Tip for taking care of 18 months kids

Hi,

My 1st daycare is openning, haven't heard many calls. My age group is 2 - 5 years. Now I am thinking maybe I should change my age group to 1.5 - 5 years. i have experience working with 1 year old before and I have lot of experience wit 2.5 and up.

Just be safe, I need more tips on how to take care 1.5 to 2.5. What do i need to be aware of & can do with these age group. Any tips would be great appreciated. These are my questions:

1. How do you handle bathroom time
2. how often do you clean your toys, i can imagine they put toys in their mouth very often and common
3. how do you handle nap time
4. how do you manage for outdoor play, while you have some older kids?
5. Do i really need to buy high chairs and cribs for the little ones? what other furniture do i need to get?

Thanks in advance!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Love&care

Hi,

My 1st daycare is openning, haven't heard many calls. My age group is 2 - 5 years. Now I am thinking maybe I should change my age group to 1.5 - 5 years. i have experience working with 1 year old before and I have lot of experience wit 2.5 and up.

Just be safe, I need more tips on how to take care 1.5 to 2.5. What do i need to be aware of & can do with these age group. Any tips would be great appreciated.



Thanks in advance!

---

Before taking on a younger group, consider why you decided that age 18 months and upwards was your original preference. If you weren't comfortable with that age group before, why do you feel more comfortable now - all the tips in the World aren't going to increase the actual experience you have.

To answer your questions :

Quote:

---

1. bathroom time

---

I toilet train at 2 years old - the first business day after their 2nd birthday, we begin. That said, I know I train them far younger than many other day homes or centers.
If you are toilet training this young, you do need some experience. If you have none, then realistically for most children, there are no bathroom breaks for this age group.

Quote:

---

2. how often do you clean your toys, i can imagine they put toys in their mouth

---

Every day but that's nothing to do with this age range. I have always cleaned all toys daily and consider it vital. Many illnesses begin with no symptoms and for a lot of them by the time the symptoms appear, the contagious period has passed.
Toys are sprayed with Lysol mid-day at nap time. Toys are sprayed again and/or wiped every day after closing.
I keep a bucket with disinfectant solution in, in the kitchen and if a child has mouthed a toy, it's placed into that and left there for the duration of the day.
Every week, anything that has been used goes into a tub of hot water and bleach/disinfectant and is then allowed to air dry. If you read the instructions of your sanitizing produce, most will tell you that they kill 99.9% of germs but that requires prolonged contact with the product and a quick wipe over doesn't meet that criteria.
Soothers (for the children who have those) are limited to nap time only and are kept in the designated crib for that child only to prevent cross contamination. Likewise, that is why children here are allocated a crib/cot. Bedding is laundered every 2-3 days.

Quote:

---

3. nap time

---

Children age 12 months often require two naps. My goal is always to bring a child into our schedule not to change ours to match an individual child.
Younger children are given a power nap of max of an hour soon after arriving in order that by 9am they are up for morning snack and we then head outside. If they nod off again in the stroller/wagon, I limit how long they are napping for. This means that after lunch, they are still able to nap at noon with the core group.
I do not permit a child this young to come later than 8am in order that this morning nap can be fit into the schedule.

Quote:

---

4. how do you manage for outdoor play, while you have some older kids

---

Exactly as everything else is done all day. Children are never left unattended. I interact with all the children on the floor if we are home. More time is given to whatever child is demanding the attention at the time.
Do not fall into the trap of picking up a new youngster when they cry. Interact on the floor with them but avoid picking them up unless there is reason to (lifting into high chair, diaper change, hurt). Make every effort to pick them up when they are calm and content only so they know they won't lack attention. If you pick them up every time they whimper, you are re-enforcing that whining = immediate attention which will come back to bite you when the next infant joins the day care.

Quote:

---

5. Do i really need to buy high chairs and cribs for the little ones? what other furniture do i need to get?

---

Yes. Depending on how badly some are babied, many can sit up but aren't hugely stable. They need a high chair to secure them in place because when they lean to perform a task, pick up a toy etc, they will topple and fall quite often.
Yes, you need a crib too. It's a safety issue. If a child gets hurt and there wasn't suitable age appropriate equipment, that's negligence. Negligence is when you could have avoided an accident through simple common sense safety issues and failed to take them.
You will also need a stroller with a 5 point harness not just three across their laps. Or a wagon with a 5 point harness. Likewise for outside time, this age are not always walking so you will need a baby swing or some suitable play equipment. You can't just plop this age group on the grass and expect them to entertain themselves.

Why do you think you aren't getting calls?

You have to consider what might be turning people off your service.

Are you an inexperience provider?
Maybe don't even have the experience of own children combined with not having come from a child care related background?
Is there no demand in the area?
Are your prices realistic compared to your competitors?
Are you offering the hours/program that people want?
Do you have any references that are suitable? Having been a long term babysitter isn't good enough in my area as a few hours care of children in their own home, is very different that a full day of care in an unfamiliar environment with a group of others too.
What is the feed back you are getting?

Do you get lots of calls for kids under age 2? I wouldn't expect a sudden rush of families signing up if you put the age group down just a few months. Not sure what area you are in but here most families begin care when their child is about 10-12months old (depending when their mat leave ends). I don't think there would be a huge increase in children aged 18months over age 24 months as in theory the 18 month olds have been in care for 6 months already.

I would say there is a fair bit of 'gear' needed for the younger age group that you would need to have and I would not really go out and buy all that on the hopes you get a family signing on, especially if it isn't really your 'dream' age group to work with.

As mentioned above put your energy into figuring out why you aren't getting families signed on and see if you can tweak things. Every thing from your advertising, initial email and phone contact and first in person meeting has a HUGE bearing on whether families sign up. Odds are you can adjust things to draw in the families you wish to have sign on.

I would be interested to know if you are getting initial inquiries or not.

i.e. are your ads producing interest that fades once they speak to you or come for interview or are your ads not producing any interest?

There is normally a process which takes you from having a space to filling a space. Each step of that process decides if someone is coming to you or not so you will have to review each step as if you were a potential client.

Your ads
- Where are you advertising and are those ads being seen?
- Are you getting calls about your ads from potential clients?
- Do your ads reflect your service? i.e. If your ads are all polished and professional and make it sounds like you are experienced and established, are they then learning that you have no experience, no clients etc? That would be a concern to a client as they might wonder what else wasn't as the ad suggested.
- How are your ads worded? If you present yourself as a stay-at-home parent, looking to take a couple kids in, with X number of spaces open, that attracts a certain type of client who doesn't view this as a business but more so a babysitter looking to make a bit of cash. If that's what you are, that's fine but if your ad presents that and then you are charging the same rates as someone who has years of experience, an established reputation, and a child care related degree, then that type of client isn't interested in paying those fees.
- If your ads say you have 5 spaces and if 5 is the limit in your province, then parents who are looking for quality care do the math and realized you have no one signed up. Consider removing the number of empty spaces from your ad and either state you only have one space (if that's true) or state "spaceS" without going into detail that deters clients because you barely have anyone.

Interview
- Does your space and documents reflect the same type of service as your ads?
- If you are presenting yourself as a professional, are the play areas set up, is the equipment in place, can clients see the environment their child will be in? Telling someone that once you open it will look different than it does now, will again deter client's. They need to see the space as it will be if their child comes to you.
- Safety - if you are taking small children, are the common-sense safety precautions in place? If you have a TV or any thing electrical with wires visable, or a stair way with no stair gate, that's a concern.
- Do you have all your checks available and handed over voluntarily at interview? While not all provider's do this, if you are new and setting up and therefore don't have a track record, parents need to see that you have a clean criminal record, aren't on the child abuse register, have first aid training and are taking this seriously.
- If you have pets, consider shutting them away. If you are interviewing during your evenings and weekends, then don't have your own children behaving like brats in front of potential clients.

Documents
- Are you operating within the laws? Not giving a receipt might not seem like a big deal to a new provider but it is a big deal to a client. They can claim a tax allowance of up to $8,000 of day care expenses so you are costing them money and committing tax fraud. State clearly that you will be issuing a valid tax receipt so they aren't left wondering.
- Do you have a contract to show them or some wishy-washy verbal agreement?
- Are your policies documented for them to see?


It would be really useful to know at what stage things are working in order to be able to help direct you.

90% if my calls are for kids at 12-15 months old after mom is done maternity leave. After that, they’ve typically settled into some kind of care setting, and only leave if unhappy or moving or changing jobs.
If you want just the older ones, have you considered doing before/after school or running a preschool program in the morning? I considered doing this to give myself a few hours off a day and to focus on the older ones.
Toddlers are a very busy group, and will require more supervision, more equipment etc..
Maybe try to make yourself a “niche” market so that you stand out from the rest.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Love&care

Hi,

My 1st daycare is openning, haven't heard many calls. My age group is 2 - 5 years. Now I am thinking maybe I should change my age group to 1.5 - 5 years. i have experience working with 1 year old before and I have lot of experience wit 2.5 and up.

Just be safe, I need more tips on how to take care 1.5 to 2.5. What do i need to be aware of & can do with these age group. Any tips would be great appreciated. These are my questions:

1. How do you handle bathroom time
2. how often do you clean your toys, i can imagine they put toys in their mouth very often and common
3. how do you handle nap time
4. how do you manage for outdoor play, while you have some older kids?
5. Do i really need to buy high chairs and cribs for the little ones? what other furniture do i need to get?

Thanks in advance!

---

Hi. I think most of the clear explanation has been done by Suzie_Homemaker, but also another factor to consider is your Province in Ontario we're allowed only two babies under two y/o.

My personal experience is that parents look when their baby is about 12 months (when their mat leave is over, also in Ontario that might change our mat leave has just changed to 18 months). Many of my friends caregivers have been looking for the over two's without luck (many centres, preschool programs and new daycares in schools have been taking the over two's )

You can change your age intake but make sure to comply with your province regulations.

In regards of buying stuff, my personal suggestion is to wait until you have babies starting your program for sure. Even so, you can ask parents to bring their own playpans. High chairs take too much space try to get the travelling compact kind of buster sit ones that comes with a food tray. (Babies grow up fast your equipment will have to be storaged eventually). I usually use mine for few months then they transition to the toddler/preschool tables and cots.

Thank you soo much for all the inputs. Here is my little background:
I just moved to a small town, where here only have couple licensed family daycare and one commercial daycare. My ad is in bulletin points, info is something like this:

I have ECE cert & Montessori diploma. I was preschool teacher for couple yrs, art and piano teacher for younger kids, worked and volunteered at different preschool and daycare settings. I have couple excellent professional reference letters, including one from the local. I have criminal record check, first aid & CPR, Food safe cert, my centre is licenced.

my daycare is separated from the main house. interior setting like toys, furniture are same as any other professional licensed daycares: Nap room, indoor playroom, kitchen area, kids bathroom.

My curriculum:
1 hour short academic time daily
2 outdoor playtime daily
2 snacks
Fun activities: cooking projects, art projects, science experiments, music movement

My rate: under 3, full day $45, part time $35; 3+ full day $35, part time $25

I posted my ad a week ago on my local fb page on Jan 14th . I join CCRR Jan 19th. I know a lady who runs a community family program and that attracts the whole town of families to go there daily, she has my advertisements and she said she will pass it on to some people or parents.

I have had around 7 inquires, most of them are around 2 yr old. I recently have 2 parents are going to sign in my program. 2 kids are 2 yrs old. I will wait for 1 more week, then post my ads on local newspaper.

Did I miss something? or maybe i am just out of patience?

Suzie_Homemaker, i totally understood what you mean. I just have a though of changing my age group. But the more I think about it, the more I refuse to do it. it is too risky for me. Thx for your reminding! :)

Thank you for reading my long message! I am totally open for any suggestions and thank you for that.

Few observations, perhaps it is only me, your ad seems too straight forward. (Make it more friendly a bit warmer) Give a line or two of your self or personal reference : I'm happy to meet new families. ..., I enjoy working..., etc.
Then you can continue with your certifications and qualifications, and the programing that you'll be offering, some parents do not like to sending their children to a too strucured place they do that when they go to school, young children preschoolers need more flexibility.

Another confusion, you're saying your "centre" is... a centre is a large grouping a commertial building (some parents look for home -care). Maybe they're thinking you're advertising for a commertial building. Make sure it look and sounds like a sweet home with the benefits of a centre (in regards of activities and curriculum).

Also, you're only including two snacks not lunch?, if you do try to describe it (2 nutritional snacks and a warm home made lunch). I think you have many examples here in daycare bear look some ads. Read them and think which one sounded more appealing or friendly. If you do not gave many advertising in your area, search with a different postal code ex. Toronto and you'll see all ads. Keep visiting the family group community group, the more parents see you the more they will recognize you and your services. Keep handy your personal cards so it is handy to pass it on. I hope it helps. Good luck!!

I agree that your ad reads very abrupt. I can be guilty of this as English is not my first language so when I write I have to get my husband to proof read things as people can mis-read it as me being snippy when I'm not. The other thing that doesn't make the ad flow is the repeated use of "I" to begin a sentence. That's something my husband repeatedly picked up on when I first wrote ads.

For a child care provider, parents want warm and fuzzy and fun so the tone of ads does matter especially in North America where a lot of focus is on people's feelings.

You posted your ad 11 days ago on a local Facebook page. To have received 7 inquiries is a big response. Realistically it takes a full year to fill spaces with quality client's although you can do it quicker if you just accept anyone who wants a space even if they aren't a good match.

For me, newspapers don't really work. Not many people read a paper these days. If your location is such you get a lot of passing traffic, consider a lawn sign (if your bylaws permit them) or a car magnet. This then highlights your location to those who are driving by on route to work anyway. Facebook can be good in some areas but if you are posting in a buy and sell group, that can come across as a strange place for a legitimate business to advertise. See if there are any Moms and toddler pages in your area or a child care group even. Some providers also find Kijiji useful too. If you live near a school, have a chat to the secretary and ask if you may leave some flyers on the front desk. While schools aren't normally permitted to endorse a service, some will let you leave a flyer.
Are there any local businesses like a call center or hospital? They are good places too if they have a notice board. And lots of local food take-away places have somewhere for local business cards as well. One final comment about the ad itself - have photos. Not of children or their faces but show your space. Images of the type of meals you provide, the space, the play area, the sleep area help parents visualize where their child will spend their day. Include the outside play space too. Take the time to check the background of your photos so that you don't have several garbage cans beside the outside play space or clutter on the floor beside the eating area. That should be obvious but there's a lot of community babysitter type people whose photos show a tower of unorganized chaos in the background or a pet roaming around the space of a soon to be open day home.

If you are financially able to survive a little while without filling all spaces, then consider experimenting with ads to see what sort of ad brings a higher response. This is useful to know in future. You could place a more upbeat fun ad on Kijiji and see if the response is higher to the matter of fact ad you currently have on FB. And don't be afraid to ask anyone who is making an inquiry, where they saw your ad so you can assess which forum is more effective for you.


I agree that the lack of lunch might also be an issue. I know here, the cheaper providers do not include food but the more established homes do. It seems odd to provide snacks but not lunches. If parents have the inconvenience of providing a lunch, then having snacks provided doesn't really save them much time. Do your competitors provide lunches or is it normal in your area that they come from home?

Be careful about the wording of your ad. I know here the Department has rules about a day home misrepresenting themselves in ads as being a center. You ad does read like you are center so those seeking a day home might well be skipping over your ad and those seeking a center might not be signing up with you once they realize you are a day home.

It does take time to fill up your new daycare at the start , maybe a few months so you are doing good.Most parents look for daycare at the end of Mat leave at 12 months , and now 18 months so it will take time , so your age group may be just right after all.

It is good to change your ad as the other posters have suggested and then you will get more calls. Good Luck :)