Could you help me start an in-home daycare?

[Anonymous]

I agree with the people who said you should advertise not as a daycare but a babysitter.

You should also look for moms in your own townhome community as customers. I think people will be much more enthusiastic if you are like, in walking distance of their home and extremely convenient and you are also their neighbor that they've seen before. Maybe find a mom that only needs care a few days a week, or a mom that lives in the townhome community and works from home that can walk to get her kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You aren't starting an in-home daycare, you just want to babysit 1 or 2 kids. Don't tell people you are starting a "daycare". Just start putting the word out that you want to earn some extra cash and are available for babysitting before and after school and would consider infants (or whatever age you want).

This is terrible advice. Even watching one child in her home makes her an in-home daycare. Since she is so passionate about children then she understands that’s a children’s health and safety are the priority which means being licensed. Licensing means the fire marshal comes to your home to make sure you have working smoke detectors, safe aggressive for the children. This does not off always mean one exit, it means being fingerprinted and having an FBI background check.

Depending on your state you can be fined and immediately shut down which puts your clients without care until you get a license.

You seem passionate and smart which tells me it will not be difficult for you to get a license and I might be mistaken but you do not always need a fence.

[Anonymous]

You’ll get better advice depending on where you live since here in the dmv there are different rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You aren't starting an in-home daycare, you just want to babysit 1 or 2 kids. Don't tell people you are starting a "daycare". Just start putting the word out that you want to earn some extra cash and are available for babysitting before and after school and would consider infants (or whatever age you want).

This is terrible advice. Even watching one child in her home makes her an in-home daycare. Since she is so passionate about children then she understands that’s a children’s health and safety are the priority which means being licensed. Licensing means the fire marshal comes to your home to make sure you have working smoke detectors, safe aggressive for the children. This does not off always mean one exit, it means being fingerprinted and having an FBI background check.

Depending on your state you can be fined and immediately shut down which puts your clients without care until you get a license.

You seem passionate and smart which tells me it will not be difficult for you to get a license and I might be mistaken but you do not always need a fence.

It also means all people living in the house will be registered and background checked which is very important if the DH is working at home. It protects everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Umbrella Insurance may help with liability concerns.

OP, I was a SABM when my kids were little but my DH worked long hours and I needed a regular break. A wonderful woman babysat my kids once a week, and wound babysit up to 4 kids or so at a time on a rotating scheduke. It wasn’t a daycare, but regular babysitting for me and small income for her and saved my life. Maybe something like that?

OP here. So like a Mom's day out program? I would worry about attachment issues. It's hard for the kids to get used to you if they only see you once a week. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

You have more experience with kids than I do, but my kids were fine with this, no attachment issues. One of my kids has anxiety, so he would have been the one to have an issue, but didn’t. Maybe because we started early enough? Not sure. Good luck on whatever you decide.

[Anonymous]

I keep coming back to give you advice but … A daycare is a legitimate business. Being licensed gives you more of a leg to stand on regarding contract with parents, exclusion for sick children and payments. I see a lot of in-home daycare‘s run in a wishy-washy manner which attract wishy-washy parents and result in payment disputes etc. Trust me when I say you want to do this the right way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You aren't starting an in-home daycare, you just want to babysit 1 or 2 kids. Don't tell people you are starting a "daycare". Just start putting the word out that you want to earn some extra cash and are available for babysitting before and after school and would consider infants (or whatever age you want).

This is terrible advice. Even watching one child in her home makes her an in-home daycare. Since she is so passionate about children then she understands that’s a children’s health and safety are the priority which means being licensed. Licensing means the fire marshal comes to your home to make sure you have working smoke detectors, safe aggressive for the children. This does not off always mean one exit, it means being fingerprinted and having an FBI background check.

Depending on your state you can be fined and immediately shut down which puts your clients without care until you get a license.

You seem passionate and smart which tells me it will not be difficult for you to get a license and I might be mistaken but you do not always need a fence.

It also means all people living in the house will be registered and background checked which is very important if the DH is working at home. It protects everyone.

OP here. I agree with all of this, but I don't want to go through the process if I know I will fail because of the fence requirement. It definitely takes a particular person to even consider in-home. Another option is waiting until my kids are in school and finding a PT nanny job. I have also been thinking about going to school to become an esthetician. I would love to open up my spa at my house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Umbrella Insurance may help with liability concerns.

OP, I was a SABM when my kids were little but my DH worked long hours and I needed a regular break. A wonderful woman babysat my kids once a week, and wound babysit up to 4 kids or so at a time on a rotating scheduke. It wasn’t a daycare, but regular babysitting for me and small income for her and saved my life. Maybe something like that?

OP here. So like a Mom's day out program? I would worry about attachment issues. It's hard for the kids to get used to you if they only see you once a week. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

You have more experience with kids than I do, but my kids were fine with this, no attachment issues. One of my kids has anxiety, so he would have been the one to have an issue, but didn’t. Maybe because we started early enough? Not sure. Good luck on whatever you decide.

OP here. My second child is wonderful with gym childcare and once a week babysitter. My first gave me a hard time, though. There was a lot of kicking and screaming. I remember at the time pulling him out because it wasn't worth the stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You aren't starting an in-home daycare, you just want to babysit 1 or 2 kids. Don't tell people you are starting a "daycare". Just start putting the word out that you want to earn some extra cash and are available for babysitting before and after school and would consider infants (or whatever age you want).

This is terrible advice. Even watching one child in her home makes her an in-home daycare. Since she is so passionate about children then she understands that’s a children’s health and safety are the priority which means being licensed. Licensing means the fire marshal comes to your home to make sure you have working smoke detectors, safe aggressive for the children. This does not off always mean one exit, it means being fingerprinted and having an FBI background check.

Depending on your state you can be fined and immediately shut down which puts your clients without care until you get a license.

You seem passionate and smart which tells me it will not be difficult for you to get a license and I might be mistaken but you do not always need a fence.

It also means all people living in the house will be registered and background checked which is very important if the DH is working at home. It protects everyone.

OP here. I agree with all of this, but I don't want to go through the process if I know I will fail because of the fence requirement. It definitely takes a particular person to even consider in-home. Another option is waiting until my kids are in school and finding a PT nanny job. I have also been thinking about going to school to become an esthetician. I would love to open up my spa at my house.

You keep avoiding the question of where you live. No one is going to identify you by simply answering what state you’re in. But if you’re running an illegal daycare you better believe one of your neighbors is going to call it in and complain about you. It happens a lot and you get fined and shut down. if you have the option to wait then wait. You could also just install a fence and that opens up your possibility to be licensed which will bring you a nice salary and business opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I keep coming back to give you advice, but … A daycare is a legitimate business. Being licensed gives you more of a leg to stand on regarding contract with parents, exclusion for sick children and payments. I see a lot of in-home daycare's run in a wishy-washy manner which attract wishy-washy parents and result in payment disputes etc. Trust me when I say you want to do this the right way.

OP here. Oh, I know. I met a lot of anti-vax parents, weird diet restrictions that commercial daycares would never put up with. I want to get licensed, but the fence requirement will be an issue since I live in a townhouse community. It's a no-go unless I move to a single-family house.

On the other hand, my deck is above the back exit area, so I could maybe get away with putting a fence up if it's only in that area? My balcony deck is large and fenced. I guess we could use that area as the play area? There's not an exit from the deck. It's a balcony deck. Since my deck is fenced, the neighbors wouldn't see us. I'm not sure if this is a pro or con! The fence is very tall, so the kids won't be able to jump over it, and it's not open so that no one can see in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep coming back to give you advice, but … A daycare is a legitimate business. Being licensed gives you more of a leg to stand on regarding contract with parents, exclusion for sick children and payments. I see a lot of in-home daycare's run in a wishy-washy manner which attract wishy-washy parents and result in payment disputes etc. Trust me when I say you want to do this the right way.

OP here. Oh, I know. I met a lot of anti-vax parents, weird diet restrictions that commercial daycares would never put up with. I want to get licensed, but the fence requirement will be an issue since I live in a townhouse community. It's a no-go unless I move to a single-family house.

On the other hand, my deck is above the back exit area, so I could maybe get away with putting a fence up if it's only in that area? My balcony deck is large and fenced. I guess we could use that area as the play area? There's not an exit from the deck. It's a balcony deck. Since my deck is fenced, the neighbors wouldn't see us. I'm not sure if this is a pro or con! The fence is very tall, so the kids won't be able to jump over it, and it's not open so that no one can see in.

There are probably major rules against using a townhouse deck as a play area because of the fall risk, even with a high fence. There is also the issue of making sure it is properly maintained and won't collapse, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep coming back to give you advice, but … A daycare is a legitimate business. Being licensed gives you more of a leg to stand on regarding contract with parents, exclusion for sick children and payments. I see a lot of in-home daycare's run in a wishy-washy manner which attract wishy-washy parents and result in payment disputes etc. Trust me when I say you want to do this the right way.

OP here. Oh, I know. I met a lot of anti-vax parents, weird diet restrictions that commercial daycares would never put up with. I want to get licensed, but the fence requirement will be an issue since I live in a townhouse community. It's a no-go unless I move to a single-family house.

On the other hand, my deck is above the back exit area, so I could maybe get away with putting a fence up if it's only in that area? My balcony deck is large and fenced. I guess we could use that area as the play area? There's not an exit from the deck. It's a balcony deck. Since my deck is fenced, the neighbors wouldn't see us. I'm not sure if this is a pro or con! The fence is very tall, so the kids won't be able to jump over it, and it's not open so that no one can see in.

. Without knowing where you live I can’t help you but a fence is not always required. Your balcony seems like a fine option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You aren't starting an in-home daycare, you just want to babysit 1 or 2 kids. Don't tell people you are starting a "daycare". Just start putting the word out that you want to earn some extra cash and are available for babysitting before and after school and would consider infants (or whatever age you want).

This is terrible advice. Even watching one child in her home makes her an in-home daycare. Since she is so passionate about children then she understands that’s a children’s health and safety are the priority which means being licensed. Licensing means the fire marshal comes to your home to make sure you have working smoke detectors, safe aggressive for the children. This does not off always mean one exit, it means being fingerprinted and having an FBI background check.

Depending on your state you can be fined and immediately shut down which puts your clients without care until you get a license.

You seem passionate and smart which tells me it will not be difficult for you to get a license and I might be mistaken but you do not always need a fence.

It also means all people living in the house will be registered and background checked which is very important if the DH is working at home. It protects everyone.

OP here. I agree with all of this, but I don't want to go through the process if I know I will fail because of the fence requirement. It definitely takes a particular person to even consider in-home. Another option is waiting until my kids are in school and finding a PT nanny job. I have also been thinking about going to school to become an esthetician. I would love to open up my spa at my house.

You keep avoiding the question of where you live. No one is going to identify you by simply answering what state you’re in. But if you’re running an illegal daycare you better believe one of your neighbors is going to call it in and complain about you. It happens a lot and you get fined and shut down. if you have the option to wait then wait. You could also just install a fence and that opens up your possibility to be licensed which will bring you a nice salary and business opportunity.

She lives in a community with an HOA. So fences are usually out of the question. Unless she's taking care of many kids, which she said she's not interested in doing, then no, it's not illegal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep coming back to give you advice, but … A daycare is a legitimate business. Being licensed gives you more of a leg to stand on regarding contract with parents, exclusion for sick children and payments. I see a lot of in-home daycare's run in a wishy-washy manner which attract wishy-washy parents and result in payment disputes etc. Trust me when I say you want to do this the right way.

OP here. Oh, I know. I met a lot of anti-vax parents, weird diet restrictions that commercial daycares would never put up with. I want to get licensed, but the fence requirement will be an issue since I live in a townhouse community. It's a no-go unless I move to a single-family house.

On the other hand, my deck is above the back exit area, so I could maybe get away with putting a fence up if it's only in that area? My balcony deck is large and fenced. I guess we could use that area as the play area? There's not an exit from the deck. It's a balcony deck. Since my deck is fenced, the neighbors wouldn't see us. I'm not sure if this is a pro or con! The fence is very tall, so the kids won't be able to jump over it, and it's not open so that no one can see in.

. Without knowing where you live I can’t help you but a fence is not always required. Your balcony seems like a fine option.

I live in PA. Recently moved to PA from VA. From what I can see online, I would need a license to take care of more than two infants or three toddlers. I need to dig up more info about the barrier requirements.

[Anonymous]

PA is a completely different ball game. I found this quick self-assessment for licensing but you might not need to be licensed if you’re only watching two children. I’ll leave you to do the in depth research.