Yes that is the tough balance ~ finding what the market can bare for your area in regards to hours, fees and so forth and what you need for your income!

For me to address this issue cause I was open 10.5 hours when I stated and found the same thing ... clients who slowly over time were here longer and longer than they initially said they 'needed' and even though my contract stipulated fees were 'based on a 9 hour day' you were always dealing with the 'reminder' of that fact with those few clients ... so now I am only OPEN 9 hours a day ... so all my clients I choose to attract are basically needing 7:30 - 4:30 care and than if they need care earlier or later it is contracted right from the start at the additional 'fee' which is a strong motivator for families to figure out a way to keep their child within the '9 hours' by having one parent drop off and the other pick up or for the single parents enlisting grandma or someone to help