Interested in starting an In-Home daycare in Arlington in my rental property ( or second home)...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't trust a daycare run out of a condo by someone who is more interested in nursing their own baby.

I thought lots of these in home daycares usually start because someone is staying home to watch their own kid(s)!

Doesn't mean they're places you want to send your own child, especially if a fly by night operation just for a year and in a little condo.

OP here. Sorry, to clarify the baby would be about 6-9 months before I would consider starting this. It’s not like it would be round the clock nursing at that age!

I thought the appeal for parents would be:

Caregiver with teaching license
Ability to drive/walk to local parks and activities
Less exposure to covid than with traditional daycare
Designated space — condo is about 900 sq feet and no one would be living there so there wouldn’t suspiciously be any TV in the middle of the children’s play space like every in-home place I ever toured !

How are you going to transport all these non-walking kids to the park on your own? Seems dangerous.

Seriously? There are moms who have 3 kids who manage. This is a ridiculous concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:250/week a kid is pretty cheap. I think going rate is around 350/week. You might get takers for that rate even with all the yellow flags

Yellow flags?
Have you ever toured any in-home daycares?! Many of the places I saw had a mega tvs in the playroom and practically zero toys. Another place had a security camera so caregiver could see parents walking up for pickup ( and I’m assuming quickly turn of the tv). Some of the in-homes I saw were pretty dirty, which made me lose all faith in county “licensing”

It totally depends on where the home is located and how much space and amenities. I've seen some bad ones that went for $200 that I still would not send my child to, and also $500 ones I thought was overpriced even though they allocated a huge lower floor of the house. The qualifications of the teacher/homeowner and the impression of the person makes a difference on what I'm willing to spend more than the absence or presence of a window in the basement or number of toys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...what do I need to know? And does running it out of my rental property ( or my second home) make it different for licensing purposes?

I’ll be having another child this spring so was thinking about creative ways to stay home with the kiddo for the first year. . During the year I teach for local school system but the job has zero flexibility ( in terms of the schedule... plus for someone who wants to breastfeed for a year it would be impossible working and don’t know where I could pump other than some gross closet).

I’d love to stay home with baby for a while so thinking to take a break from teaching all next school year. With the high cost of childcare it wouldn’t be worth it to work part time so thinking about maybe starting an in-home daycare.

About to buy a new house but problem is I know our new home won’t be very big and I wouldn’t want to run an in home daycare out of a duplex or small
Arlington home. Have a condo now that we were planning to turn into a rental but now wondering if I could use that as the place for the in-home care. Would also be appealing because it would help separate “work” from “home”. Mortgage isn’t terrible so think I would only need to watch 2 kids in addition to my own to make it worthwhile. Quick glance at licensing materials talks about running daycare out of own residence.... would make a difference that it is a second residence or rental property?

Or is this idea not practical. Tell me what my pregnant brain isn’t thinking through!

If you're college educated (from a good enough one) and you seem to be caring and make good judgments, I would not care the place is a condo or that you had your own child there. If your curriculum, schedules and other stuff on paper seems organized and well thought put, that helps a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...what do I need to know? And does running it out of my rental property ( or my second home) make it different for licensing purposes?

I’ll be having another child this spring so was thinking about creative ways to stay home with the kiddo for the first year. . During the year I teach for local school system but the job has zero flexibility ( in terms of the schedule... plus for someone who wants to breastfeed for a year it would be impossible working and don’t know where I could pump other than some gross closet).

I’d love to stay home with baby for a while so thinking to take a break from teaching all next school year. With the high cost of childcare it wouldn’t be worth it to work part time so thinking about maybe starting an in-home daycare.

About to buy a new house but problem is I know our new home won’t be very big and I wouldn’t want to run an in home daycare out of a duplex or small
Arlington home. Have a condo now that we were planning to turn into a rental but now wondering if I could use that as the place for the in-home care. Would also be appealing because it would help separate “work” from “home”. Mortgage isn’t terrible so think I would only need to watch 2 kids in addition to my own to make it worthwhile. Quick glance at licensing materials talks about running daycare out of own residence.... would make a difference that it is a second residence or rental property?

Or is this idea not practical. Tell me what my pregnant brain isn’t thinking through!

If you're college educated (from a good enough one) and you seem to be caring and make good judgments, I would not care the place is a condo or that you had your own child there. If your curriculum, schedules and other stuff on paper seems organized and well thought put, that helps a lot.

Yes, the quality of the person's college and the curriculum she developed from said college education are of paramount concerns to me when I pick who will care for my infant or toddler. It doesn't have to be quite an Ivy League school, but I do have standards for diapering changing and bottle feeding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't trust a daycare run out of a condo by someone who is more interested in nursing their own baby.

I thought lots of these in home daycares usually start because someone is staying home to watch their own kid(s)!

Ours was a former nanny, I think many are.

[Anonymous]

I don't think Arlington County will give you a license if it's not in your actual home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How are you going to transport all these non-walking kids to the park on your own? Seems dangerous.

Probably would only work with slightly older kids who can walk. I live very close to a park so that would be easy to get to. Driving— I already have another kid ( who would be gone at K during the day) so would only need to add one more car seat to the mix. Double stroller (with my baby strapped to me) would work for walking to the park.

Your car seat for your K is not likely to fit your charges. Lots of parents also wouldn't be comfortable with you driving.

What you are describing sounds more like a very informal, likely off the books arrangement that some parents might be willing to do if cheap enough. It doesn't really sounds like a licensed daycare operation.

How much do you think you would need to charge to make it worth your while?

Forget the driving then, lol I’m sure no activities will be open next year to drive to anyhow. Honestly doubt I would have any trouble finding two kids to watch as I already have friends (and friends of friends) that are struggling with finding care or are unhappy with their center. I’m more interested in finding out if it is legal to run an in-home out of a second home. But clearly I need to call Arlington to figure that out!

Was still worth it posting here because didn’t think at all about checking with HOA first. Obviously that is the first step!

Are any of them unhappy with their current provider because they want to drag their kids for Kindergarten pickup every day, apparently without a car now, lol

My husband does drop off and my kindergartener is in private that has aftercare. I would just go to “work” doing this instead of my regular job.

Wait. You are a public school teacher with a child in private school? WTH?

[Anonymous]

OP, for one thing, Arlington won't allow you to start an in-home daycare out of a second home. That would obviously not be in your home and therefore does not qualify. It sounds like you want to be a nanny/nanny-share for your children plus one or two others. You don't need a license for that, but I don't think you'd make more money doing that than you would just renting out your condo.

But also...I, personally, would not trust someone that is new to infant/toddler care with my baby. Most of the in-home daycares that I toured (and the ones I chose) were run by women who were former daycare workers or former nannies and none of them had school-aged children (at most they had teenagers who were rarely home). I didn't meet anyone who started their daycare solely because they wanted to stay home with their own children and I would not be comfortable sending my child to a place where the owner had young children.

I would also never send my child to someone who could not offer me several references. The women who do start their own in-homes have tons of references already because they've been taking care of children for years already. Being a school teacher, you may have parents who like you, but they're not references. And no, your friends don't count.

It sounds like you haven't thought this through at all, but no, it's a terrible idea and not legal, anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, for one thing, Arlington won't allow you to start an in-home daycare out of a second home. That would obviously not be in your home and therefore does not qualify. It sounds like you want to be a nanny/nanny-share for your children plus one or two others. You don't need a license for that, but I don't think you'd make more money doing that than you would just renting out your condo.

But also...I, personally, would not trust someone that is new to infant/toddler care with my baby. Most of the in-home daycares that I toured (and the ones I chose) were run by women who were former daycare workers or former nannies and none of them had school-aged children (at most they had teenagers who were rarely home). I didn't meet anyone who started their daycare solely because they wanted to stay home with their own children and I would not be comfortable sending my child to a place where the owner had young children.

I would also never send my child to someone who could not offer me several references. The women who do start their own in-homes have tons of references already because they've been taking care of children for years already. Being a school teacher, you may have parents who like you, but they're not references. And no, your friends don't count.

It sounds like you haven't thought this through at all, but no, it's a terrible idea and not legal, anyway.

One more thing I thought of is that most in-homes are in houses with backyards/play areas. The ones in apartments that I know of are in apartment buildings that have tot lots/playgrounds. Our daycare provider only took the older kids to the park and left the babies/toddlers at home with her assistant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't trust a daycare run out of a condo by someone who is more interested in nursing their own baby.

I thought lots of these in home daycares usually start because someone is staying home to watch their own kid(s)!

Ours was a former nanny, I think many are.

That and former preschool teachers or daycare workers.