Early Morning Drops..

[lflick]

Hello! I am seeking info from others as to how you handle drop offs prior to 6am. New prospect has to work at 6am thus drop would be 530-540. I do not have set hours but I do do contracted hours. How are you handling these early birds?

[daycare]

Hello! I am seeking info from others as to how you handle drop offs prior to 6am. New prospect has to work at 6am thus drop would be 530-540. I do not have set hours but I do do contracted hours. How are you handling these early birds?

are you willing to work those hours??

[Brooksie]

I would never open that early. I open at 7:30 and have opened as early as 7:00 but even that I wasn't a fan of. I really like being able to do my normal routine with my dd before all the other kids show up and I know its really beneficial to her as well. But if you are willing to do it then go for it. I guess even if you're having contracted hours I would have set hours that didn't count as overtime.. say a set day of 7-5:30 and any earlier drop offs or later pick ups get charged the overtime fee (not as bad as an unscheduled late pickup) but still a higher amount. Because lets be honest.... 5:30 HURTS. Good luck!

[juliebug]

I charge a $5 fee per day for early drop of only if I am willing I have on that comes at 6:40 am and I normally open at 7am

[cheerfuldom]

oh gosh no. I would never do those hours. None of my kids show up before 8.

[williams2008]

I have opened up as early as 5:30 before and I wouldn't do it again, not ever. It had gotten to where some days they wouldn't show up until 7 or later and sometimes not at all and the dcps wouldn't even tell me they were coming late or not coming

What time do you close, opening up that early makes for a very long day?

[Unregistered]

Before being a childcare provider, I worked at a job where I had to be to work at 6:00. I could find no one but one center to watch my child. I even asked friends and no one would do it for me. This center was a life saver for me as I wouldn't have been able to work if I couldn't find childcare.

Now, I was a serious worker meaning, I never flaked arriving at 5:30. I don't understand the mentality of parents that go into work when they want. So stress that to these parents that if they aren't serious about needing the care, won't arrive when scheduled, switching times and what not then you can't accomodate them. If they are serious, then I say go for it as you will be a lifesaver for them.

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

I've had 2 families at different times drop off earlier than my standard 7:30 (one was 7:00 and the other was 6:15). Both families paid an extra $5/day...with no complaint! I was still way cheaper than a center. At the time, I really needed to fill my spots, so I made the exceptions.

On a side note, it supremely sucked, and wasn't worth the extra money. It made for such a long day, and of course my entire household was roused earlier than need be.

[daycare]

I understand that sometimes we have to do what we have to do to keep our businesses going.

I would be telling the parents that I will charge you a flat fee of $8.00 per day to open up earlier. The parents must work on contracted hours and must adhere to the times set.

Should the parent contract for the time frame of 530am to 430pm, then they must use these times. Should they not show up on any given morning at their normal drop of time, there will be an inconvenience fee of an additional fee of $10.00 per day per child added to their bill.

Back in the day I did this with a family. It was not that bad. I would get up, put the child back to sleep and then hop on my stationary bike and ride for an hour while watching the news. I am an early moring person, so it ws not big deal to me.

[Unregistered]

I had families that mostly started 5:30/6am. The parents would bring them and we'd just lay them back down til around 8am. I couldn't just say "no" as I live practically on a military base and most of my clients were military. That said, I don't do it anymore. I have older children who have too many things to do where my lifestyle no longer fit with doing daycare.

[daycarediva]

Before being a childcare provider, I worked at a job where I had to be to work at 6:00. I could find no one but one center to watch my child. I even asked friends and no one would do it for me. This center was a life saver for me as I wouldn't have been able to work if I couldn't find childcare.

Now, I was a serious worker meaning, I never flaked arriving at 5:30. I don't understand the mentality of parents that go into work when they want. So stress that to these parents that if they aren't serious about needing the care, won't arrive when scheduled, switching times and what not then you can't accomodate them. If they are serious, then I say go for it as you will be a lifesaver for them.

I had an AMAZING family that had 5:45-5:45 hours, BUT they paid $5 for the additional hour per kid/per day.

The dcm was reliable, the kids were excellent and arrived in pj's and laid back down until 7:30. I would just be getting out of the shower and could go back into the daycare bathroom to do my hair and makeup, get my kids up and ready and prep breakfast before I woke them up to get dressed.

I had both of these kids until they aged up and out of care (different school district) and am still in touch with their family. Some of my favorite clients ever.

If you are willing to work it, I think the parent should be willing to pay accordingly.

[Leigh]

Well, bless you for being willing to take them at that time-I am WAY too selfish about my sleep (I wasn't always, and I learned my lesson!).

As a person who DID drop off at 6AM at daycare, I understand how hard it is to find care at that hour. I can tell you that I DID expect to pay more (a lot more than my provider asked me to pay). Daycare these days is a BARGAIN. I wouldn't hesitate to ask an extra $10 per day, even $15 for a drop off that early. I would have happily paid that, myself.

[Mom2TLE]

I offer longer hours therefore I have a lot of parents in medical fields, One needed a 5:30 drop off so I would have her bring him dressed for the day but he would just lay down on the couch and go back to sleep until 7-7:30. In our state they don't have to be in sight and he was 4 so I would just get up, let her in then jump in the shower while he slept. I had more coming at 6:30 so it wasn't a big deal to me. I would much prefer early drop off vs late pick up and she was usually off by 2-2:30 She was one of my best moms and even brought me a rose one day after a long day.

[Childminder]

I have children dropped off at all hours, one dcm has to be at work at 5am if they go into overtime and I used to have a mom that had to make the donuts and was at work at 4am. I just have the children go back to bed and have never in all these years had any problems.

Some parents are encouraged to bring the children at bedtime bathed, pj'd, read them a story and tuck them in. I usually pick and choose whom I let do this and it is appreciated both by the parent, myself, the child and by the teachers if they are SA who have commented on their change of behavior. I have one currently that we do this for that was being a hellion in school and turned around 180 because of the routine.

Sometimes it is a one time offer like when the parent has a early court date or medical appt or that early morning breakfast meeting. My FTT/cleft baby has appointments at 8am 2.5 hours away so brother is brought in at nite. Anyhow, I ramble... it works for us.

[providerandmomof4]

I have taken some early birds in the past and truthfully....their parents were unreliable with both dck's. I seriously don't understand why they needed dc because they would come sometimes and sometimes not, until I finally termed because it made me so mad that I was doing "special" and they seemed to find other care when it suited them. My dh couldn't understand why it made me mad because I got paid regardless....It's just the nerve of people! One didn't bring her dcg for three weeks...I tried calling calling her; no response. Then one day out of the blue she texts that dcg will be at dc tomorrow. I said, Are you serious? I had to fill her spot! She hasn't been here for three weeks! That's when I learned that I should have sent her term letter in the mail....Wow....