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JeepGirl6 04:02 PM 11-08-2013
My son is 3 months old. I care for a 9 month old, an 18 month old and a 3 year old right now. I will have two 2 year olds, both will be part time,2 days a week.

I have a family that wants an interview with me next week. She has a 6 week old. When she needs child care to start by son and her infant will be 2 months apart. My son will be 4 months, her child 2 months.

I need this family. They will be 5 days a week too which is what I really need, full time.

I am wondering if this will be too much on me though with having my son and another newborn.

Has any of you took on another newborn right after having your own?

Was it difficult? Any advice/opinions would be great

Thanks
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Josiegirl 04:17 PM 11-08-2013
I can only have 2 under 2 at any given time. I've had 2 older babies at one time, such as 8 and 9 months. But never 2 such little ones with so many other young ones. I know it's not something I would or could ever take on. Are you not getting any other calls? I think if you possibly could, maybe you should try to hold on until another call comes for an older child. JMO
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daycare 04:17 PM 11-08-2013
Originally Posted by JeepGirl6:
My son is 3 months old. I care for a 9 month old, an 18 month old and a 3 year old right now. I will have two 2 year olds, both will be part time,2 days a week.

I have a family that wants an interview with me next week. She has a 6 week old. When she needs child care to start by son and her infant will be 2 months apart. My son will be 4 months, her child 2 months.

I need this family. They will be 5 days a week too which is what I really need, full time.

I am wondering if this will be too much on me though with having my son and another newborn.

Has any of you took on another newborn right after having your own?

Was it difficult? Any advice/opinions would be great

Thanks
I have never done this, but what I would do if I were you was try it out with a 2-3 week paid trial.

just be very open about your concerns and let them know that during the trial you both will get a chance to see that it is going to work out or not.

if it does not work out, then you will know.
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cheerfuldom 06:35 PM 11-08-2013
I think you will regret spending your days caring for another infant instead of your own son. I would highly suggest you not take any other small ones until your son is at least sitting on his own and maybe around 6 months but the closer you can get to a year, the better. Were you planning on letting anyone go in favor of taking this full time little one? Just from having four bio. kids while doing daycare, I learned the hard way how many small ones to take and to keep it at my own child only till they were one year old, if at all possible. Before you know it, your baby will be a toddler and I really think you might regret being so busy while he was small.
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EchoMom 07:11 AM 11-10-2013
I started daycare when my ds was 4 months. I had another 4 month old dck only 10 days apart in age and another 3 month old. I also had 2 year olds. I had no problem with it except that it was physically hard on my back to carry them so much.
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MNMum 02:17 PM 11-10-2013
I know from experience that it did not work for me to have another infant with my own. I think I could do it if they were both older infants, but not the under 9 mo crowd. When my 2nd child was 2 mos, I started caring for a 5 mo old. I could do it physically, but I felt like I was not able to devote the amount of time I wanted with my own. Right now I have a 4 mo old of my own, I get infant calls all the time, and nothing else. But I keep saying no. Either a 2 and up will come along, or I just will not have the extra income right now.
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TwinKristi 09:17 PM 11-10-2013
Yeah ratio wise this doesn't look like its possible. You would have 4 under 2yrs plus 1-3 extras. In my state we can only have 4 infants only or 3 infants and 3 over 2 or a total of 8 with 2 under 2, and at least 2 school aged. So I'm not sure how your state does it but that's first and foremost. Second is your own family and if you feel you could adequately care for so many littles at once. It sucks when it's a FT family that could really help your situation. Unless one of the other infants isn't FT and you can let them go saying you need FT not PT than I don't know how it will work.
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Margarete 11:11 PM 11-10-2013
I was taking care of twins part time 6 months older then my daughter, but I didn't have any older kids. The twins were 3 months old when I started taking care of them, took some time off after my daughter was born, and then started watching the 3 together, but they were about 1 year (daughter 6 months) before they went full time. Yes it was a lot of work, but it gets easier, as you become used to it, and they get older, and the time goes by so quickly. I found because they had playmates they grew up with so close to their age they could interact pretty well together... I had to do more entertaining of my daughter when they were gone.
They all learned to self feed pretty quickly, so that helped, and diapers are easy. I love how when one was trying out new things the others wanted to join in.
I wanted to share my perspective, I really enjoyed it, it's hard to believe it's been 3 years, but yes it also made me appreciate the time I had with just my daughter more too. Does that make sense.

... actually there were some days here and there when I had 2-3 more kids, with some older. Those days were definitely more exhausting.. I fed the younger ones in shifts and the young ones napped at different times (napped and ate when they needed it), which meant less young kids at a time, but no break. My husband does a great job in allowing me some down time after he is done with work though so it was doable. You definitely NEED some down time in your day.
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Margarete 11:38 PM 11-10-2013
Oh and one more tip for multiple little ones, be very aware of when they are going to get hungry, and tired (look for early cues, and know their patterns). Feed them a bit earlier if needed so they aren't all frantically hungry (and seeing you feed another) at the same time, or get overly tired. That is the most stressful part of the day, especially if they are all hungry and tired at the same time (it will happen a few times)... but then you take care of them, and before you know it they are all sleeping, and you can relax again.

The 2-3 week trial period is a good idea. You will have a good handle on if it's going to work for you, your baby, and the rest of your group by then. Group dynamics plays a big role. Do your older ones play well together? Are they going to want to help? Is their help going to actually be helpful or get in the way and make it more difficult?
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Scout 04:01 AM 11-11-2013
Yes, believe we can only have 3 under age 2.
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JeepGirl6 08:20 AM 11-11-2013
The 18 month old will be moving December 14th so he will leave before the infant starts. I have no clue what to do :-/ Financially this child will really help our family, $700 a month is a lot to turn away. I really wish I could find a child 2+. My husband really wants me to take the infant because of the $ and the infant will be with me longer. I hope something else pops up between now and the middle of December when they would need me to start.

I have cared for two newborns before but now I have my own so I feel it will be different.
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TwinKristi 01:54 PM 11-11-2013
Originally Posted by JeepGirl6:
The 18 month old will be moving December 14th so he will leave before the infant starts. I have no clue what to do :-/ Financially this child will really help our family, $700 a month is a lot to turn away. I really wish I could find a child 2+. My husband really wants me to take the infant because of the $ and the infant will be with me longer. I hope something else pops up between now and the middle of December when they would need me to start.

I have cared for two newborns before but now I have my own so I feel it will be different.
Well if you're losing the 18 month old I think it might be a good thing to at least TRY. Give them a 2wk trial and see how it goes.
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