinaVanessa]

I'm in the same town as you and I charge 170 to 180 full time and 125 afterschool. I get it and I'm full.

Lucky you! I FEEL like I already charge way too low which is why I'm trying to raise my rates. It seems like people will call from the R&R and sound really interested until they come to the interview and ask about price. I'm at the point where when I make an ad on CL I post my rate right on there so that there are no surprises and I still get people trying to negotiate on the price. The good thing is that Im on no hurry to fill my spot. If they don't like my rate there's plenty of other places they can go.

Kathiemarie what area are you in? Maybe I've met you?

[DEBBIES DAYCARE]

I am just curious because a lady I know in my state was cited for this as major violation. Formula is really expensive and if there is a loop hole I would love hear about it.

no loop hole, except I would offer generic and the parents usually want a paticular brand. I state in my contract, paticular brands are not offered. My infant before that was breast fed. Shes my toddler now.

[MarinaVanessa]

Mine fp is that you have to offer A formula. I offer Kirkland formula and no one ever takes me up on it. I've never supplied formula for an infant.

Not to hijack but Nan where do you purchase your shoes? And what are the shoes called? (I know they're Keds but do they have a model name?). I've been thinking about supplying the shoes as well. I'm tired of tying laces over and over. I was looking online for Velcro unisex shoes. White preferably like you have. Do they only go to a size 8-8 1/2? I was hoping for Velcro shoes all the way up to my 4yo.

[nannyde]

Not to hijack but Nan where do you purchase your shoes? And what are the shoes called? (I know they're Keds but do they have a model name?). I've been thinking about supplying the shoes as well. I'm tired of tying laces over and over. I was looking online for Velcro unisex shoes. White preferably like you have. Do they only go to a size 8-8 1/2? I was hoping for Velcro shoes all the way up to my 4yo.

http://www.keds.com/store/SiteController/keds/productdetails?catId=cat610199&productId=5-168234&skuId=***5********KT32296*M045&stockNumber=KT32296&showDefaultOption=true

They go up to ten in whole sizes only. I bought mine from sears.com They were on sale with free shipping. I can't remember now the exact amount per shoe but I'm thinking in the low twenties.

I bought two pairs of each shoe from size six to ten and then bought from their sale shoes one pair in size eleven and twelve that had velcro closures. They are not as nice as the Keds but they will do. My four year old is in size twelve now. I'll be buying some size one and two here soon just to top off the stock.

The Keds are AWESOME. They are really worth it.

[momma4many]

http://www.keds.com/store/SiteContro...ultOption=true

They go up to ten in whole sizes only. I bought mine from sears.com They were on sale with free shipping. I can't remember now the exact amount per shoe but I'm thinking in the low twenties.

I bought two pairs of each shoe from size six to ten and then bought from their sale shoes one pair in size eleven and twelve that had velcro closures. They are not as nice as the Keds but they will do. My four year old is in size twelve now. I'll be buying some size one and two here soon just to top off the stock.

The Keds are AWESOME. They are really worth it.

Just curious Nan, but what is your reason for providing shoes? I don't know if you already said, but I was trying to decide if this is something I should look into doing in the future.

[MarinaVanessa]

The Keds are AWESOME. They are really worth it.

Thanks Nan. I'll go there. I found a few websites but none had all of the sizes that I needed at once. I want something easy to clean or wash that will last a long time and it seems these are the perfect fit. I figure that I'll start with a pair for each DC kid in a size bigger than what they are and when they outgrow them I'll put the old away and buy new ones and that will start my shoe supply. Do you think that's a good idea? With the sharing of the shoes I mean. Do you buy the shoes new for each child or pass them down as the get outgrown?

[nannyde]

Thanks Nan. I'll go there. I found a few websites but none had all of the sizes that I needed at once. I want something easy to clean or wash that will last a long time and it seems these are the perfect fit. I figure that I'll start with a pair for each DC kid in a size bigger than what they are and when they outgrow them I'll put the old away and buy new ones and that will start my shoe supply. Do you think that's a good idea? With the sharing of the shoes I mean. Do you buy the shoes new for each child or pass them down as the get outgrown?

I have two pairs of each size so when they outgrow them they just go up to the next size. We run them through the wash on hot and then just air dry them in the sun between kids.

If they get dirty when they are outside we just wipe them off with a wet rag. We take a small pair of nail scissors to clean out the grids of the velcro. That's SUPER important to keep in good shape.

You should get many years worth of use out of them if you take care of them. I couldn't afford to just buy a pair of them for each kid in each size without raising rates. As long as they are clean between kids and in really good shape they should be able to be passed down.

Some providers feel you shouldn't provide them because each kid should have their own new shoes for every size. I have to weigh out the quality and EASE of the shoes/flip flops/sandals/crocs that the kids come in to the downside of wearing a clean pair of used high quality shoes I supply. For me, the benefit of always having them here and having them FIT and be in excellent condition far outweighs the benefit of using shoes from home.

My fave part is not ever having to have shoe/coat/gloves/snowsuit etc. convos with parents. I don't care what they bring their kid in. I have everything I need every day for every kid. They can come in cowboy boots in July or flip flops in December for all I care. I provide ALL of the outerwear and shoes so I never have to discuss it with parents.

My second fave part is the time it takes my staff to get them ready. Having everything here and having it all fit perfectly and easy on saves me SO much money. It's a big outlay to buy what I need for here but it pays itself off in staff time long before the stuff wears out.

My third fave part is that the kids wear them from when they start walking on. Same shoe style and fit all the way to four. We don't have blister problems or tripping on your shoes problems here. NO injuries because they have grown up wearing the same shoe.

[MarinaVanessa]

Awesome. Thanks Nan. That's what I was thinking about doing too. I will deffinetely be ordering some this weekend. I'm thinking of supplying shoes for the same reasons you say. I have a DCM that forgets to bring shoes sometimes. How you can forget shoes I don't know but she does it often. I also hate when their 1yo comes in with tie up shoes. Having these Keds will solve my problem. I'm working on the clothes. I have girl clothes in each size because of my daughter and now I'm working on boy clothes by saving my 7mo old's clothes. My boys DCP's donate too so I should have clothes in every size soon too. It makes it easier to just supply everything.

[Crazy8]

wow, I couldn't imagine supplying all this stuff!! First off, the clutter in my house would drive me insane (we seem to be bursting at the seams already) but I don't think my dc parents would even WANT me to provide that stuff. I have parents who are very particular about wearing certain brands of shoes, etc.

I do provide wipes and sunscreen but if they require specific brands then they need to bring them from home and I have at least 1-2 families that do.