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Hi! I was just wondering if anyone with a basement only daycare uses that area for sleeping too, or if everyone uses bedrooms upstairs? My bedrooms are 2 stories up and besides that, I'd really like to keep the daycare completely separate. I have two rooms as well as a large hallway so I would be able to keep the kids visually apart from each other. Also, if anyone does keep the kids downstairs, do you go upstairs for your break? Thanks for your help and Happy Friday!
I use our bedrooms as it makes for an easier nap time if the kids are apart. My daycare uses the main floor of my townhouse, the kids sleep on the second level and I take my break in our living space in the basement family room. With a monitor set up in the hallway, it's not problem....I hear everything.
I have my basement dedicated to my daycare with a seperate bedroom I use for the nap room. I have a washroom downstairs as well. I bring the kids upstairs to eat and do crafts because I don't like the idea of them staying in the basement all day except for outings of course. My break is when they are napping or resting for the bigger kids on the down stairs couch in the playroom and I am upstairs having lunch. At the end of the day, I love shutting the basement door and saying good bye to work. Happy Friday to you too!
I really want to be able to shut the door at the end of the day too! I don't want to shuffle everyone up and down! I also have a full bath and mini kitchen so really don't ever need to be anywhere else except outside. Outdoor time is a large component of my program so I am not too worried about being in the basement or too long. Do you use a monitor when you leave them in the basement alone? Thanks for your help!Quote:
Originally Posted by mimi
I started out trying to contain my program to the basement as well accept for lunch but over the years it just became 'easier' to have a nice long afternoon nap time that is often closer to 3 hours by allowing them to have their own space upstairs in the individual bedrooms cause dealing with the inconvenience of the cots being stored up there is a small price to pay to not have to be dealing with the fact that when they all slept in the basement I was lucky to get 1.5 hour of quiet time and well even that was not all quiet because the first half hour was spent 'shhing and reminding' children not to whisper at each other and than they only slept about an hour cause they would wake each other up during their natural sleep cycles and start the whispering again instead of falling back to sleep or because I had to bring them up to the main floor for quiet activities the noise travels 'down much easier cause they can hear the feet walking and so forth so even if we were trying to be 'quiet' the sleeping kids would hear ~ now that they sleep upstairs they are not woken by any noise on the main level cause it does not travel upward as easily and I play soothing solitudes and classical music to drown out any noise that might try to travel upward.
I basically use my whole house now ~ we sleep on the upper level, we do meet and greet, eat and do creative art and sensory on my main floor and we have the playroom downstairs with all the toys and other stations .... but I have things organized in cupboards and baskets and closets so that after hours there is minimal 'work' in my face although you cannot get rid of all evidence of course.
As for do you stay on the same floor as them when they are sleeping ~ when I was licensed the recommendation was that there should be no more than 1 floor / door between you and the children during nap time so if I have children sleeping upstairs than I am on my 'main floor' with the monitors on so there is only 1 floor and 1 door between us .... as we wake up we stay on the main floor doing quiet activities until everyone is up so that there is no more than 1 floor / door between us.
Yes, I use a monitor though I like to have some quiet when I have a break so I can still hear anyones distress calls very clearly!!
happy Friday,
Great question. I too, am setting up my basement, but b/c I had to renovate (put in carpets) and get rid of the wires to ensure a safer set-up. Would anyone be able to provide pics of their set-up?
I don't have a basement but I use my living room as the toyroom and my dining room for meals of course, but I have 3 playpens and a toddler bed and a cot that fill both of those rooms for naptime and then get put away daily.
I too use my basement, it's the playroom and I have a tv down there for "quiet days" or movie days i.e. rainy days lol We moved into the house in January and I didn't do anything to it except put boarders & decals on the walls and all the toys. My goal before the end of the year is to paint the walls a nice butter yellow and maybe paint the celiling tiles in a sky blue.
We eat in my kitchen. I have a eat-in and recently was handed down a "wood" table and chairs from my parents. MUCH easier to wipe down and my dining set wont get as damaged!
They all sleep on the 2nd/3rd floor....I count the basement LOL My DD has her own room. In the guest room I have a double bed and a playpen set up. My two olders sleep on the bed but in the opposite way - so head to feet are running side to side of the bed vs top to bottom. It's a bit safre re: falls and plenty of room for two. Only once have I had to create a LINE to not cross when they were arguing LOL
I have two more play pens and 2 sleeping cots if my numbers change. At that point my master bedroom (thankfully) is quite large and can fit 2 playpens on each corner of the room. Also the guest bathroom could fit a playpen in there too (Very big spaces) and since we rarley use it if I HAD to someone can sleep there. I like have them seperated if I can!
Eventually we'd like to renovate the basement. There is a ugly bar riht now that will not be used and taking up 10ft by 5ft! I'd also have a 2pc bathroom out in and it shouldn't be too hard since DH is a plumber :D
I put my son in his bedroon and i have one child how will nap in the basement and the older kids color or watch a movie with me in my living room, easy to clean up and quiet.
I used to have my daycare in the basement with meals in the upstairs dining room before I bought a new townhouse. With this place, I decided to set up on the main floor. I have to say, I've had several interviews and ALL of them have said that they like that it's on the main floor as it's got lots of natural light, easier with drop off, pick up, etc. Originally I had planned to use the basement, but am reconsidering that now.
My basement is the daycare playroom. The kids sleep 2 floors up in the bedrooms to allow nice long quiet naps. We also use the main level for snacks, lunch, crafts, and sometimes just transition if I need to prepare or tidy. It`s real life...I do dishes with kids around :ohmy:
On the main floor I have 2 small baskets: one with books and one with individual type toys (toy laptop, old school LeapPad etc) to ensure they have something to do, but it`s a quieter activity. Also, it`s very small and minimal, so I don`t feel like I have daycare stuff on my main level.
I just don`t want to spend 10 hours in my basement! This works perfectly for me!
I have the lower floor of my house dedicated to my daycare. It is nice though because it is a raised ranch so there are 6 large windows-so it is really bright like the upper floors. As for nap-I have a kitchen and bathroom in the daycare as well as a bedroom off the playroom-this is the room I use for naptime. I really enjoy having my daycare in it's own space separate from our living space.
If you put them in the bedrooms upstairs for nap, couldn't that help you to get your "household" duties done during nap time? wash dishes, start dinner, clean, do laundry?