When parents contact you MONTHS in advance

[Spixie33]

Seriously, December? Or Sept '12??? WOW. Unless wait lists are insanely long where you are, that seems..... excessive. Lol
Anyway, honestly I think it depends on what you are comfortable with, and can afford. I also run under capacity, for a couple reasons. It allows me to take in part timers, when and how often I want. It also means that in the summer, when my kids are home from school, I am not running an illegal operation!
However, if I knew that I needed to fill x-number of spots to maintain my income at a certain level, and we were dealing with one of those spots I would absolutely charge someone to "hold" a spot. It would be non-refundable, if they chose not to take the spot, tough. I would not apply it to fees in the future, because I could have filled that spot immediately and had my full income.
In this case, I would probably go ahead and interview. But let them know that I was NOT guaranteeing a space. I would call them if that spot had not filled by a specific date.
Then again, you said that you don't really NEED that income, so perhaps you can be a little more flexible if you get a good feeling from this family. Sometimes, we gotta bend the rules a little!

Thanks Mom in AB....I have had people contact me 3 months in advance but never 6. I think there are quite a lot of daycares in our area but I guess they liked the ad and the pics I have up on daycarebear. Plus...she is a first time mom so I think she is getting nervous and not sure how soon to start looking etc since she isn't experienced with it.

I don't NEED the income so you're right that in my case I would probably bend the dates and let it ride out until she returns to work IF we were a good match. Good families are really important to me. I would rather lose income a few months and get a good family who is like-minded and reliable. I really don't want anyone to not stress me out or take someone who isn't a good fit just for desperation to get the $$ flow in.

I have contacted the lady back and asked her to set up an interview for next month. Why rush - right? lol we have plenty of time and seeing the child a month older is probably better

[playfelt]

If I was interested in the family I would interview and then set up a time for the contract to take effect that was about 2-3 months before the start date. I would charge the two weeks nonrefundable deposit at the time of the interview so at least I had something more commital. Then there would be a holding fee from the 2-3 month point and the child would be allowed to start part time since the space would be available. That way if the parent has changed their mind I have the deposit as well as time to advertise to refill the space and at the same time the family is not penalized for starting too look early.

[Emilys4Guppies]

I had a family contact me in March about care in October. They really liked my daycare and signed on that week. I don't mind waiting that long because we seemed like a really good fit as far as personalities, hours and temperment. They paid $100/month until Oct...NONrefundable. Then the also paid a 2 week deposit that will be used towards their last two weeks of care.

[lilac]

I had a family interview me for their son, and their 2nd was due in a few months and me to guarentee them a spot for their 2nd child when they needed it 14 or 15months later... I just say that I cant guarentee a spot, but if one opens up at that time, then they could have it. I am in need of the income and a fairly full daycare so I just cant hold spots open for that long. They didnt go with me, which is fine. I've also had lots of calls in the winter time for the following Sept, I usually tell them to contact me closer to when they need a space.

[Junelouise]

I have made the mistake a couple of times. Parents come 3 months in advance and say they will come to my daycare. I phone them 2 weeks before start date to get orientation started and they tell me they went with someone else...or "forgot" about me. Next time anyone wants to book in advance I will ask for at least a $ 200 deposit...if they don't want to do that..then so long!