Same ages or mixed?

[sunnydays]

I would like a bit of advice on age mixes. I normally keep my ages so that I have no more than 2 under 18 months and 3 under the age of 2. I have a space open and have two interviews set up for the coming weekend, one family has a 2 year old and one has a 13 month old. I should be jumping up and down at the prospect of getting the 2year old that I wanted to even out my numbers as I will already have three under 2 years as of next month when new little guy starts. However, the last two 2 year olds I started were total nightmares...one I had to terminate eventually and the other left due to scheduling issues, but I may have had to terminate as well. I am now afraid to start a 2 year old! But, if I take on the baby, I would have four under the age of 2 and one 2 year old and my 3 year old daughter. I worry that the parents of the 2 year old (actually it's two of them almost the same age who will be sharing a space due to mat leave) will not be happy with nobody the same age as their child. I also worry about total chaos once all the one year olds hit toddlerness at the same time. Also, the 13 month old would be part-time, but starting right away while the 2 year old would be full-time, but starting in January. If I took the part-timer, I could still take another part-timer who is a bit older if I can find one. What would you ladies do???

[torontokids]

If there is anything I have learned doing this, it is to wait and meet the families before having a "decision" made in your head. I have had a lot of success with having older kids start with me (3 yrs +). In fact I will only take kids now part time if they are older.

See which kid/family you jive with most. Alternatively, if you like the full timer that won't start till Jan you could tell them you are not ready to make a decision right now and continue to advertise. If you can't find another full time family by the end of the month or mid Nov you could offer the Jan family the spot. A bit of risk with this though however most daycare's don't know if they will have a spot this early for Jan anyways.

[sunnydays]

I definitely will not make a decision before meeting with both families. I have just never considered taking on so many of the same age group...trying to think of all the pros and cons. Almost all of the emails I get looking for care are for January or beyond, so I won't wait and see if I like the family for January...most families where I am are already set for January or in the final stages of securing spaces.

[Crayola kiddies]

I agree wait and meet both families before you make you decision... I always prefer a full time family and I never even advertise for pt. I live in a small town and trying to find someone to fill up the missing days of a pt family is like a needle in a haystack. I only allow pt to existing families on going on mat leave. so wait and see if you get a better feel from one family or the other. Jan is not that far away either.

[playfelt]

Since your daughter is there I see no problem with the two year old feeling left out. If they are not able to play with her then developmentally they will do just fine with those younger than themselves. Really at this stage I am finding they all pretty much play with the same toys just in slightly different ways without even realizing they are doing it. I am always so much happier when I start a one year old than someone coming from another daycare or worse yet coming from home with no group experience. With a little encouragement the 13 month old will be up to the level of the 15-16 month olds very soon and in the meantime they likely nap in the morning so it is like getting paid but not having to include them as in just carrying on like you are now.

The advantage of the part time is that two of them pay more than a full time space if both kids settle in as some don't do well with too few days. Also realize if it annoys one of your moms on mat leave and she leaves care that solves the other part time space leaving you a full time to fill.

For sure on the 2 year old is knowing why child doesn't need care till then. I have an interview coming up for a little girl who will be about 20 months when she would start in Feb because mom took extra time off to enjoy her. She does have two older brothers in school and the one that referred them say she is well adjusted so we shall see. They are neighbours and friends of one of my current families and friends with a previous family I cared for so I come recommended. I have two moms going on mat leave in 2014 too - One Jan and one April so we are working around those for starting the child if it works out.

You will have to look at the amount of lost income from now to Jan but realize if you don't fill the other part time days you would soon make up the loss with the FT starting in Jan. Make sure the mom is not pregnant and current provider is giving her notice for Dec so she can start a new one rather than wait for mom to go on mat leave. Have had that scenario before as in saved a space for a child for 3 months only to find out when child started that mom was now showing and only needed care for 6 months.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I personally think 4 under 2 is a lot to handle, can be stressful and can be an accident waiting to happen. For safety reasons, I personally would not take 4 under 2 plus other children. I also don't think that I could give quality care as I would be busy supervising them all the time and not have enough moments in the day to actually play with them.

[playfelt]

With four under 2 there are no spaces for other kids other than the one that is already in care and familiar since we are only allowed 5 kids. Under 2 is a misnomer too in the sense that the youngest will be 12-14 months when they start and by 18 months most are settled into daycare, walking, doing things for themselves so a child nearing 2 is really no different than a child over 2 but under 3.

[eoinsmom]

I've found that the biggest stress/problem is when you have too big of a gap between ages in the group....at one time I had 6 year olds, 3 year olds and 1 year olds and (2 of each) and it was a nightmare. The 6 year olds were too cool to play with the younger kids, and just plain rude; the 1 year olds weren't walking steady yet and couldn't keep up to the 3 year olds and the 3 year olds were bored with the pace of the 1 year olds. Plus I said I would take the 6 year olds to school and the 3 year olds to preschool; different schools and different drop off/pick ups. (I learned my lesson on that one! no school runs for me anymore) Having a group of 4 toddlers would be just fine once they all got into routine, IMO. I had to do the mixed age group as I started out with an agency, which was a bad experience within itself!

[Wonderwiper]

I agree with eoin's mom....I really like having everyone the same age. I have 5dcks aged 14mth to 20 month plus my own 17 month and 3 year old. For me,it is so much easier when everyone is basically at the same level. Choose whoever fits your group the best!

[AmandaKDT]

I've found that the biggest stress/problem is when you have too big of a gap between ages in the group....at one time I had 6 year olds, 3 year olds and 1 year olds and (2 of each) and it was a nightmare. The 6 year olds were too cool to play with the younger kids, and just plain rude; the 1 year olds weren't walking steady yet and couldn't keep up to the 3 year olds and the 3 year olds were bored with the pace of the 1 year olds. Plus I said I would take the 6 year olds to school and the 3 year olds to preschool; different schools and different drop off/pick ups. (I learned my lesson on that one! no school runs for me anymore) Having a group of 4 toddlers would be just fine once they all got into routine, IMO. I had to do the mixed age group as I started out with an agency, which was a bad experience within itself!

It totally depends on the kids - I have an 8 year old, a 4 year old, two 3 year olds, a 17 month old and a 15 month old. I had a 6 year old boy this summer too and that was fine also. They get along great and have lots of fun playing together - I find the two 1 year olds to be the worst for getting along since they are just learning about playing with others. Having the mixed ages is a good thing, they learn lots from each other.