Overnight Daycare

[jamesandlindz]

Hello,

My wife and I have been putting some serious consideration into opening up our own nighshift/overnight daycare. We both currently work in the medical field and she has experience with respite care.

I wanted to get some peoples opinions about how realistically a business model that catered solely (initially at least) to overnight care. I have tried to search my local are (Seattle) and it's nearly impossible to find anything like this. It appears there may be an unmet need for some overnight childcare in our area (Seattle). We would cater to 6-12 year old primarily, and offer drop off and pickup times of 5 PM to 9 AM.

Does this sound like a reasonable goal or a pipe dream?

What should we reasonably expect in terms of payment for an overnight stay?

Anyone with any experience have any words of wisdom to the uninitiated?

Thank you,

James and Lindsey

[Michael]

Welcome to the forum. Here are some related posts: http://daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=overnight+care

[nannyde]

It's a tough one.

There's not really a market for it where I live because the kids are sleeping during that time. It's not hard to find someone to watch their kid for cheap if the kid is sleeping.

I did 24 hour care for about 15 years and I never got a purely overnight kid. I got a few that were after school to early morning but only a handful.

Most people who want overnight care also want you to keep the kid till noon (nap time) so they can go home and sleep. Noon pick ups basically mean still giving a lot of hours of awake time. Noon pick ups also translate into a LOT of times they just don't come and get the kid and you can't get ahold of them. Once you do get ahold of them it's many hours later and they have the alarm clock overslept excuse ready for you.

You also get many requests to keep the kid up really late. Any time there is anything special like Friday, Saturday, or holiday, vacation etc. the parents and child want a really late bedtime. If the kid is not in school they want a really late bedtime a lot.

They want the kid to sleep in as late as possible in the morning.

I have one child that comes overnight. He is 5 years old now. He is dropped off at 7:30pm, His mom works till 2am, then goes home and sleeps. She picks him up at 10am the next day. This is only 2 nights a week. It is really easy care to provide. He comes right at bed time, I ask that he is already in pj's and feed. I put him to bed when my kids go to bed (8pm). He gets up, has breakfast and before I know it his mom is here to get him. She has never been late.

I think this service is very valuable for people that don't have family close by and have to work at night.

In fact, I would only do this kind of care if I could. But right now I don't have the sleeping space. I would think that it would take sometime to build a clientele, but once your name got out there to people that work graveyard shifts you would be full.
Good luck!

Originally Posted by Growing1atime

I have one child that comes overnight. He is 5 years old now. He is dropped off at 7:30pm, His mom works till 2am, then goes home and sleeps. She picks him up at 10am the next day. This is only 2 nights a week. It is really easy care to provide. He comes right at bed time, I ask that he is already in pj's and feed. I put him to bed when my kids go to bed (8pm). He gets up, has breakfast and before I know it his mom is here to get him. She has never been late.

I think this service is very valuable for people that don't have family close by and have to work at night.

In fact, I would only do this kind of care if I could. But right now I don't have the sleeping space. I would think that it would take sometime to build a clientele, but once your name got out there to people that work graveyard shifts you would be full.
Good luck!

Oh, and I charge my normal daily rate. I would find out what daycare is costing in your area and charge that rate. Even though they are asleep you are still responsible for them.

[christinaskids]

I have some overnight kids also. I charge my normal rate and i love it. I have all older kids and they are a part of my family while they are here.

[daycare]

Originally Posted by Growing1atime

Oh, and I charge my normal daily rate. I would find out what daycare is costing in your area and charge that rate. Even though they are asleep you are still responsible for them.

Just curious how do you offer overnight care? I thought about doing this as my husband works in the medical field and lots of friends ask me. BUT becuase I am in CA, that would mean that I would have to be awake the entire time the child is here.

Do you have a helper or an assistant?

[e.j.]

Sounds like a good idea if there is a need in your community. I'd be curious, though, as to how it would work for the age group you're interested in since they'd all be school age. How does pick up time mesh with their need to be at school? Would you have to make sure they're dressed and ready for school? Would traportation to school be the parent's responsibility or would you offer that service if they can't get to your house on time after they leave work? Do you have a bus stop nearby and what would happen if they missed the bus? Does it mean you'd have to help with homework if needed?

[christinaskids]

I shower my dc kids the night before then their mom picks them up by 7 and brings them to school. All they do is go home and eat breakfast. It depends on if you want to bring them to school or not. I would charge for before school services also if you did that.

Originally Posted by daycare

Just curious how do you offer overnight care? I thought about doing this as my husband works in the medical field and lots of friends ask me. BUT becuase I am in CA, that would mean that I would have to be awake the entire time the child is here.

Do you have a helper or an assistant?

I honestly didn't know that I had to be awake the entire time he is here. I looked over Title 22 very carefully and there isn't anything in there that says I would have to. Do you know what part of Title 22 says you have to be away the entire time?