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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Securing A Position For Expectant Parents
Southern Mama 10:38 PM 10-30-2012
I gave my first home tour yesterday to a couple that are expecting this week. Mom is taking 12 weeks maternity leave. They don't need care until the end of January/beginning of February. I only intend on taking one or two infants, so if they say they want me to hold a spot for their child that leaves me potentially unable to take another infant. What is the best way to go about this. I've seen that some people require 1/2 tuition payments in the event of a prolonged illness, but I don't think I'm comfortable asking that much of them. What are some other options?
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mac60 03:58 AM 10-31-2012
I request 1 $125 to $150 fee, nonrefundable, for holding a spot over 2 weeks.
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SilverSabre25 05:03 AM 10-31-2012
Some people do one days' worth of pay per week.
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JenNJ 05:53 AM 10-31-2012
If I am trying to fill an immediate opening, I charge FULL tuition since I am losing out on full tuition by holding the space. If I am looking to fill a future space, I take a hefty deposit and require the parents to pay monthly for the space (equal to a day per week). This shows continued interest in the space and keeps us communicating with one another.
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Oneluckymom 08:57 AM 10-31-2012
BUT, what if you are holding a spot for an expecting mom whom you are already caring for the older child of?

I have a DCM who will want my open infant spot in may...she is due in november.

I have been getting a lot of calls for that spot, which i can fill now with an older child.

Do I request a holding fee? I do feel a little bad asking for one since I already watch the DCG, however I would be losing a lot of money just keeping it open for her.
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blandino 09:27 AM 10-31-2012
Actually, we've had to work on his policy a lot lately. The best one we have come to, is that we will hold a spot (with a deposit equal to one week's tuition) for up to two weeks. If it is any longer than two weeks, you need to pay full tuition for those weeks. So we tell expectant moms to keep in contact with us, and see if we still have an opening - and when they feel comfortable taking the spot (and assuming financial responsibility for it) they can OR they can wait until two weeks before they need care - and call us to see if we still have a spot and then put down the deposit.

The ony exception is if they are taking the spot of a child we know is leaving at the same time. Then, we ask for a deposit.

Neither option is great, but we have a very strict no holding spots policy. We recently had a mom who we had been in communication with for 8 months, and was super excited to start her child. She was under the impression that we were holding a spot for her (in reality, we had someone leaving when she needed to start) and 3 weeks into care they decided they wanted her mother to keep him full time. So even though she THOUGHT we had held a spot for months, it didn't matter to her - she felt no loyalty. That definitely taught us a lesson.
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MarinaVanessa 09:31 AM 10-31-2012
I only hold a spot if I can't find another client quickly, then if someone wants me to hold a spot I charge a $25 holding fee per week up front and require that a contract be signed, a specific start date decided, and 2 week deposit paid. I've had 2 clients pay the holding fee and then decide for whatever reason that they would not bring their child to the daycare so even though they paid for me to hold the spot I still lost out.

My main goal is to fill the spot as quickly as possible and I let them know that I prefer someone with a sooner start date. I did have one family that paid everything above then kept pushing the start date later and later by 2 weeks at a time until I finally just refunded the 2 week deposit and signed another client on instead.
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