Do Any Of You Have 8 (Plus) Kids By Yourself?

[newtodaycare22]

If you do...bless you.

:: I'm licensed for 8 but I only take 6. Today, schools are closed from hurricane/power outages so I have some extra little ones, totaling 8. I'm exhausted

[Crazy8]

only when my own kids are home.... I am licensed for 5, plus I have 3 of my own. my 2 olders have been in school a few years now but on days off I end up with 8+ kids in the house. I could never handle 8 on a regular basis!!!

[laundrymom]

I have 10. Plus my 10,13, &20 yr old

[nannyde]

I am allowed to have eight by myself with no more than three being under 18 months. My own child does not count in these numbers.

I wouldn't want to do that every day. It's great money but it's a hard job. I can't imagine having ten by myself.

[Meeko]

I can have 6 by myself with no more than 3 under 3yrs.
I can have 8 by myself with no more than 2 under 2yrs.
I can have 16 with a helper and no more than 4 under 2yrs.

We are at 16 with 4 babies most of the time.

[Blackcat31]

I have 11 full timers during the school year and 12 during the summer. BY.MYSELF.

My kids range from age 12 months to 5 years old.

It is a hard job, but consistancy and routine play a huge role in the day as well as having no tolerance for any type of aggression, violence or rule "bending".

Once everyone is on the same page, our day runs like clockwork and everyone has fun! most my kids stay with me for about 4-6 years and I try to integrate only one new kid into the group at a time. (with atleast a 6 month spread between newbies.)

[AnneCordelia]

When my own kids are home I have 8. I have 4 dck and 4 children of my own. When my older two children start school next week I will only have 6 children at any one time (2 dck get picked up right after school). I have 3 12mo dcks and 1 3yo dck. I have a 11mo, 3yo, 6yo and 8yo of my own.

It's a lot of work but I find that 2dck are just as much work as 4dck...so I might as well make the $$$. I could have up to 5dck without limits to their ages but realy like my group with 4. That might change in the future and if the right child comes along I'll fill my last spot.

[MsMe]

I can have 6 by myself with no more than 3 under 3yrs.
I can have 8 by myself with no more than 2 under 2yrs.
I can have 16 with a helper and no more than 4 under 2yrs.

We are at 16 with 4 babies most of the time.

Ditto*. Most of the time when there are only 8 we have only one provider. It feels like a break

*I keep only 2 under 24 mo at any one time. Right now it is 4mo and 13mo.

[cheerfuldom]

The most I ever have here is 7. The days with 5 are super easy, 6 is doable, 7 and I am completely busy every second. I don't personally feel comfortable with 8. When I have 7, 4 are under 13 months (includes my baby) so it is busy, busy ALL day.

[VTMom]

During the summer I have 8 kids including my own 2. It's certainly a different pace then my lower volume school time! I have 4 school age kids that come just for the summer. It's a nice switch and it's nice for the kids to have different kids to play with, but I definitely look forward to school starting again towards summers end! Within this summer crew, I have just 1 in diapers (2 yr old). It would be a lot harder with a child younger than that!

[irishdancer]

Wow we are only licensed for 6 including our own kids(up to age 13). So the maximum I ever have is 6 and I feel exhausted couldn't imagine 8 or 10 by myself. Our county as of right now does not allow large family daycares but I wish they would. Would love to have more kids and pay a helper.

[DCMom]

I have 14 each day; 10 by myself for the bulk of the day with my assistant here after school and school off days.

I have 3 under two; 7 preschool (2-4 years old) and 4 school aged.

Organization and routine is the key to success in my opinion

[momofsix]

Only allowed 6 in MI. I wish we had some of your capacity limits, I could make a bunch more money!!!

[Country Kids]

I have 6 all day by myself but have 4 more before and afterschool.

Our ratio's our 10=6 preschoolers-2 may be under 2
the rest may be school age

You can have more school age but less preschool or make sure that you have staggered times.

What is funny is some of you said you wish you could have more to make more money. Reading some of your posts with the ones you have you probably make the same or more than I do. Daycare rates compared to even places in my own state are very, very low in the area I live. I couldn't even afford to hire an assistant with what I make. Plus I think another adult would be in the way with only have 6 little ones to work with. I have four of my own so its just like dealing with my own family plus two. If I had 6 of my own I wouldn't have hired an assistant.

[JaydensMommy]

I can have up to eight with two being school age. I have eight children enrolled but I usually have seven children here at once because two of them share a spot. I am in the process of getting licensed for 14 children and hiring my mom as my assistant. I can't wait to have another adult around and have help.