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New Members - Welcome to the Daycare.com Forum!>Child Is Never at Daycare
Unregistered 08:21 AM 05-10-2016
So I recently have gotten a new daycare kid and he is suppose to be full time but he is never here! The mom does let me know when he isn't going to be here sometimes its couple days and sometimes not here a whole week. I want to tell her that I am unable to hold his spot since he was suppose to be here full time and find somebody that needs full time care since i really need it financially to keep my small daycare going. What do I do?
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mommyneedsadayoff 08:32 AM 05-10-2016
Do they pay for the days they don't come? I would either change up the contract to say they must pay, whether they attend or not, which keeps your income stable, or tell them it is not working out and move on to someone who actually needs care.
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Rockgirl 08:33 AM 05-10-2016
I charge everyone for a full-time spot, regardless of attendance, so it doesn't matter if they are here or not. Have you considered doing that?
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Cat Herder 08:35 AM 05-10-2016
Make your tuition based upon the slot, not attendance.
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MrsSteinel'sHouse 08:51 AM 05-10-2016
I also charge by week not by attendance. Because otherwise, if parents want to "save money" they get whoever to watch precious whenever they can. Now, I did have one little girl (infant) that's mom really didn't need Fridays so I cut her a deal (took off 4/5 of a day rate) because my other infant and one family are off on Fridays and it is nice just having 2 little girls on Friday. I can make appointments etc.
But in general all of my parents pay for full time. I in past years have had 2 part time famiies that share a spot and I split the spot and each paid a little more than daily rate. (compensating me for switching out equipment etc) if that makes sense.
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laundrymom 09:01 AM 05-10-2016
"Dcm, it is great that you're able to spend so much time w dcb. When you enrolled you specified that you needed full time care and your needs seem to have changed. If you still want the option of bringing him when you need to for $x.xx a week that is fine. If you'd like to switch to part time care that is fine. The rate is (10-15 new per day than full time care). Please advise me of which option you prefer. Please remember that full time care has priority over part time care"
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Thriftylady 09:08 AM 05-10-2016
I agree, they pay for the spot regardless of attendance.
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AmyKidsCo 01:23 PM 05-10-2016
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
Make your tuition based upon the slot, not attendance.
Yup, this.

Once you start charging for the spot rather than attendance I'll bet 2 things happen: 1. Mom starts bringing him regularly, and 2. You don't care as much if he's not there.
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sleepinghart 07:29 AM 05-11-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
So I recently have gotten a new daycare kid and he is suppose to be full time but he is never here! The mom does let me know when he isn't going to be here sometimes its couple days and sometimes not here a whole week. I want to tell her that I am unable to hold his spot since he was suppose to be here full time and find somebody that needs full time care since i really need it financially to keep my small daycare going. What do I do?
~I have to agree with everyone else...It is imperative that you charge for the full time spot and not charge based on attendance. A lot of providers start off their businesses trying to run them like this...just charging for the days/time they are there, but after awhile it becomes undoable- Not only do you lose loads of income, you also never have a set schedule and therefore it's difficult to take in & schedule new clients, or even existing ones, because you never know who is coming when and may be in danger of going over ratio.

~My advice would be to charge for the spot, not days attended. I would add that into my contract that they must pay that full time fee every week regardless of what days they actually attend if they want full time care. After you make parents aware of this they'll likely start asking "well, how many hours is considered part time?", "well, what are your part time rates?" & such in an effort to once again save as much money as possible; so I would be prepared and have all the answers to such questions ready, and I would definitely make your part time rate higher than your full time rate(*if you need help/advice on this, just ask here and someone will be glad to help). Also, be prepared that this particular DCM, upon hearing that she must pay regardless of attendance, may decide to do one of two things...#1 is what I just mentioned above about part time and paying as little as possible, and the other one is that she may quit, which would be fine with me, and fine with you too it sounds like, as you mentioned you need that full time spot filled with a full time paying client. So, in closing, I would stop charging by the day and start charging by the spot; and I would also add that you do it that way in your contract. DCM has 2 options...She can decide to either start paying the full time rate regardless of attendance, or she can find another daycare. Either way you're good because she's either paying you what she should, or she frees up that space for another family that will pay you that.~Good luck!
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Tags:holding a space, holding a spot
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