[my2guats]

We were told long ago that there really aren't any kids ages 0-3 that come into care. but everything i'm reading shows that there are a lot of infants that come into care. i'm confused and wondering why our cw would tell us that when we told her our age range was 0-3. we moved it to 0-6 but i'm not sure i'm really comfortable with that. we are hoping to foster/adopt a sibling group of young children but feel like maybe there are none out there. maybe it just depends on where you live?

[ATXMOM]

They told us that too, but I told them that I had a three year old son and I was not going to take kids over 3. The day after we were approved to be foster parents they placed us with twin new born boys! We had actually missed a call the day before where we were going to get two siblings one was 2 and one was 3. I talked to a foster parent friend of mine who told me she would have gotten my twins if she wouldn't have except a baby boy earlier in the day. She only takes babies and as soon as one leaves their is another one on the way to her house.

[Mystik]

Yeah, we were told the same thing. Honestly I think they must be required to say that because there really seems to be more foster parents willing to take the little ones as opposed to the older children who in turn they have a harder time finding placements for. So I think they tell everyone that to try to make us open to the older ones too, but you just have to stick to your guns about what you know you're willing and capable of handling and it'll work out. It does tend to vary by location and how many foster parents in that location are wanting the exact same thing, but there will always be infants coming into care anywhere just some places more than others, so if your in a place that truly doesn't see them come into care often then your wait just might be a bit longer then those of us who see them all the time. Only you know what you are capable of dealing with and if your not comfortable accepting children over 2 then that is perfectly alright.

[daveandmina]

Perhaps it's your location that does not have many babies that come into care. Not that I believe NO babies are available, just not many. And the list of people who want them is many more.
But I live in So. CA and there are many, many babies that require care. ESH, foster, adoptive (though they are all foster first and foremost of course).
I think patience and your willingness to accept the "not so cut and dry" cases will increase your chances of being placed with a baby.
We decided to accept level 5 children as a concurrent family. Here that means that at the time of placement the workers have not ruled out any family and pretty much only have an inkling that the child will be adoptable. Thankfully, it looks like our FS will be going to TPR in July as all family is MIA.

[fostermomintx]

In over 3 years of foster parenting (my age range is 0-5) I've had 11 kids and none of them have been more than 2 years old. I've had 7 infants (under 1 year old) and 4 toddlers. The oldest I've ever been offered was a 4-year-old and I turned him down for a few reasons. Other than that, I've had mostly infants. My current baby has been with me since she was 6 weeks old.

I remember in my classes being told that most kids who came into care were older but there were some babies. I think they do try to encourage you to take older kids. Just stand your ground when they call. If a situation doesn't sound right then turn it down, they will call you again.

[Kat-L]

Originally Posted by my2guats

We were told long ago that there really aren't any kids ages 0-3 that come into care. but everything i'm reading shows that there are a lot of infants that come into care. i'm confused and wondering why our cw would tell us that when we told her our age range was 0-3. we moved it to 0-6 but i'm not sure i'm really comfortable with that. we are hoping to foster/adopt a sibling group of young children but feel like maybe there are none out there. maybe it just depends on where you live?

I have a 20 month old foster daughter who has a 5 month old brother (who may be coming to live with me as well). I also have a 15 month old foster son. Although my preferred age was originally 2 to 6 years, I mostly get calls for infants. I'm in Maryland.

[crystalp]

We aren't licensed yet, but we have been told the same thing over and over again. We have decided to still only go for infants, and see what comes of it. We feel like, maybe later we can take a young sibling group, but not for about another year. You can only do what you feel is best for your family.

[mommytoEli]

i just posted on another thread asking this same question. we were also told there were no infants. i've had 2 in my home...and said no more times than i can count. i'm waiting for my son's biosibling to move in, he is just a few months old. and it seems like everytime i call i hear that it is "raining infants." lol. huh....sure seems like they ALWAYS have babies. i think it is just harder to place older kids, so the more people they can talk into accepting the older children, the better.

[KT08]

When I went thru training two years ago, the trainers were very firm that we should not even sign up to be foster parents unless we were willing to accept a child of any age. Once we were licensed however, our licensing worker asked us our preference. We've had two placements, both infants. One is still with us (I hope for forever.) My cw said: if you're willing to wait (for a baby), I'm willing to wait.

I'd say: don't believe there are no babies.

[MariahC]

There will be a baby available for you, it just might take a little while before you are matched with your child.
Personally I don't care for the teething, diapering, 2 am feeding thing so I've always adopted/fostered older children, but if you feel that a very young child is what you are capable of handling then don't let yourself be talked into accepting an older one that you aren't ready for.

[Withay]

If there are no infants coming into care, then could someone please explain to me where my 100+ foster babies in the last 6 years have come from.

[blubutterflies03]

YES, there ARE babies....seems like in bigger city's perhaps more than in smaller cities. When I did foster care a decade ago....they said it was very hard to get a baby or toddler. When I did foster care this time, they were really pushing people to foster older children. When we fostered the first time, we said ages 10 and under. We got an 11 year older and we adopted her when she was 13. now we are fostering and our first case was a brand new baby. Granted, he was born with drugs in his system, but he is a wonderful baby boy. Make sure like everybody said to stick to your age, cuz you will soften up and want to say yes. They will call you about older kids, even if you state your preference. I know cuz I have been thru that twicE!

[Scrapsathome]

I asked my CW last week what the odds were of getting a new placement any time soon. Our preferred age range is 1-8 years, quite a wide range really. She said that there are about 4 infant boys they are trying to find homes for right now. We're just not sure if we're up to having an infant sharing a room with my 20 month old son at this time. We're thinking about it, though. Since day one of being licensed they've been telling us how many infants they keep trying to find placements for.

If you're willing to go through a few heartaches of potentionally not getting to keep a few, you may find that "legal risk" may be a faster way to end up with a newborn than getting in line with all the other parents who are only looking for a baby that is legally free and clear. Not to mention it's less expensive.

Jess

[OakShannon]

We were also told that there were not many babies available. We gave our age range as 0-5 and up to 2 siblings, but we wanted children who looked like they were a low legal risk for r/u. We were called 4 times in the last 7 months. Two calls were about infants (including the one we will be picking up on Friday!!) one 2 year old and one 4 year old. Interestingly enough, we never got a call for sibs.

One note - my agency said that my partner and I were the only ones they submitted for the baby who is being placed with us because all of their other families are waiting for girls. (We are going through an FFA.) Another time they told us we were their only family open to a "full AA child." All of the children they have called us about were African American boys. So what you are open to might make a difference.

Our new FS is not from the (very large) city I live in, but from several hours away in an agricultural part of the state. They have many more babies in foster care now because of the Meth epidemic and they do not have enough foster homes. So they have started placing babies in the cities in cases where mom does not have visits and the distance is not a barrier to r/u. This is not the reason my fs is in foster care, but right now they said it is the most common reason.

[Mommytinkerbell]

We've had 10 babies under 6 months of age, most were newborn, in almost 7 years. None went back to parents, half to relative and half to adoption. Had several toddlers too, two went to one non-offending parent, rest to adoption. There ARE always going to be babies and lots of people won't take them because babies are time consuming and hard sometimes, esp. sick ones. And you might not know they are sick when they come, we've had failure to thrive, all types of drug withdrawals, breathing problems in most of them, but my own two newborns we eventually adopted used a nebulizer too, and had some sicknesses but withdrawals were minimal and we got thru it all and it was sooooo worth it. Most of these babies with drug exposure have few problems if any. My two kids have no problems, no behavioral ones or learning ones. My son makes good grades, even got Outstanding Behavior in his PRE K class. Not many of those go out! LOL. Stand your ground. State the ages you want, even if it's newborn. We do. Be willing to take drug exposed. Most newborns come that way. Don't be afraid just educated yourself on it. We just wait for one, never takes long. Good luck!!