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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Doing Daycare In Your Basement
TwinMama 01:17 PM 02-24-2017
Do any of you do daycare in your basement?

If so, do you have lunch and nap time down there?

Do you have an entrance in your basement, or do you just have the parents come downstairs to drop off and pick up?
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Sumshine 01:29 PM 02-24-2017
Originally Posted by TwinMama:
Do any of you do daycare in your basement?

If so, do you have lunch and nap time down there?

Do you have an entrance in your basement, or do you just have the parents come downstairs to drop off and pick up?
I do in the basement of my split level.

There is a patio door to my backyard but parents come through the front and drop them off upstairs where we eat breakfast and pick up downstairs where the general daycare area is.

It has it s own bathroom and bedroom. We only venture up for meals. I prep the night before so it's just reheating or something that takes 5 minures to throw together. The kiddos sit and wait and we talk while I serve

I really like the designated space! My DH and son do too! It helps so much to have your own space that isn't all daycare and it's nice to go upstairs at the end of the day and feel "done" with the daycare.

Check with your state regs I know the only reason why I can do mine down there is because it has the patio door and big enough windows to escape with a fire. My licensor told me practice drills out the patio door not the front door because even though it's only a few steps up it's still on a different level!

I don't know if you can do daycare in a true basement???
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Unregistered 01:35 PM 02-24-2017
Iam set up in the basement ofy split level home. Parents come in the front door and straight downstairs. I have a full bath and we made a small kitchen are with a fridge and table. There is also a nap area separate from the play area. I have a walk out basement door that goes right to the fenced in back yard.

It's great because it is 100% seperate from my personal space. Daycare parents, kids, toys never come upstairs!
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Jupadia 03:59 PM 02-24-2017
I do my daycare from the basment. We have 2 large rooms down there one is for the family we call it our movie room / daycare storage for beds and highchairs (but right now it's realy just not used much). For the most part the kids don't go into it but I'll use it for the babies who nap in the am. We use to use it for a tv show once a week but now we bought a new TV and wall mounted in the daycare so we can do something with the other room.

My main daycare space is one room I have foam mats most of the floor over laminit flooring. I use a small dinning table and a light kid size ones for the kids to eat on or do activities play on. I bring thd high chairs into the room at lunch and snacks. The older kids nap in this room and the babies come in from the other room around thd time they drop morning nap.
I have a kitchen in the basment as well so I'm lucky. I make the food there and just carry in everything once the kids have sat on a tray.
Also have a washroom down there.
My entrance is my backdoor that leads onto a very xmall landing with 3 stairs thank go up or the rest that go down. Because of this I've set up bench in thd kitchen that the stairs lead to. Shoes are allowed in thd kitchen for this reason I don't want kid or parent tumbling down them trying to put shoes on. I have bBy gate j put across the door to the playroom from thd kitchen so I czn see the entrance and kitchen / bathroom door from the playroom entrance. Under the stairs there enough room for cubbies and hooks to store the kids stuff.
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debbiedoeszip 04:11 PM 02-24-2017
My house is a bungalow and the daycare space is on the lower level. At one end of the playroom is a kitchenette (fridge, counter, microwave; cooked food is made in advance upstairs and reheated in the microwave), there is a large bathroom off the playroom, and down a small hallway is another room that we use as a nap room. I'm lucky that the house is built on a hill and so the lower level isn't really a basement. In the playroom there are patio doors which open to the backyard, and there is a picture window that looks out onto the backyard.
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TwinMama 05:47 AM 02-25-2017
My basement is finished with a kitchenette, movie theatre, and large windows. We don't have an exit, but the windows are large enough that we can get out of the basement if needed.

I'm just trying to decide my process for pick up and drop off. Do I have the parents text me when they're on their way? I'd rather not just leave my front door unlocked.

My husband also thought about a camera, but that would leave the parents standing out in the cold or rain until I ran up there.
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Gemma 08:26 AM 02-25-2017
Originally Posted by TwinMama:
Do any of you do daycare in your basement?

If so, do you have lunch and nap time down there?

Do you have an entrance in your basement, or do you just have the parents come downstairs to drop off and pick up?
I do everything down in the basement!
I have a separate back entrance the parents use to get to and from the daycare.
This setup is great, but it didn't work so good at first (kids/parents misbehavior), I had to restructure, and minimize pick up and drop off time, It's worked out great ever since!
I welcome the kids at the door (upstairs) whenever I can, and I have the kids sitting by the door, ready to go at pick up. ...why oh why didn't I think of doing this years ago, it would've saved me so much aggravation and having to term.
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Meeko 01:22 PM 02-26-2017
My basement is all daycare. We have an outside, separate entrance and there is no reason for parents to ever go upstairs.

Licensing still have to take a peek upstairs, but it's just that. They spend a second or two looking in the upstairs rooms. All they are looking for is children who are not supposed to be there and to check I don't have a loaded machine gun on the couch etc. I have no outlet covers etc upstairs. I have no young children of my own (my youngest is 20) so it is not childproofed in any way. It's the way I like it! I go upstairs at the end of the day and leave work behind.
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