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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Advice On Rates For Different Ages?
Little People 05:01 AM 02-01-2011
Do you charge the same for all ages or do you have different rates? If you have different rates, will you share the rates, ages and your reasons why??
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laundrymom 05:05 AM 02-01-2011
I don't charge different rates for different ages.
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misol 05:30 AM 02-01-2011
I started out charging different rates for different ages but now I charge same base rate for everyone. Any differences to the rates are due to hours in care, not ages of the children. I changed the way I charge after reading other threads on this board regarding the same thing. Expenses do not decrease as the child ages. Infants require more hands on care and most of their supplies are provided by the parent. Older children eat more food, use/waste more household supplies, need curriculum materials, potty training, need more toys, you have to pick up after them, etc. The care that is provided to each age group is different but the associated "cost" whether it's time or money, definitely does not decrease.

Note: My contract still has areas that read as if I charge different rates for different ages but since it still makes sense I left it in there in case I ever change my mind
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lil angels 06:12 AM 02-01-2011
I charge more for infants $20 a week more for full time. Just because the demand is so high that it is easy to get it and when they are 18 months I go down the $20 because that is more what people are charging for that age. by then a family seems to have stuck with you and they are here till school then.
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jen 06:32 AM 02-01-2011
No difference here either...BUT people in my area are charging $50 or more a week for infants. I don't, but it is a good money maker since those spots are so hard to comeby!
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littlemonkeys 06:33 AM 02-01-2011
Originally Posted by misol:
Any differences to the rates are due to hours in care, not ages of the children. I changed the way I charge after reading other threads on this board regarding the same thing. Expenses do not decrease as the child ages. Infants require more hands on care and most of their supplies are provided by the parent. Older children eat more food, use/waste more household supplies, need curriculum materials, potty training, need more toys, you have to pick up after them, etc. The care that is provided to each age group is different but the associated "cost" whether it's time or money, definitely does not decrease.
These are my exact reasons for not having rate differences for age.
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Blackcat31 06:40 AM 02-01-2011
I charge the same rate for different ages but I charge differently based on hours of care needed.

My state assistant program though pays a different amount ofr each age group with infants (up to 1 yr) having the highest rate and toddlers next, follwed by prechoolers and SA'ers gettting the lowest rate payable.

If I HAD to do it on a scale based on age, I would do it the exact opposite because the littles don't break things and go through massive amounts of craft supplies and toiletries.....plus the littles only cry not sass....
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nannyde 06:53 AM 02-01-2011
For me they get harder as they get older.

Newborns are the easiest and school agers are the hardest.
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DBug 09:38 AM 02-01-2011
I learned the hard way, by starting out with an infant rate that was $25 higher per week than the toddler rate. Over the past year, all of my infants turned 2, and their rates went down. My income went down by $100 PER WEEK!

My advice: charge the same thing for each spot. With the cost of living increasing and parents getting raises every year, there's no reason why your pay should potentially be decreasing.

Now, if you wanted to charge more as the kids get older ... that might be an idea
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lvt77 09:57 AM 02-01-2011
well here in CA I can have 4 infants and no other kids, or I can have 8 kids, 6 toddlers and 2 school agers, so it makes sense for me to charge more.
I also charge a higher rate for p/ters as its almost impossible for me to fill in the other days.
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Abigail 10:59 AM 02-01-2011
LVT, can't you have any infants if you have 8 children or do they have to be only infants?

I am not charging based on age, why take a pay cut after a year? With limits on the number of children you have to set rates on what you want your annual income to be. I would charge the flat weekly rate for all ages. If I have a lot of infant inquiries then I would only raise the infant rate because those are limited to three here and are considered infants until the age of 24 months in a home daycare setting. I would charge more for any part time children with the same concept in mind.

Examples:
Full time 24 months+ $125 ($2.77/hour @ 45 hour=$25/day)
Part time (3 days) 24+ months $90 ($3.33/hour @ 27 hours=$30/day)

Full time 6 weeks-23 months $140 ($3.11/hour @ 45 hours=$28/day)
Part time (3 days) 6 weeks-23 months $100 (3.67/hour @ 27 hours=$33/day)

Really, I just raised the part time rates by $5 per day per child. No discounts. I also raised the rates for infant age group by 10% (close just rounded numbers to get even weekly rates). If I am unable to fill up, then I will end up with just the 24+month group and lower the rates for infants. The $125/week here is competitive so I can't see how I would be at a loss. Besides, by the time those infants "graduate" the rates will already have gone up 10% so I really wouldn't lose income.
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lvt77 11:00 AM 02-01-2011
Originally Posted by Abigail:
LVT, can't you have any infants if you have 8 children or do they have to be only infants?
Yes and NO...Yes per lic. No becuase I teach. If I had infants I would not be able to teach my program to the olders. I only have one infant and is here only on Friday for a few hours with older bro. I dont teach during this time
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lvt77 06:03 PM 02-01-2011
I charge a higher rate for non potty trained kids
Reason is that I can't begin to tell you how many blankets I have to wash, carpets I have to scrub, mats I have to scrub when a child has an accident during nap or play time. Ive had kids poop on my bathroom rug pee on my carpet and so until they can put it in the toilet I charge extra for all the extra cleaning supplies and after hours cleaning I have to do to sanitize the daycare so that it can open the next day. I don't see this as an income loss once they potty train because I will be buying less supplies.Sorry for the run on sentence I'm on my phone. Lol
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nannyde 03:39 AM 02-02-2011
The ADA requires child care programs to make accommodations in the areas described in
Question 10 unless:
• In cases of changes in policies, practices or procedures, the accommodation would
fundamentally alter the nature of the program or services offered;21
© 2009, Child Care Law Center 2/5/09
4
In the case of auxiliary aids and services, the accommodation would
fundamentally alter the nature of the program or pose an undue burden (i.e.,
pose a significant difficulty or expense
);22

When you have a small group and a childs medical and psychological needs require a level of care that removes the adult away from the nature of the program or the nature of the services then you are not required to care for that child.

You have to be able to properly care for the child AND be compensated for EVERTYHING you do in your business. The client base HAS to be able to support your entire business. We are NOT required to provide care for free. If a child presents with needs beyond the course of normal care that consume a substantial portion of the services and the client base can not support the extra funding needed to support those services then the provider is not required to care for the child.

Breathing treatments are a perfect example of something that can quickly consume a lot of staff time especially if the child needs them as many as three times per day. In my care I have to assess lung sounds before administration and document. I have to monitor the child's breathing and heart rate during the treatment, and assess lung sounds directly after the treatment and any time after the treatment I deem necessary. Also, I have to do parent conferencing to manage the entire thing: getting medication in the home that is current with current doctors orders, discussing when and IF the child has been given the meds at home, if the child has been given the meds ever, if there is a combination of two or more meds if they can be given together in the same jet or if they are to be given apart and the timing apart. This may take phone calls and orders from the Doc and pharmacy to find out best practice. There is also insurance to consider for specialty medical procedures. Your insurance rates may raise substantially. It is important to get insurance information and ask SPECIFICALLY about being covered for this type of procedure. If the cost of the insurance is beyond the means of your client base you need to take that into consideration also.

This is VERY time consuming and requires hours a day of one to one care. In order to be compensated for it my client base would have to supply at least three/four dollars per day per child to cover my time and expense. A raise increase of this nature would substantially alter my business in that my clients would seek care elsewhere due to the rate increase being beyond their means.

I would need to survey my clients and ask for the rate increase to cover the cost of the service to the child and then get documentation from each client as to whether or not they are willing to assume the additional cost. This information, the attempts to access funding beyond your client base, plus a time study done on the particular child care needs beyond normal care would be the documentation needed to share with parent, DHS, and the DOJ if a discrimination claim was made.

The ADA isn't asking for providers to be uncompensated for additional care. They are wanting you to evaluate whether or not your business can sustain the level of care the child needs. Nobody wants a child in a child care where there isn't funding in place to provide the care the child needs. It's not best for the child or the other children in care.

The ADA is used a LOT in conversations about HAVING to take special needs kids but it is very clear about what a provider needs to do to assess whether or not she can provide the service. Persuing a small one man operation like a home day care who traditionally net very little money per hour at the end of the year isn't something that they spend a lot of time on.

The ADA isn't meant to be a govermental bully that forces you to take kids who have care needs beyond your means or the financial means of your client base. It's always what is the best interest of the child within what you are ABLE to do. Just keep good records and be willing to provide the documentation regarding your decision and be willing to take a stand for the best interest of the kid.

I don't take kids I'm not comfortable caring for or kids that present needs beyond what my very small client base can sustain.
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ninosqueridos 04:06 AM 02-02-2011
Originally Posted by lil angels:
I charge more for infants $20 a week more for full time. Just because the demand is so high that it is easy to get it and when they are 18 months I go down the $20 because that is more what people are charging for that age. by then a family seems to have stuck with you and they are here till school then.
I do the same thing except my difference is $25 per week until age 18 months.
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Newprovider16 12:07 PM 01-03-2019
Originally Posted by lvt77:
well here in CA I can have 4 infants and no other kids, or I can have 8 kids, 6 toddlers and 2 school agers, so it makes sense for me to charge more.
I also charge a higher rate for p/ters as its almost impossible for me to fill in the other days.
I also am in California and it makes sense to charge extra for younger children to me as well. They take up double our capacity limit. (2 infants= one older child)

That being said, I charge a decent rate for older children ($33 preschool, $30 school age)...so even when the kids get older I already set myself up to get paid something I feel is worth it.

I was interested in this discussion because I'm actually thinking of charging an even higher rate for babies under age one. Reason being that even though they can be easy, the regulations regarding safe sleep for infants under one here in California are getting ridiculous. (Extra record keeping, and not allowed to schedule sleep times which means no quiet time, among other new regulations).

I think the state should just pay mom's to stay home a full year of they are going to treat home daycare like a hospital.

Thinking of raising the rate to $45 a day for under age one, and raising the bar to $38/day for kids who are over one but not potty trained.

My rate is already $38/day for under two but the potty training phase is stressful, so I don't think the rate should drop to the $33/day preschool rate until potty trained.

I've already had two kids poop at nap and take off their pull ups in the crib and smear feces everywhere (on several occasions) Parents need an incentive.

Yes, I think you should charge extra for younger.....but make sure the older kids rates are something that makes you happy.
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Blackcat31 02:33 PM 01-03-2019
Originally Posted by Newprovider16:
I also am in California and it makes sense to charge extra for younger children to me as well. They take up double our capacity limit. (2 infants= one older child)

That being said, I charge a decent rate for older children ($33 preschool, $30 school age)...so even when the kids get older I already set myself up to get paid something I feel is worth it.
I am not in CA but I know everything is super expensive there....but I charge more than what you listed and I live in a really rural state/area. I think your rates might be on the low end...depending on where in CA you live though.

Originally Posted by Newprovider16:
I think the state should just pay mom's to stay home a full year of they are going to treat home daycare like a hospital.
How would the state fund that?
Taxpayer money? I do NOT think any one should have to pay for someone else's choice to have a child. Not the state, not the country and certainly not the tax payers.

Children are expensive.

Originally Posted by Newprovider16:
Thinking of raising the rate to $45 a day for under age one, and raising the bar to $38/day for kids who are over one but not potty trained.

My rate is already $38/day for under two but the potty training phase is stressful, so I don't think the rate should drop to the $33/day preschool rate until potty trained.

I've already had two kids poop at nap and take off their pull ups in the crib and smear feces everywhere (on several occasions) Parents need an incentive.
Attaching a lower rate to potty trained kids creates a whole 'nother issue where parents will swear their kid is trained when they aren't. I understand why some providers want to go that route but in my opinion, it's just making things more complicated.

I am limited too on how many infants, toddlers and preschoolers I can have at one time, but I just went the easy route and charge one flat weekly rate for all the spaces no matter what age as each age seems to have it's issues. I like/dislike something about each of the age categories. Except school age kids.... I don't like enough about that age (when mixed with other age groups) to take them.

Welcome to the forum too!
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hwichlaz 03:03 PM 01-03-2019
I charge more for infants, and I don't discount it when they age up, because parents lock in their first contract rate for the duration of care. I raise my rates every two years, by my second rate change, they are coming out ahead.
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Newprovider16 12:38 PM 01-04-2019
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:


How would the state fund that?
Taxpayer money? I do NOT think any one should have to pay for someone else's choice to have a child. Not the state, not the country and certainly not the tax payers.

Children are expensive.



Attaching a lower rate to potty trained kids creates a whole 'nother issue where parents will swear their kid is trained when they aren't.
Thanks for the advice on my rates being low....I have already drawn up a new rate sheet to match my countys maximum state reimbursement, which is just about $45 infants, $40 preschool, and $36 school age. I simply looked it up online to see what the state was maxing out at, and there was an option to select my county.

I did a little bit of research on charging different rates for potty trained versus non potty trained, and 1 idea really made sense to me. One facility defines being potty trained as no accidents at the daycare site for 2 weeks that way the parents aren't the ones that get to say when the kid is potty trained, the center is.

On my idea regarding letting parents stay home for a full year after the birth of a child I think it's a wonderful idea and to be honest with you the state is already paying so much in welfare, daycare subsidies, public schooling etc it just makes more sense to offer that to the parents where the kids are going to be better off, especially if California wants to make the regulations for caring for infants under 1 so strict.I guess what I'm saying is, newsflash people, the taxpayers in the state are already paying a buttload for other people's kids to be taken care of. they can pay up to almost $1,000 a month just for one child to be in child care if the parents schedule warrants it.

In some other developed countries the maternity leave is two years. I fully 100% support seeing that here in the United States in the future because I am a family-centered, child-centered individual who believes in a world where we help each other. And let's face it don't buy into the foolish idea that it's taxpayer against taxpayer let's look at all of our politicians and wealthy Bank owners who are really the ones screwing us over.

And these days women are having fewer and fewer children, so it would only be a short time compared to the 40 years a woman puts into working.

State already pays:
Medical bills for birth/prenatal
Pediatric bills
3 months paid birth/bonding leave (could be $500/week)
Daycare tution (could be up to $1000/month)
Public school ($10,000/year approx)
Welfare for some families (also pays gas to and from work and other expenses)
Financial aid for college roughly $5,000/year PLUS college tuition
Tax refund up to $2000 per kid

Best believe everyone will be applying for financial aid when their kid goes to college, and most everyone gets SOME kind of help for their choice to have kids. I'm kind of Leary of using terms that make Parenthood sound like a curse, or a cross that one must bear alone.
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Blackcat31 12:53 PM 01-04-2019
Originally Posted by Newprovider16:
Thanks for the advice on my rates being low....I have already drawn up a new rate sheet to match my countys maximum state reimbursement, which is just about $45 infants, $40 preschool, and $36 school age. I simply looked it up online to see what the state was maxing out at, and there was an option to select my county.

I did a little bit of research on charging different rates for potty trained versus non potty trained, and 1 idea really made sense to me. One facility defines being potty trained as no accidents at the daycare site for 2 weeks that way the parents aren't the ones that get to say when the kid is potty trained, the center is.

On my idea regarding letting parents stay home for a full year after the birth of a child I think it's a wonderful idea and to be honest with you the state is already paying so much in welfare, daycare subsidies, public schooling etc it just makes more sense to offer that to the parents where the kids are going to be better off, especially if California wants to make the regulations for caring for infants under 1 so strict.I guess what I'm saying is, newsflash people, the taxpayers in the state are already paying a buttload for other people's kids to be taken care of. they can pay up to almost $1,000 a month just for one child to be in child care if the parents schedule warrants it.

In some other developed countries the maternity leave is two years. I fully 100% support seeing that here in the United States in the future because I am a family-centered, child-centered individual who believes in a world where we help each other. And let's face it don't buy into the foolish idea that it's taxpayer against taxpayer let's look at all of our politicians and wealthy Bank owners who are really the ones screwing us over.

And these days women are having fewer and fewer children, so it would only be a short time compared to the 40 years a woman puts into working.

State already pays:
Medical bills for birth/prenatal
Pediatric bills
3 months paid birth/bonding leave (could be $500/week)
Daycare tution (could be up to $1000/month)
Public school ($10,000/year approx)
Welfare for some families (also pays gas to and from work and other expenses)
Financial aid for college roughly $5,000/year PLUS college tuition
Tax refund up to $2000 per kid

Best believe everyone will be applying for financial aid when their kid goes to college, and most everyone gets SOME kind of help for their choice to have kids. I'm kind of Leary of using terms that make Parenthood sound like a curse, or a cross that one must bear alone.
that is great that you can raise your rates! From my recollection they seemed a bit low for your state but I wasn't positive. Glad you can raise them!!

As for the other topic... we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.

I am not supportive of anyone getting something for free that others must pay for. That includes the list of things the state may already be paying for.

I am in the camp of "if you want it, you must work for it and earn it" I don't believe in free rides for anyone.

I believe in opportunities and personal responsibility.
If you (general you) can't afford it, either work for it or learn to live without it.

As for the maternity leave in other countries...contrary to public belief, it's not free.
Someone (individually or collectively) pays for it.
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Msdunny 01:54 PM 01-04-2019
I thought about this when I was considering opening this past fall. I had a friend who has been doing in-home care for 25 years who advised me to charge less for infants and more for older. To me, infants are harder, since they are more hands on, so I was thinking of charging more. I finally decided to just charge a full time/part time rate, and I am happy I made that decision. If I feel like I need more in the future, I will raise my rate across the board. I feel like I am a bit underpriced for my area, but am trying to fill my spots.
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Cat Herder 02:01 PM 01-04-2019
"I fully 100% support seeing that here in the United States in the future because I am a family-centered, child-centered individual who believes in a world where we help each other."

That already exists in other countries. We (broad we) have fought many wars to prevent it from coming here. I am confident the majority will continue to fight it ever happening here.
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