[mommamarci]

Have any of you ever had / worked in an in-home daycare? I have started interviewing daycares (hoping we will have a match before long and most places have a 3-6 month wait.) I am not liking what I am finding. We have very few day care centers in this area. (8 for a city of 150,000!!!) So, most people use an in home daycare. (I know they are heavily regulated by state rules, so unless you are in Indaina, you probably can't give me specifics about regulations.) My dh has suggested I consider starting my own in home daycare. I realize this would not be a money making job. I would take a paycut. However, dh is about to get a raise (keep your fingers crossed!!) so we would just need a little to supplement. Plus this would save us from having to pay for daycare for our little one. Okay so my questions:

If you have (or have worked in) a home daycare, how much does it cost to start up? How many children did you feel you needed to make it worth while and profitable? Did you have to file business taxes and how complex was that? Anything you can share?

Fo parents: Would you ever consider sending your child to an unlicensed home daycare? (In Indiana, if you have fewer than 6 kids, no license is needed. With a licesne the ratio is 10:1. Way too many kids for me!!! I would probably eventually try to become licensed, but if I did this, I would not want it to take me months to get started.) My main problems I have had with the daycares: too many kids, caregivers who smoke (they go outside, but who is watching all 10 kids while they are outside?), and field trips. I am very picky about car seats and don't want my babe transported. So, my thinking was if I started a daycare of my own, I would build it around these principles of what I was looking for. Are these important issues for others?

Okay, I am terribly sorry this is so long!! Thanks in advance for any advice / input, etc...

[Emster]

Marci--have you called 4c to find out some ins and outs of starting a quality daycare? I bet they have some resources for you. They also have a library of materials regarding the care of children that you could have access to for a small annual fee.

I felt a little weird about the 10:1 ratio of in home daycares until I went to visit my provider Julie. Boy does she have it going on! She is so organized and experienced that she makes it look easy. I would be stark raving mad. They do go on field trips at my daycare occasionally, about 2x per year. Funny, most parents take off work to go on the trip and transport their own children. I am a bad parent and have my child in daycare because I need to work, therefore do not go on the filed trips. Julie is the only transporter for him, has been well-schooled in his particular car seat, and she is the only one who deals with him. I appreciate that she does everything on the up and up, i.e. permission slips, receipts for payment, she is not only licensed, but nationally accredited, and very few others in town are, even the big fancy centers.

[kelceesmom]

I personally would not let my child go to an unlicensed daycare unless I knew the person on a personal level or maybe if I knew someone I knew was already taking their child there. Maybe. If you showed me that you were CPR and first aid certified that would help my decision some though. I would also like a trial basis where I could send my baby to you for say 1 or 2 weeks without any obligation from there if I chose not to stay. I would also see how the other children were getting along as part of my factor. I would not want my child to leave the premises either. Hope that helps. Good luck, I personally could not do it. My one little one is more than enough for me!! (Smiles)

[NJNative]

My next-door neighbor has an unlicensed day care in her home and has for years. Nearly all of the working moms have had a kid or two in Beth's care over the years. She has a regular minivan with car seats for everyone for when they go on outings.

She seems to keep the kids busy and happy. They have the yard to play in (lots of water play in the summer) and are often seen outside in the driveway having art class with chalk. Sometimes we have very colorful sidewalks as well (they learn even and odd numbers and counting by twos, threes, etc. this way).

I guess I would have to know the person REALLY well, but after seeing my neighbor handling it all, I wouldn't rule it out.

Good luck!

[ourdreamcametru]

I have had a daycare in my home for many years with the exception of a few months after Castle was born. I currently have two part-timers and three full-time infants. I am not sure how much money you are needing to make or what childcare cost are in your area but I am in Tennessee and charge $30 a day and make just over $3000 a month. I only except cash and do not claim taxes on it so it is clear money. Since I am not licensed I can only have four children, other than my own, in my care at any given time. I am not sure how many you can have in a home childcare if you are licensed but four plus my own is plenty for me! I like being home for my kids when they come home from school and being able to go to school function or doctor appointments when needed. My mother comes by often so the babies and parents can get to know her and she is my fill in if I need to be out.

[mommamarci]

Thank you for your replies.

Emster- I have called 4C. I need to call them again. They sent me a little info, but it did not come close to answering my questions. They said I needed to attend a seminar, but they are held during the work day and they are for people becoming licensed. I am not interested in becoming licensed immediately. Eventually, yes... I am not too keen on the outings because most said they have their own car seats (did not want me to provide one) but did not know the history of the car seat: whether it has been in a wreck. One woman asked me whay that even mattered!! I guess she does not know a car seat can be damaged and not function properly after being involved in a wreck.

kelceesmom- I understand about not wanting an unlicensed daycare. I would be leery of it, too. I would get CPR and first aid certified and I don't think I would do any kind of contract. If a parent is not happy with me, I want them to feel free to switch without any penalties.

Ourdreamcametrue- Wow, $3000!!! I would not be able to charge quite that much. I was hoping to clear about $1000 per month after paying for all expenses!

[SanInUtah]

Fo parents: Would you ever consider sending your child to an unlicensed home daycare? (In Indiana, if you have fewer than 6 kids, no license is needed. With a licesne the ratio is 10:1. Way too many kids for me!!! I would probably eventually try to become licensed, but if I did this, I would not want it to take me months to get started.) My main problems I have had with the daycares: too many kids, caregivers who smoke (they go outside, but who is watching all 10 kids while they are outside?), and field trips. I am very picky about car seats and don't want my babe transported. So, my thinking was if I started a daycare of my own, I would build it around these principles of what I was looking for. Are these important issues for others?


In CA foster children are not eligible to go to any daycare that isn't licensed, neither are kids who are receiving daycare subsidies from WIC or Medicaid. That's a large demographic in So. Cal., and since licensing isn't difficult (apparently), I used a licensed provider. Still, the state made me pull my son out of one provider because they had a fenced pool and he might climb the fence.

Licensing wouldn't allow the provider to padlock it (since she might have to access it in the case of a drowing) so we had to move him. If you take the step of licensing, in order to be a provider to foster families, then be sure you can meet both criterias.

My overall experience with homeproviders was okay but not great. Only one would help him with his homework but she allowed her son to pick on mine. When I saw it firsthand and asked him to stop physically hitting my son she told me to remove him from her care, that I shouldn't have spoken to her darling. I bailed. The next two were sisters who never graduated high school, or did so marginally, and didn't feel it was their obligation to get his homework done. Having said that, Mig was well fed and well cared for in their homes.

[melliemoo]

Originally Posted by Emster

I am a bad parent and have my child in daycare because I need to work, therefore do not go on the filed trips.

I don't think that having to work and your child in daycare makes you a bad parent at all! I happen to love my job, we need the money, and I think I will be a better parent because of working and having my mind stimulated.

Melissa =)

[mayamoo]

I do daycare in my home. I am licensed. Being licensed is not all that bad. You do have to maintain files on the children and take a few classes....but they are no big deal. I am in a small town in Iowa and charge 100.00 per week. I have 5 full time and 2 part time daycare children. This amounts to $600.00 a week. And when you do taxes you can claim so many things to get your income level down - so taxes aren't too bad. It is the social security that kills me! Good luck with whatever you decide.

[WLD]

When my daughter was an infant, i was very unhappy with daycare so I came up with a game plan, figured what i was spending on daycare, lunch, business attire, business birthdays, etc.. figured out that i didn't need near as much as i thought i did and decided to open a family daycare. For me, morally i thought i should be licensed and count the taxes, the whole nine yards. I tend to not do anything in moderation though. I took the cpr/first aid class, nutrition class, had my home inspected for fire/safety, you name it. I know i'm biased but i believe the children were more loved and well cared for in my care than in a large daycare setting. I did not take them on field trips in a car but we lived 3 houses down from the park so the ones that walked held on to the 'walking rope' and the others were pushed in a stroller for our nature/park days. We did crafts, learned songs, etc. but this was on a military base so i was regulated. Regular inspections, opted to do the nutrition records and kept extensive records on each child. That being said, i personally wouldn't leave my child in a home daycare unless i knew the person or knew someone very well that had been using that person and could give me a glowing recommendation. Oh and another thing, i would pop in on surprise visits, i encouraged the parents to drop in unannounced at mine as well.

[mommamarci]

Originally Posted by mayamoo

I do daycare in my home. I am licensed. Being licensed is not all that bad. You do have to maintain files on the children and take a few classes....but they are no big deal. I am in a small town in Iowa and charge 100.00 per week. I have 5 full time and 2 part time daycare children. This amounts to $600.00 a week. And when you do taxes you can claim so many things to get your income level down - so taxes aren't too bad. It is the social security that kills me! Good luck with whatever you decide.

Can you tell me a little more about the taxes and Social Security? You can PM if you would rather not post it. Do you end up paying any income taxes or does it cancel out after all the deductions. How do you pay Social Security? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly? I never even thought about Social Security. Do you have an accountant that handles the financial aspects?

[danhanan]

I've been doing daycare for almost 25 years. I work alone, I am licensed, and I go on some feild trips. I follow state regs, have proper car seats for all children (and only go on field trips when my friend who is a stay at home mom can accompany me). I would never put my infant into a large center because I've seen first hand how institutional it can be. I am licensed for 9, but only 6 of those can be under 6 years old. I am allowed to take two under two years old, but I will never take an infant unless my next youngest is already two. I want to be able to give everyone the attention they need and deserve. In NH you are required to get a safety inspection from the fire dept, a health inpspection, take a water safety course. I do encourage parents to drop in anytime, and if anyone ever knocks on our door, it's got to be someone we don't know. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to leave my child with someone unlicensed as long as I knew something about them and check it out myself. The state doesn't have the funding or the manpower to show up often, so I only see them evry three years when my license is due to expire, so being licensed doesn't do a whole lot.
As far as getting a license though, for me it only cost me whatever the inpections said needing updating. I think for me it was a bout $350 in repairs or updates, plus a few minor fees.

[lisa in venice]

I used to do family daycare and in CA the ratio is kind of complicated. You can have 3 infants to one adult (that means any child under three OR not potty trained) up to 8 chidlren 3 and over and then there are combinations of kids and ages. Most of the ratios may good sense. Here an infant costs about $200-$300/week and toddler only slightly less. The cheapest is for preschoolers but full time you can count on paying about $600/per month which is still cheaper then preschool which runs about $900/month. So at lest here it CAN be a money making proposition and like others have said having an in home business can give you many valuable write offs that may help your overall tax situation so in the end you might come out ahead. The other thing to remember is the cost of you working. Not just hcild care and taxes but dry cleaning and gas, lunches out and take out on the nights you are just too tired to cook. Once you figure in that stuff you don't have to make that much doing day care to replace your income. I know the women who does occassional daycare for us is probably making about $50k now.

lisa

[ChristieS]

I have to work too. I tried placing my son in daycare but he had issues and was unable to "do" daycare (would vomit profusely until I returned). However, I have a fabulous job and make great money so we ended up hiring someone to keep our son in our home. He was able to do that, although he had problems when one would quit and we had a new sitter.

Now, at four, he seems to have outgrown most of his hypersensitivities and feel comfortable trying again. So just wanted to let you know that there are some special-needs children (which we did not know he would be until after he was born) who are unable to deal with daycare - or with the noise that other children made. He had to have a quiet, set routine.

I don't know if hiring someone in-house (a private sitter) is an option for you - but it is well worth considering.

I also love the fact that you want to provide a great childhood service which you have found lacking in your area. You may want to wait and make sure your child can handle it - although most can. I would definitely love to do that if I could afford to give up my job.

One other option: if you know any other mothers personally you may want to ask them if they would watch your child. We have a neighbor who is great - one child of her own - who is a stay-at-home Mom and is an option for us this fall when I return to teaching.

What a neat person you are to work so hard for your own child - and others. I applaud you!

[bluedaisy]

I just wanted to chime in that I would consider placing my son in an unlicensed home daycare if we knew the person and it was pretty close to our neighborhood. I would definitely consider placing my son with a friend who is also a mother.