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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Business is Sssslllloooowwww
KBCsMommy 09:49 AM 08-05-2013
Seriously slow. I have had 2 open infant spots since June 1st.
I have literally had 2 calls:
Phone call #1 lady has a 5 month old baby, her mother is tired of watching the baby. (side thought grandma needs a 2 week vacation)
Phone call #2 lady is sahm and needs to go to the gym and the gym does not take kids under 6 months old. (side thought drop in infant who screams the entire time they are at my house)
Where are all the new moms at???
I have literally had 2 calls:
Phone call #1 lady has a 5 month old baby, her mother is tired of watching the baby. (side thought grandma needs a 2 week vacation)
Phone call #2 lady is sahm and needs to go to the gym and the gym does not take kids under 6 months old. (side thought drop in infant who screams the entire time they are at my house)
Where are all the new moms at???
Patches 10:02 AM 08-05-2013
I'm in the same boat. I have 4 open spots and really need to fill at least 2 of them.........
daycare 10:05 AM 08-05-2013
Originally Posted by KBCsMommy:
Seriously slow. I have had 2 open infant spots since June 1st.
I have literally had 2 calls:
Phone call #1 lady has a 5 month old baby, her mother is tired of watching the baby. (side thought grandma needs a 2 week vacation)
Phone call #2 lady is sahm and needs to go to the gym and the gym does not take kids under 6 months old. (side thought drop in infant who screams the entire time they are at my house)
Where are all the new moms at???
I am also in CA and have not gotten any bites...I even did a PROMO of 1 week free care and got NOTHING....... ok as I was typing this I get a phone call too funny and it was a good one....Seriously slow. I have had 2 open infant spots since June 1st.
I have literally had 2 calls:
Phone call #1 lady has a 5 month old baby, her mother is tired of watching the baby. (side thought grandma needs a 2 week vacation)
Phone call #2 lady is sahm and needs to go to the gym and the gym does not take kids under 6 months old. (side thought drop in infant who screams the entire time they are at my house)
Where are all the new moms at???
BUT I have not had any bites until this phone call came in....
daycarediva 10:23 AM 08-05-2013
Slowish in NY, too. Had way more interest at this time last year. Usually the calls for SA b/a care are coming in as parents plan ahead to end of camps, or kids needing a prek spot, even infants (which I don't take). I had one call last week for a PT SA kid who wanted to pay as needed. HA.
Unregistered 10:24 AM 08-05-2013
I had 14 openings for 6 months now, in s California, phone calls are rare and weird
nanglgrl 12:09 PM 08-05-2013
I'm in Iowa and things are pretty slow here too. If I took babies and school agers or decided to stay open later I'm sure I could get a few new kids in the door but I still don't think I'd be full.
Quite a few seasoned providers in my area have went out of business this summer because of low enrollment.
I had three interviews scheduled for this week but had to cancel one because I came across the moms posting on a Facebook site where she was looking for care and she used the word cheap in 2 sentences and didn't mention anything about what else she expected from daycare. To me this said her major concern is that where she sends her child is cheap. No thanks. The other 2 interviews I'm keeping but I'm not sure it would work out. One wants to bring her 19 month old child 11:30-3:30 and I'm thinking this child will not want to nap with the rest of the kids. The other interview has canceled and rescheduled once and also has odd hours that would be disruptive to our routine so I don't know if either will work out. I have a waiting list but its full of clients I didn't choose for some reason or another so I'm not desperate enough to call any of them yet!
Right now I have 4 enrolled plus my 2 youngest children and my one will be going to kindergarten next week so I have 7 openings (I'm allowed 12 but since I don't take school agers I have more like 3 openings). It's been a nice, slow summer but I was hoping things would pick up before school started.
Quite a few seasoned providers in my area have went out of business this summer because of low enrollment.
I had three interviews scheduled for this week but had to cancel one because I came across the moms posting on a Facebook site where she was looking for care and she used the word cheap in 2 sentences and didn't mention anything about what else she expected from daycare. To me this said her major concern is that where she sends her child is cheap. No thanks. The other 2 interviews I'm keeping but I'm not sure it would work out. One wants to bring her 19 month old child 11:30-3:30 and I'm thinking this child will not want to nap with the rest of the kids. The other interview has canceled and rescheduled once and also has odd hours that would be disruptive to our routine so I don't know if either will work out. I have a waiting list but its full of clients I didn't choose for some reason or another so I'm not desperate enough to call any of them yet!
Right now I have 4 enrolled plus my 2 youngest children and my one will be going to kindergarten next week so I have 7 openings (I'm allowed 12 but since I don't take school agers I have more like 3 openings). It's been a nice, slow summer but I was hoping things would pick up before school started.
KBCsMommy 12:29 PM 08-05-2013
Maybe the economy is finally catching up to us!
Ive been open for 4 years and have NEVER had a single opening for under 24 months. This is the first time. I hardly ever get calls for over 2 so I never enrolled any. But I have always turned away calls every week for people looking for infant spots.All my infant spots just opened up because the kids aged up to toddlers.
Now I just need people to call .....Come on phone RRRRIIIIINNGGGG!!!
Ive been open for 4 years and have NEVER had a single opening for under 24 months. This is the first time. I hardly ever get calls for over 2 so I never enrolled any. But I have always turned away calls every week for people looking for infant spots.All my infant spots just opened up because the kids aged up to toddlers.
Now I just need people to call .....Come on phone RRRRIIIIINNGGGG!!!
mema 12:29 PM 08-05-2013
Slow here too. I've had a few interviews, but nothing. Either need longer hours than I'm open, want transportation to preschools, don't want to pay for summers or breaks (teachers), or have 1 going into school and 1 younger (I don't do SA). I have heard of numerous closings this summer, but not sure where all the kiddos are going. We have A LOT of ads out in our area, so at least I know I'm not alone. Doesn't make it any easier tho.
spud912 01:33 PM 08-05-2013
When I was advertising, I was getting a lot of calls, but most were not applicable to what I provide.
Here were 90% of my inquiries:
I did end up filling up, but with a lot younger group than I am used to. Today was one of my first days with the youngsters and it's a lot of diaper changing!
Here were 90% of my inquiries:
- Someone with an infant. I don't take infants.
- Super part time, but I had to fill full-time spots.
- People looking for a job
- People wanting discounts
- Families who are on DES, but I don't take DES
- Families with wacky hours outside of my business hours.
- Families who wanted multiple special things I can't provide.
I did end up filling up, but with a lot younger group than I am used to. Today was one of my first days with the youngsters and it's a lot of diaper changing!
mom2many 02:31 PM 08-05-2013
I've been getting nothing but infant calls one right after another...at least a dozen in the past month. I go months without any calls period, so this was crazy! I don't advertise and most of my new families are from word of mouth.
Op where are you in Ca?
Op where are you in Ca?
Familycare71 02:51 PM 08-05-2013
Me too!!! Usually I'm getting calls for fall but not much- not even for infants! I have three open spots 
Sunshine74 08:26 PM 08-05-2013
Our infant room is very low, our toddler room (up to 2yrs) has a few open spots, but the rest of the ages are full. I would gladly share some over 2's or SA (especially them) with any of you.