I am new also to this forum and have been reading all the threads about this subject. First , I AM an unlicensed home daycare provider going on 28 years now. I first started to do daycare as a favor to a friend years ago when my kids were toddlers. It was just her child and my own, 2 boys. I really enjoyed it and decided to make it my career as I love kids. Checked into being licensed and found out how much it would cost me, which at that time we did not have the money for me to do that and we would have had to changed a lot of things with the house, which we also couldn't afford. So therefor I decided to not be licensed, my choice. For 28 yrs now, I have had no complaints from parents about this and have had NO accidents to the children while in my care.I guess I have tried to be more careful about safety with the kids because I am not licensed. I only have ever taken care of 2 at a time, which is legal. Yes. licensed providers are checked out by the state and can have more children, but I BELIEVE that you can not give the kids the attention that they need and deserve when you have a ton of kids in your care. I have seen licensed providers let kids be in wet and poopy diapers for hours because they can't get to all of them when they need to be changed. That is one thing I am religious about, is that when they are wet or messy, they get changed right away,I only have 2 kids, so I have the time.

What I am trying to say is, that we are just as good providers as licensed providers, and it is up to you as parents to feel comfortable with your provider and trust her no matter if she is licensed or not, it is your gut feelings at an interview and the first few days of care that should tell you if you picked a good provider. I always tell parents to use their first impression of the provider and your gut feelings, if you feel comfortable or not. We are as good a providers as licensed ones, so don't put us down!!!

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