Unlicensed home daycare ratios

Hello,

I am currently in the process of opening up my own home daycare. I am choosing to be unlicensed. I understand that I could only care for 5 children and only 2 could be under the age of 2 years old. But I was wondering if I can only have 5 children under me in total. Or can I have lets say 8 different families but I schedule them to only have 5 children a day in total. I'm only asking because I am getting a lot of part time requests. If someone can help me out to understand this it would be appreciated.

Thank you!! :)

In Ontario you can only have 5 children in your care at anyone time, but can have many kids registered to your daycare. So yes you can have 8 or more kids signed up for care (part time) as long as you don't have more then 5 kids in your care even for a minute or two.

If you have children of your own 6yr + they never count in your numbers
If you have children of your own 5yrs and under they count in your numbers

Thank you very much!!

you can have part-timers just keep within your numbers of 5 per day

A lot of caregivers here started out with part time children but soon learned that it can be problematic. A part time child leaves spots empty on their non-care days. You can sometimes find another family to fill those empty days but then if one family leaves you are left trying to find another family that can fill just those set few time slots which can be increasingly difficult. It can leave you with open spots for long times, and less pay.

Many caregivers do manage and enjoy providing part time care but it is worth noting the challenges it brings. It is difficult to begin with part time care and switch to only full time care as it requires either waiting till all part time families leave your care ( could be years) or terminating families for no reason other than you no longer want to do part time which isn't ideal on your reputation.

I agree with LeeBee. I think initially, when we all begin this journey, we are so focussed on filling the spaces, that we sometimes fail to assess if our actions are the wisest.

I have always only taken full-time children but was saved a lot of lessons from a good friend who had a day care for any years before I opened. I have bent my own rule a couple times over the years - parents on mat leave or those wanting 4 days so grandparents can have a day - and it's always bitten me.

What I would say, is that if you decide to take part-timers, do so in a way that protects your income and your ability to pay bills. There are ways that you can minimise the impact of part timers on your lost days.

Rotating shifts - contract for pay a min of say 3 days a week and if they attend more than three, then they pay the additional days. However, they pay those three days even if they only need 2 days some weeks. Their schedules are usually available a good month in advance so require that. No option for the parent to send their child for the three days unless her schedule reflects that. The financial gain of the occasional three days pay for 2 days work is compensation for the potential loss every week of the unused days.

Higher rates - Don't be afraid to charge a higher daily rate for the additional flexibility of only having to pay for fewer days.

What I think a lot of new providers miss until it's too late, is the understanding of the knock on affect of part-time. If they want say three days a week on Mon, Wed and Fri, that means you have to find a different client to fill Tue and Thurs to have that space at full time capacity. It's quite hard to find someone who wants just two days that happen to be the exact two days you have empty. And then, if one of those two client's leaves, your back in the same situation of finding a new person for those set days. The first ever client you take PT, likely picks the days they want but then you are stuck with that division of the space indefinitely.

Try to think of a full time 5 day space as being a 100% space. If someone comes wanting 2 days, that's a 40% income for a 100% space until you manage to find someone else to slot in. Is 40% income worth it to you or are you better off declining the part timer and waiting for a FT client to come along? If it takes you a year to find someone wanting those empty days, that's a loss of 3 days a week x 52 weeks = 156 days income. That's the equivalent of over 31 weeks FT lost money! It's unlikely if you turn away that PT'er that it will take 31 weeks to find a full time client but it's not unlikely to take a year to find someone who wants the exact three days you have empty.

Think about FT care in your business hours as the basic service. FT care = 100% capacity on each space and the fees are what your area demands and what you need to profit and earn. When you are under capacity due to vacancies or PT empty days you are losing money but working the same hours with fewer children. Anytime a potential client wants to vary your normal service with longer hours, fewer days, etc then you should consider if that requires more than basic fees to make the agreement worth while to you. Don't be afraid to decline a request.

It depends what area you live in. In southern ontario, we're having trouble filling the over 2 years old spots, as we're limited to 2 under 2 years, so often have to accept part-time just to keep some income in the spot.Definitely charge a premium on less than 5 days a week, and make it a 3 day a week minimum.

Personally, I would have never allowed less then 4 days. It can be very difficult to transition a child, on a 2 or 3 day a week schedule.
I always work it that if they were to do full time of 4 or 5 days then my rate is 45.00 a day. If your child only comes 3 days a week, then they pay 55.00 a day. So they essentially get an extra day for 15.00 dollars.

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Originally Posted by BlueRose

In Ontario you can only have 5 children in your care at anyone time, but can have many kids registered to your daycare. So yes you can have 8 or more kids signed up for care (part time) as long as you don't have more then 5 kids in your care even for a minute or two.

If you have children of your own 6yr + they never count in your numbers
If you have children of your own 5yrs and under they count in your numbers

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I am so confused by the new daycare act. I have a 7 year old, a 9 year old and a 2 year old. Can I have an additional 4 children because my 7 year old and 9 year old don't count?

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Originally Posted by mom2three

I am so confused by the new daycare act. I have a 7 year old, a 9 year old and a 2 year old. Can I have an additional 4 children because my 7 year old and 9 year old don't count?

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yes, your only child that counts is your 2 yr old.

your 2 yr old + 4 daycare children = 5 kids in total.

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I am so confused by the new daycare act. I have a 7 year old, a 9 year old and a 2 year old. Can I have an additional 4 children because my 7 year old and 9 year old don't count?

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I wouldn't be 100% positive on this one.

Check on the Ontario new regulations website I think the latest change is that non family related children counts in your numbers until they're 11 or 12 y/o); yes you can have your own 2 y/o plus four daycare kids, it doesn't matter the number of families enrolled but only 5 kids at all the times and ONLY two under two's.

Also be aware that lately parents question when they see caregivers over their numbers, they've called the ministry on one of my friends because she was walking with her 5 dc kids plus her two own older kids.

Due to new changes our market is limited. 1st. Mom's are opting for taking the new 18months mat leave (taking basically 6 months of work from us), next children going to FULL DAY jk (programs that accept children at 3 1/2 years old and 4 y/o). We are left with a tiny window of working with a child for only two years max. If they turn 4 years old before December.

This has changed absolutely our programs. We need to look for families every year (unfortunately it seems only on September we have openings many of us getting stuck on that month)

At this point, I have also noticed a big trend of parents working from home and wanting more part time spots (specially preschoolers); so I think, if we have this new demand why not change our programs accordingly, maybe higher rates maybe shorter contracts until we get to fill with a full day client.

If you have to make a living you must be creative in making it work. If you're not pressured to have an steady income then wsit (but I already have friends looking with empty spots for 6 months).

If your market of part timers are high then tailor it accordingly. Do not loose your income waiting with empty spots. I never had pRobles with part timers I got payed better I had organizer my self to keep good track of income and my curriculum. It kept me busy and the more families y met the more mouth of word spread (filling all my full time spots eventually). My acc told me that.actually I have made more with my part timers that with my full time families😊 it really depends on how you see it and if you want to put the effort in it.