July 2014 Moms

Daycare question- Typical age range in a room

I talked to a daycare and they told me they have infant/toddler rooms instead of just infant rooms. The age range is 6w- 21mths in the same room, with a max of 8 children. They also so they always have 2 teachers in the room. I'm concerned about the age range being so wide in the same room. Is this normal?

My only point of reference is another center I toured. It has a 6w- 12mth room, 12- 24mth, etc. The infant room has two teachers and a capacity for 10.

Re: Daycare question- Typical age range in a room

  • Depends on the size on the daycare. DS's daycare the infant room is 6wks-walking, 1 year old room, 2 year old room, and 2 preschool aged classrooms. They always have at least 2 teachers in the room. I like this better because he is with kids who are pretty much the same age, and learning is differentiated between each of the ages.
    Married 02.06.10
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  • We have used two different centers. Both had 6w-12m in a room, then 12-18 (or 12-24 depending on how many kids they had in those age ranges...) 6w to 21m seems like a big span to me.
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  • I worked in a place where it was divided@ ~12 mo. I teach music classes where there are infant-18 mo old. It gets hairy with more experienced walkers in the same room as lap babies/crawlers, IMO. But there are some positives too- older ones set examples for younger. Did you get to see the rooms a little? If they were capped at 8 it may not be that bad. Also, they may group it within that range if possible- but a smaller center my not have enough children to do that. IF you had a chance to see the room a bit, you may see how it functions, if you're comfortable with the children/age ranges. Not sure if they'd do that, though.
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  • At our daycare, the infant room is 3 months - 1 year, the toddler room is 1 year - 2 years, early preschool is 2 - 3 years, preschool is 3 - 4 years, pre-K is 4 - 5 year and primary is 5 - 6 years.

    It's definitely something to consider because while older kids can help your child learn new skills, they can be rougher and teach them non-age appropriate things (more of an issue as they get older). Our school tries to move up the rougher kids a little earlier, but it's not always possible due to enrollment.

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  • DD's school did 6 weeks - 15 months in the infant room. There were 8 babies and 2 teachers. DD was ready to move on by 15 months. She was much happier with more activities and structure. The toddler room was 15-24 months, then 2s together, 3 and 4 together, and 5s in the junior kindergarten class.

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  • We are looking at a church based daycare that does 3 months-3 years but there is different curriculum for the different ages and they do different things.


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  • DS's was not that wide an age range, but I would guess it all depends on the size of the place.
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  • This is a pretty large center from what I understand, but I don't have specific #'s. It just didn't sit well with me over the phone. That and they also stated they require proof of income, even though I would be private pay and don't have state assistance or anything. Something about maybe qualifying for scholarships...

    I may go visit/ tour and see what kind of vibe I get.

  • I just don't see that big a place having that large a range in one class. DS's place has Babies (up to 12 mos), Toddlers (12-24 mos), Two year olds (24-36), Three year olds (36-48), etc. Ratios and max capacities are regulated and they are at/near teacher ratios for each group.
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  • I would be afraid of an older child that is super mobile maybe getting a little to rough with a younger one. I mean it only takes a second. It does seem that the norm is 6 weeks-12 months. Good luck and I hope you find something you are happy with.
  • I work in the toddler room (12-24 months) at a preschool and what you described sounds insane and a little bit dangerous. I've never heard of such a broad age range and I'm curious how napping works.
  • Depends on the school, I worked in a very small school with just 20 kids. We had two rooms one for 6w-2/2.5yr depending on ratio. We had two areas in the room so we could separate them at times with a gate and the 2 teachers were usually in charge of kids around the same age.
  • I work at a childcare center that has an infant room, which ranges 6 weeks-2 years, then a 2 year old room, 3 year old room, and preschool room for 4 year olds.
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  • Where we are taking our daughter there are two infants rooms broken into an age range of 6 weeks-mobile. Then mobile to 18 months. It's one of the reasons I chose this daycare.

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  • The 18 month cut off sounds perfect. I think 12 -24 months is extremely challenging because they are in such different places developmentally.
  • The one I worked at was by year, so up to 12m, then 12m-24m, etc. The infant room was 3 kids to 1 teacher. I wouldn't say that age range is horrible as 6m can usually sit by themselves and be more involved but not ideal in my mind. 
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  • Ours is more based on development. My DS moved out out the baby room around 14 months- I think they gauge it based on walking/ability to push cribs around/be too "rough" around the babies. But I know some kids younger than him are still in the baby room, and other babies were moved up around 12 mos who were already walking well, etc.
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    Our DC just switched to an infant room (6w-16 months) and then 16 months to preschool, usually around 3.  Before that they had infants all the way up to preschool, but the infants were in a separate area.  I like the new arrangement much better.  
  • Our center does infant - 15 months with 3 babies tops to one teacher. Next is toddlers 15 months - 2.9 years with 2 teachers but if they have at least 3 kids in the 12 months to 18 months range they open the infant/toddler room just for that group.
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  • DD's school has an infant room of 6 weeks - 12 months (ish) in one room, though they are split into 3 sections in that one room, so it's really 6 weeks - till they sit, sitting to about 9 ish months, and then 9-12 months. This entire room is a 1:3 ratio.  The next room (young toddler) is 12-15 months with a 1:3 ratio. The next room (toddler) is 15-24 months ish with a 1:4 ratio.  The next room (early preschool) is 24-36 months with a 1:5 ratio.  

    I would be really nervous with that big of an age range in the infant room, especially where older children were allowed to actually be around and could touch a smaller child.  
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