I decided that the only time I would increase rates is when I sign new families on. The rate a family signs on with is the rate they will always pay

My reasoning for this is...

* when parents are dc hunting, price is going to be a factor ( maybe not the deciding factor but still a factor) and they will likely budget for this

* at the most, a one child family will be with me for 4 years. I'd rather keep a good family than raise rates and risk them leaving. 4 years isn't a long time so the lower rate compared to new families isn't an issue for me

I don't raise my fee every time a new family signs on however. Likely every 3-5 years I will consider it though depending on my business costs and my local market. The only thing I haven't decided is if a family goes on mat leave and comes back with the 2 children (or even just the one), should I give them their original rate or the new one. There are some pros to having multiple children from one family so I'm leaning towards original rate but there are cons too and I'd loose out on a bit of money....hence the undecideness!! Lol