Holding spots on mat. Leave

[Busy ECE mommy]

I’m almost thinking I should be requiring full time care during a mat leave.

[Peacefulbird]

I’m almost thinking I should be requiring full time care during a mat leave.

I do it. There is no reason why you should be loosing part of your income in order to accommodate, especially when you have full day client inquires, I clearly tell families when the next full time openings are and then it is up to the families to take the full day spots or look somewhere else that suits their timing better. My openings are most likely September so they can decide to wait a month or two or to pay full rate until they're able to join us.

Personally I think it is not fair for the family to pay for holding a spot for long term and it is not fair for me to loose a full spot rate and get just a percentage. Even having siblings in care same rules.

[Lee-Bee]

I agree, the caregiver should not be out money because a family had a baby and wants to have their older child home during maternity leave.

I will just add, in case it is something that some one wants to consider it. My nephews (in a different city) are in a home daycare that does multiple part time families. I have no idea how she manages to always be full with so many part timers but she does.

When my sister-in-law was on maternity leave the caregiver essentially filled my, previously full time, nephew's spot with part time children and any days she was not able to fill my nephew would go. My sister-in-law only paid the days he went and he was able to socialize a bit. It worked out to being about 1-3 days a week that he went.

It worked out well for all. The part time families got the days they needed, my nephew got to go a few days a week for play time and my brother and sister-in-law didn't have to pay full time care for the full year she was off.

BUT...it must have been a logistical nightmare. It is NOT something I would consider doing...but for someone that does allow part time care it could work quite nicely. But again...the logistics!!!!

[Suzie_Homemaker]

Personally I think it is not fair for the family to pay for holding a spot for long term and it is not fair for me to loose a full spot rate and get just a percentage. Even having siblings in care same rules.

I guess that depends on the quality of care in your area from your competitors and how frequently your own turnover is - i.e. will there be another space in time.

Here, there are a huge amount of day homes but a lot of them aren't very good. Don't provide food, TV on in the back ground endlessly, over-ratios, no receipts etc.

I had a space open up last month expectedly due to a client being transferred out of area and my mat leave client knew this would be the only space I have in her time frames. I don't have any children aging out until September 2019. Only one of my current client's plans on extending their family more and she's not even pregnant yet and only at the trying stage.

While you might not think it's fair for the family for pay for two full times spaces during mat leave, these client's know that had I advertised the space, it would not take me 6 months to fill it with a suitable long term new client. Having experienced a lower standard of care elsewhere when they switched their older child to here, they don't want to revert to that. No one forced them to take the empty space. It is entirely up to the client - take and pay for the space when it becomes available or start looking for someone who can take both children full time in April because I won't have a space for the baby. Basic consumer decision and perfectly fair when it's fully their choice.

[Suzie_Homemaker]

I’m almost thinking I should be requiring full time care during a mat leave.

You should. Why lose income to give someone who isn't your family peace of mind that they have what they need? I bet if you asked them to take a 20% pay cut for a year to give you comfort, they wouldn't do it.

I'll be honest, first time Moms or people who aren't my client's baulk at the idea of paying for a space for many months if one opens up before they need it. They expect to have zero financial investment beyond a deposit for their child's space on their schedule. There are some who, once I explain, can appreciate why I do it this way but that doesn't always equate to them being willing/able to pay for the space in advance.

Those who are already client's on mat leave, who know my program and care standards, ALWAYS will take a space when they can for a new baby. I currently have a client who has been paying for an empty space since October plus has her older child here 3 days a week (paying for the FT space) whose mat leave ends end April 2018. Having had a bad experience with another provider during the first couple of months of returning to work with their first child, they are prepared to make the investment for their second child to be able to come here too.