Should I Offer Full Time Daycare Only??

[Unregistered]

Hello, I'm going to be opening an in home daycare here in CA and was wondering if any providers offer full time care ONLY? I was going to do full & part time care, but have heard from another provider that she only offers Full time and suggested I do the same. I would like to see if there are others who do the same and how it works for you. Also anyone who does full & part time as well and how you manage filling spots. Thanking in advance 💗👍

[Michael]

Welcome to the forum. Suggest you register to take full advantage of this forum. Here are some threads regarding Full-time vs Part-time care:

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=full+time+vs+part+time

[Cat Herder]

I only offer full-time.

• Tuition is not based on attendance, they may attend as many or as few days as they like per week.
  
• Payment is due by Monday, via auto-pay online, in advance for the week.
  
• Drop-off cut off time is 9:00 am to minimize disruptions to our curriculum and mealtime schedules.

It simplified my life and the classroom environment has flourished. It is calm, peaceful and harmonious with a steady routine.

[Unregistered]

Thank you! Sounds like a great idea, I'll be looking to enroll full time families.

[storybookending]

I started as both and I’m slowly filtering to FT only. I currently have one PT left on a Tu-Fri schedule but he has two years yet. I have an offer from one of my SILs to take my nephew on Mondays to fill that space and give grandma a break. I’m considering it, I had him as a drop in most of July and all of August but now that I’ll have two infants I’ll have to wait until he turns 2 in a few months. Still thinking about it. I love him and had no issues as a temp child but he adds an extra hour to my work day, even if it is only for one day..

[Jo123ABC]

I started with both also and I disliked pt for a few reasons:

-Parents switching days or adding days last minute... Especially if I closed for a day. Ft parents paid for my paid days off. Pt parents would try to switch days so they wouldn't have to pay for paid days off.

-kids would have trouble with nap and my schedule because parents didn't keep them on a schedule on the days they weren't here. Especially infants.

-scheduling to meet my financial needs with pt was no fun... Especially since I had ft options but committed to the pt families.

The first pt family I ended up offering ft or they would possibly lose their spot if I found ft. They took the risk and lost their spot. I gave a discount for a family that didn't want Friday care. They kept adding it on and switching days which annoyed me so I told them pay ft and come if you want or don't but I'll be paid regardless. They paid.

I would consider doing pt again IF I got Fridays or Mondays off. 4 days of pt for a 3 day weekend might be worth it but I haven't tried so don't know for sure!

I have pt rates included in my policy book as an option still because if I need to fill and pt is all I have to fill I would BUT I would make it clear that ft is preferred and I would be looking to fill ft so they could enroll but they'd be risking their spot if a ft family came along.