I've only held a spot for someone once, it's not a practice I like doing, and I charged them a deposit of 1/2 months fees that would be held and credited against their last months fees. In addition they had to pay $200/month they wanted to hold the spot in full (4 months = $800 paid upfront to hold it). Also I generally try to limit the number of months I offer to hold a spot for as it is lost income monthly. And usually when parent hear they have to pay to hold a spot they usually decide to call back within 2 months of needing care to re-inquire about availability.