If you use in-home DC, what do you like/dislike about it?

*sparky*

And what questions do you think are important to ask the DCP?

I met with someone last week and really liked her.  She has been doing this for 15 years, is licensed and has no complaints against her, and the location is super convenient for me.  She can have up to 8 kids at a time (no more than 2 infants) and with my DD and another parent's baby due in June, she will be about at her max on certain days.  My DD will only be there three days a week and she has a set of 2-year-old twins that only are with her 2 days a week.  So on days that we overlap, she will have 8.  Two of the kids are school aged, so she just has them before and after during school, but she does have them all day when school is not in session.

So I just want to make sure I am completely comfortable with her and also with her having this many kids in her care at one time.  So what do you think are the critical questions to ask, and what do you really like or dislike about your in-home DC?

TIA!

*sparky*

b0710 said:

One thing that I learned the hard way was the tax issue.  I went into the day care world very naive with my first child.  When it came time for taxes, I then realized that I need a Tax ID number or her social security number.  She was not planning on claiming that money, and without that information, neither could I.  Needless to say, DS1 switched to a new provider shortly after that (for more reasons that just the tax issue).

Other things to consider:

Does s/he provide food or do you need to bring a lunch?

What does s/he provide otherwise? (diapers, wipes, etc)

Sick days, days off, etc.  I am a teacher, so I only use the day care service during the school year.  (If I am out for sick or vacation days, I pay her half.  I also pay a flat fee to basically hold my spot until the following school year)

What does a typical day look like?

I love having DS2 in an in-home dc.  I like that he has other children to play with, and socialization, but I love that it's on a smaller scale so he gets lots of attention.  Good luck!

That is a good point.  I was assuming I could claim on my taxes because she is licensed, etc. but you are right - I should confirm.

*sparky*

@theresat858 - I kind of think 8 is too high for having two infants in her care too, but that is in compliance with our state's ratios and I know she has been doing this for a long time and seems extremely comfortable.  I did just speak to her and the other infant is due a couple of months after mine, so starting about 2 months after we would start there she would have:

2 infants (under 6 months)

3 2-yr-olds

4 year old

5 year old

2 of the 2-yr-olds she only has two days a week and only one of those days overlaps with our three days/week.  The mom of the 4 and 5 year olds works in the school system so during the summer the DCP only has them occasionally for the whole day.

Once school starts she has them before and after school only, so they would be there about 1.5 hours in the morning and my DD would be gone by the time they got there in the afternoon most days. 

Long story short, most of the days my DD would be there she would have 2 infants and one 2-year-old all day, and a 4- and 5-yr-old in the morning and afternoon.  One day a week she would have all of those kids plus 2 more 2-yr-olds all day.  I think having three 2-yr-olds and 2 infants is a little nutty - WDYT? 

She has handled BM in the past and is fine with me sending in bottles or frozen BM that she would defrost, or however I want to do it.  As far as the taxes, we can calim the payments on our taxes. 

I went through the other questions you guys suggested - some we had already covered when I talked to her the first time but a lot of these were really helpful.  So far everything checks out so I just have to talk to her references and I will decide from there.

The babies nap upstairs in PNPs so they are not disturbed while the bigger kids are downstairs playing.  She has two PNPs so each infant will have their own.

SLGILL1978

I agree with the questions to ask from the above posters. I love my babysitter. She is another military mom and her son attends the school I work at. She already has a back up babysitter is she is sick or needs to take one of her kids to appt etc. She provides all food for the kids. She makes it herself which is usually just leftovers from their family dinner the night before. She doesn't charge me for days that my daughter doesn't attend and she doesn't charge me for her vacation days. She is open every day and she will work something out if you need her on the minor holidays. She is not strict about schedules. She follows the baby's cues and as soon as my daughter turned 1 the price dropped $45.The only thing I supply is diapers and wipes.

ashleysbf

You got some great advice above. One thing someone told me was to just go with your gut. Before I started touring I was afraid I wouldn't have a "gut feeling," but as soon as I walked into the home daycare my dd is at, I just knew it was the right place for her. I wish you the best!

scrappingcat

I agree to go with your gut!  We visited several that just didn't seem right for some reason or another.

I think the ratios sound ok.  We had previously used very small in-homes and are in a larger one now.  She is licensed up to 12 but has 10 at the most with normal numbers around 6.  On full days she has:

2 infant (6 months and 9 months)

2 toddlers (16 months and 26 months)

1-3 year old

3-4 year/5 year olds (starting kindergarten next year---mine is included in this)

2 school-agers (before/after school and release days)

1 part time 2.5 year old that only comes when the 26 month is not there

I am amazed by everything that gets done during the day! She is heavy on preschool programming.  They do a preschool morning meeting, theme for the day, craft project, letters/sight words and plenty of free time!  She takes time to determine where they are at and tailors her lessons to each of the Pre-K to ensure they are learning at their level.  The babies nap around the same time so they do projects while the babies nap or the 16 month and 9 month play together and she holds the infant while teaching.  My DS is thriving in this environment and learning so much, including how to be a good friend and how to properly interact with smaller children.  All the older kids love to help her by getting bottles/diapers if needed and 'reading' to the smaller kids if she is feeding a bottle.  She sits next to them and helps them with sounding out words during this time.  I should add that she was previously a kindergarten teacher so may be more used to the chaos than some providers.

I know it seems like a lot of kids and potential for chaos but if done correctly it is so beneficial for the older and younger kids in the group!

lexusolsen

Did someone already mention days your provider is sick? Do you pay for them? How about her vacation days? How many vacation days will she take? How far in advance will you know? Does she provide back up care or will you need to find your own?

Also, who else lives in the home? How often are they home? Are they also cleared according to the license?

We switched for a number of reasons. The dcp often had dr appts that we were expected to find coverage for. I'm a teacher, if you tell me today at pick up that you have an appointment tomorrow morning I can't just go in late. Also her adult son lived at home and did not work, so he was always there. I didn't realize he was unemployed until we were already there. It didn't really bother me until he was drinking a beer when I came to pick up dd. It just seemed so unprofessional. Sometimes she would be on skype or the phone when I came to pick up.

*sparky*

@lexusolsen - I would not like that either.

Her DH is a police officer and her two high school aged sons live there. She gives parents her vacation days for the year in January. I spoke to another parent and she said in the 5 years she has had her kids there, the only sick days she can remember were when the DCP's mom was dying in the hospital.

She takes one week of vacation per year, for which she is not paid. If she takes sick days she is not paid. She does get paid for 9 holidays which are the major holidays - Christmas, July 4th, etc. when we are on vacation we still have to pay.

lexusolsen

*sparky* said:

@lexusolsen - I would not like that either.

Her DH is a police officer and her two high school aged sons live there. She gives parents her vacation days for the year in January. I spoke to another parent and she said in the 5 years she has had her kids there, the only sick days she can remember were when the DCP's mom was dying in the hospital.

She takes one week of vacation per year, for which she is not paid. If she takes sick days she is not paid. She does get paid for 9 holidays which are the major holidays - Christmas, July 4th, etc. when we are on vacation we still have to pay.

That sounds fair. I hope it works out.

dashofreality

I have been through every type of care in the last three years. You got good advice, I will second the go with your gut. I would definitely try to go at a time when a lot of the kids are there. IMO you can tell a lot by how the kids act on whether she has things under control. So far my favorite care has been an older woman in-home DCP that ran it similar to a center. She never took an unscheduled day off in 1.5 years. She had been doing it forever, the kids loved her and she was just on top of everything. Those age ranges/ratios wouldn't be a deal breaker for me (especially since we have limited options where we are now) but I would be a bit hesitant, it is a lot of kids at tough ages to juggle.

hopefulmom81

theresat858 said:

I think a 1:8 ratio is too high for having two infants in her care.  I think the legal ratio here is 1:4 for infants. Yes, some of the kids are older, but toddlers can be even more demanding than infants.  I think for me, that's a sign that no, it isn't a place where your child will get the 1:1 care that an infant needs, because she just cannot possibly have enough time to go around (unless there is an assistant).

b0710, if your provider was licensed, her denying you her info is a reason to report her to the licensing board.

I would ask about naps and how that works given the large number of children of very different ages. And meal times -- how is she going to ensure that your LO is not taking bites of foods of older children that you don't want your LO to be eating yet?

We loved our 2nd in-home until DD needed more socialization/interaction/outside time.  Our first was a disaster - even with only 3 babies, the care provider was not able to provide the individual attention they all needed (DD was bored and hated sitting in the bouncer all day. And yes, she somehow managed to communicate how much happier she was at the new place at only 4.5 months old). 

I would ask about bottle policies for BM.  Most places have to throw out unused BM an hour after baby touches the bottle, but you should be able to get them to send it home instead (so you can reoffer it, since this rule only really apples to formula).

I think this ratio sounds high too.  I know it is within legal limits, but that doesn't mean it is optimal for all involved.

Our in-home daycare provider has been doing it for 26 years and at the most has 7 kids at a time, but even then she ALWAYS has another assistant provider (usually a college student studying education or child development).  Then she takes the children under 1 and the assistant provider hangs out with the toddlers.

I would be very uncomfortable leaving DD alone with one person watching eight children.  Just think about doing that yourself, it would be nearly impossible to cater to the needs of a baby on demand. 

I absolutely love our in-home daycare for newborn-2 years old, but will be trying to move DD to a preschool type daycare after she is 2 for more stimulation/educational activities.

*sparky*

It does seem like a lot to me.  I can't imagine having that many young kids to care for at one time by myself.  I spoke to one of the moms who is due with her 3rd child this summer (that will be the other infant in this DCP's care) and her other two kids have been with this DCP since they were born.  She is very happy with her and has not had any issues, but she did say that there has been some turnover.  It just seems a little much with so many young ones - 3 2-yr-olds and 2 infants is crazy. 

When I met with her the other day, the kids were napping so I did not get to see things in action.  I left her a message asking if I can come by when all the kids are there and up so I can see how things go.

In the meantime, someone gave me a resource for finding local childcare providers in the area, so I may do a little more research.  I am not having much luck on the nanny search either, so I am getting a little frustrated.