Charging More For Infants

[Ann B.]

Hi Everyone!
Just sent this post in another forum but just realized I had to post on new members first. I really need opinions here please! I have been doing daycare for about 5 years and have always charged the same amount regardless of the child's age. Now I feel that I need to begin charging more for infants under the age of 18 months. I realized they are so much more work and now feel that I have been undercharging all these years. What is your opinion on this subject. I really need help in this. Thank you! Looking for all the replies!

[Blackcat31]

Welcome to the forum!

Your status has been upgraded so you can post freely now

[mema]

I started off charging more for infants and less for SA, but then realized that SA is just as spendy and went to a flat rate regardless of age. Infants require more hands on work, but preschool and SA require more "stuff" (toys, crafts, etc).

[winkiedee]

Hi Everyone!
Just sent this post in another forum but just realized I had to post on new members first. I really need opinions here please! I have been doing daycare for about 5 years and have always charged the same amount regardless of the child's age. Now I feel that I need to begin charging more for infants under the age of 18 months. I realized they are so much more work and now feel that I have been undercharging all these years. What is your opinion on this subject. I really need help in this. Thank you! Looking for all the replies!

Hi i have been open almost 5 yrs and licensed for 112 kids, i just went up on my infants and its due to the ratio, i charge 125 and go down to 105 when they turn 1 and 95 when potty trained

[Michael]

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=infant+-+rates

[dEHmom]

Hi Everyone!
Just sent this post in another forum but just realized I had to post on new members first. I really need opinions here please! I have been doing daycare for about 5 years and have always charged the same amount regardless of the child's age. Now I feel that I need to begin charging more for infants under the age of 18 months. I realized they are so much more work and now feel that I have been undercharging all these years. What is your opinion on this subject. I really need help in this. Thank you! Looking for all the replies!

Welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of advice and ideas on here.

See this is one thing I disagree with.

I find under 2 yrs of age is when they are easiest for the most part, because they don't have the ability to trash EVERYTHING up higher, They sleep for half the day, and they dont' eat as much or use as many supplies (water, craft supplies, etc).

I hate the fact that my rates drop once they turn 2. It's like taking a major pay cut. Rates are set by the government and they drop nearly 5.00 PER DAY once they turn 2. AND the grants will drop as well.

Infants cost a little more upfront because you need playpens, etc. I don't provide food so this doesn't really affect me, but I don't think it's worth the pay cut when they turn 2. I also find that they all seem to age into preschool around the same time, and when you are limited to certain amount of different ages, this is a real bummer.

For me I'm allowed 5 under 5, 3 of which can be infants. Here's my math...

Infant 20.40/day x3 kids= 612/ biweekly (1224/mth)
Preschool 16.40/day x2 kids= 328/biweekly (656/mth)

Total /mth = 1880

When all the infants turn 2 this is my income

16.40/day x 5 kids= 820/ biweekly (1640/mth)

$240 less a month, PLUS my grants drop by about $45 per kid a month. So for the 3 infants that turned 2 I'd be losing another $405 quarterly.

It's common for all the infant to turn toddler within a few months of each other. Usually about 1-3 months apart.

One of my own children falls into the preschool space, so in terms of daycare spaces, I only have 3 infant and 1 preschool space. 2 of my infants are moving into preschool right away, so I'm going to have 2 infants and 2 preschoolers, and shortly after that i'll have 3 preschoolers and 1 infant only. Which is a pretty big dip in my pay.

If you have the ability to set your own rates, I highly recommend not raising infant rates only. If anything, figure out the difference in the $, and divide that among ALL the kids. Regardless of age, raise all the rates slightly to make up for the difference you wanted for the infants.

[KDC]

I just recently decided to charge more for infants by $5/day. My infant in particular is VERY time intensive and I'm glad I decided to charge the extra $25/week. Makes it seem a little more 'worth' it, with all the trouble I've been having. They require more one on one attention, thus have a higher fee. I can't set the food in front of them, have to hold their bottle for months, rock to sleep when they're too young for CIO. It's just more work.

It's common in my area, and for infants it's more competitive so you can charge more and it's accepted. In my state you're only allowed to have so many children under 36 months, and there's a magic combination of age ranges to abide by. When taking in an infant, it could reduce the amount of children you can physically take in.

There's also the liability factor. I worry constantly about the well being of an infant with SIDS and everything else, that i watch the infant like a hawk. They are never out of my sight. I have to arrange EVERYTHING so that I can grab a wipe and still see the infant. Kids loud, yep but I can still see the infant. It's stressful and you should be compensated for it appropriately I say!

[dEHmom]

one other thing I should add, Is the normal start age for children in daycare here is around 1 yo. So these "infants" are only infants for around a year. Occassionally we may get a 6 month old, or 9 month old. usually they are just over 1yo.


So I can see how it would make more sense that they cost more when they are newborns and still bottle fed, etc.

[winkiedee]

and ratio, infants here is 5 to 1 and i need to make enough to pay my teacher