Daycare Facebook Page - Who Has One?

[MomBoss]

Ive been thinking about creating a FB page for my daycare as a place for communicating with parents, updates, optional payment plan, & posting pictures vs texting parents individually. I just have some concerns.
-What if one week im not as active on the page and parents expect something posted everyday or everyweek. I dont want them to think we didnt do anything all week just because I didnt post.
- I feel weird about parents being able to connect with one another. For example, What if insted of coming to me with a problem, they reach out and ask a bunch of parents first if they had a similar problem. Or if i have to terminate, that parent contacts the others to bad mouth me.
Who has a facebook page? Have you ran into any problems with having one?

[Cat Herder]

I have one. I love it, it is my word of mouth advertising.

I have had them try to gang up on me once, but with a backbone and solid contract, it did not go far.

[Snowmom]

I have a private blog. Only those I invite can view it and they must log in to get access.
They don't get to see who else can view it (don't have access to other families) and any comments made must be approved by me before publishing.
I update it with menus, business info, pictures, videos and activities. I tell families that I try to update it at least weekly but reality, it's more like twice weekly since it's pretty easy and mobile too.

I've kept it going for 10 years now. I don't trust facebook and this gives me more control over images and access.

[Kerbs]

Do you also have a Facebook Group, Cat Herder?

[jenboo]

I have a Facebook page. Only I can post but others can follow it. I've never had problems with being more active one week and less another. The parents don't comment often.. it's usually the grandparents... they love seeing their grandkids.
I've never had any issues with it and everyone seems to love it.

[Ariana]

I have a private FB group for parents, they join once they start. I like this way better because it is private and I don’t have to hide children's faces and can talk candidly about our day and the children. A public page, in my opinion, is too “open” for my taste.

I used to post every week but now it is every two weeks. I post on payday so I can give a payday reminder with the pictures. I also use it to remind parents of items they need to bring, vacations and holidays etc.

[Cat Herder]

Do you also have a Facebook Group, Cat Herder?

Not a group. Just a regular facebook page that uses the name of my daycare as a first and last name (like a private person). It was a really long time ago when I set it up and business pages were still complicated.

I add current clients and have all parents approve any of their family members (mostly grandparents) who ask to join. Once their kids move on I remove them from the page. Gently. :: Most (especially grandparents who enjoy talking to one another) want to stay on the page for a few years after the withdrawal of their last child to see the rest of the group all graduate out. Of course, by then, they have grown attached to seeing the new group members accomplishments. And so on.

It can get a bit complicated with a mixed age group as one of the current group can be a newborn when 5-year-old ages out, here. They become a little community. I just had a former parent request to be added back since my former DCB will be attending college close to me and they now live out of state. :: The relationships never really end, even after they graduate high school. ::

[knoxmomof2]

I have a closed Facebook group for current parents only. I hadn't thought about the contactability between DCPs but it hasn't been an issue so far.... I just tell them that I post pictures occasionally, but it's mainly for reminders/ updates. I usually end up posting a bunch of pictures about once a month. I just caption it "recent pictures". I'd say don't promise more than you want to deliver as far as how often you post.

[Gemma]

Are you sure you don't have a page on FB?


FB created a page for my business without me even knowing!
I found out I had a page on FB on accident while search for reviews (didn't know I had them either, until a prospective parent told me : ...so once I realized I had a page on FB, I decided to claim it, so I could manage it and set the posting on "approved only"

All I do on FB page is update images so that the cover stays on track with the season.
Parents "like" or "comment" but they all know not to expect me to.
I have a page on Wix (that's where most inquiries come from) I've had maybe 5 requests for daycare on FB since I took over the site, none that I would even consider perusing

[ColorfulSunburst]

I have a FB page. It is public. It is the place where I share with parents and potential clients what and how kids are doing here.

https://www.facebook.com/ColorfulSunburst

[janell999]

I don't have one yet, but i've been thinking about it. But now that you brought up the point about parents being able to contact each other, it's got me thinking maybe I won't. Maybe a blog would be better?!