How difficult is it to have your own home-based daycare?

[Anonymous]

With my 4 year old and almost 2 year old going to be home I’m wondering about taking on a friend’s kids. Is this insane?

[Anonymous]

Where do you live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do you live?

Maryland

[Anonymous]

You really need to do your research - licensing, insurance, contracts, etc to start.

But also considerthe ramifications of your friendship - resentment, too much of a good thing, feeling unappreciated, bitter your friend dropped off her visibly snooty nosed kid/coughing kid come Winter time, her kids tend to eat all your food despite their own snacks, etc.

And your own kids - playdate are fun, but having their friends over every.single.day.of.the.week.all.day.long gets old really fast. The novelty wears off after a week.

How old are your friend's kids? How many hours/days a week does your friend need childcare coverage?

Your intentions to help out and the attitude of "this could be fun and I can pocket some cash" are good, but not realistic.

[Anonymous]

It takes a dab of insanity and a great deal of patience (mostly for the clients) to be a home daycare provider. Most close up within the first year. It is a lot of work at the start, but pretty awesome once you have things like your contract, policies, routine, programming and set up mostly done, and just needing tweaking. Tip: never to take on clients who are your friends, family or neighbors you can see from your property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You really need to do your research - licensing, insurance, contracts, etc to start.

But also considerthe ramifications of your friendship - resentment, too much of a good thing, feeling unappreciated, bitter your friend dropped off her visibly snooty nosed kid/coughing kid come Winter time, her kids tend to eat all your food despite their own snacks, etc.

And your own kids - playdate are fun, but having their friends over every.single.day.of.the.week.all.day.long gets old really fast. The novelty wears off after a week.

How old are your friend's kids? How many hours/days a week does your friend need childcare coverage?

Your intentions to help out and the attitude of "this could be fun and I can pocket some cash" are good, but not realistic.

It’s a lot of work and long hours. Think 6:30-5 or 6. It’s not so fun.

[Anonymous]

In Maryland, difficult. The process to get licensed takes almost a year.

[Anonymous]

Lots of work/classes and so many regulations to follow. Hard to take vacations.

[Anonymous]

my neighbors (20 somethings decided to up and start a summer camp in their backyard last week with 15 small children). Please don't do this to your neighbors and yourself! By the end of the week, they were throwing rocks over the fence and slapping each other and the girls w no training kept bribing them w cookies. It was fun for about an hour the first day.

[Anonymous]

especially now, the licensing regulations are quite strict. You need classes, you need background checks for everyone in the house, you need menus that meet the nutrition guidelines, you need snacks every 3 hours you are open, your home needs to be set up with fire exits and no hazards, you need to clearly set out what your vacation/sick policy is and operating hours, you need to meet the new COVID guidelines, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:especially now, the licensing regulations are quite strict. You need classes, you need background checks for everyone in the house, you need menus that meet the nutrition guidelines, you need snacks every 3 hours you are open, your home needs to be set up with fire exits and no hazards, you need to clearly set out what your vacation/sick policy is and operating hours, you need to meet the new COVID guidelines, etc.

It's harder now with COVID, yes, but frankly the rest of it isn't hard. In Md, one doesn't even need a high school diploma or be proficient in English, so there's hard with regard to training. There's a lot of front loading....the house or residence has to follow a list, there's limit to how many kids, there's background checks...so what? ..you give fingerprints and they run a check. Yes, you do need yo have a policy about sick, vacation, a back up, of course. The kids have to have vaccinations, yes, you supply food and snacks. You aren't being checked as much as the house situation. Your expertise, experience, your demeanor, behavior is never checked, nor is anyone in your family. Classes? Not really- there's an initial 20 hour online video, and depending on the age of kids , a couple more such as "giving medication" or "SIDS."

Is there a check? One or even every two years, someone from the county will come to your house and check those basic things. Whether or not YOU are good at this, or anything about what goes on in your house the rest of the year with no other adult watching is never monitored unless someone files a complaint or something happens.

I know someone who should never be doing this, and yet has for many years. These kids are a paycheck. She hates it, she's isolated, she complains about the parents all day, she feels less than, and I doubt anyone knows that part of the job. There are other providers who excel at this type of arrangement, so it depends on the person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Maryland, difficult. The process to get licensed takes almost a year.

I wonder if they'd expedite the process due to the current crisis.

[Anonymous]

You can make good money