I have 4 children, and will be watching a newborn once school starts, plus the possibility of 2 other children (not all day, just after school). I was wondering what other people do when they want to watch several children but don't have enough room in their vehicles? We don't live within bussing areas, so what do people do??
Thank you for the responses. I'm not trying to come off as an idiot, obviously if I can't safely put all the kids in my car, I can't watch them all. I was asking for those who have been in similar situations who have been able to think outside the box or who have come up with creative solutions.
I have 4 boys, ages 2, 4, 5, and 7. My 5 and 7 year olds will be in school all day. My 4 year old will go to preschool five days a week for half a day.
I will be watching a newborn for one of the teachers at my sons' school. Then, another family has asked me to watch two of their children-- a three year old that will attend preschool with my 4 year old, and a 5 year old after school. The only time the seat issue should be a problem is in the afternoon when I pick up my son and the 3 year old from preschool and then head over to the grade school to pick up my two sons and the five year old. I've thought about asking the teacher I'm sitting for if she could bring my two boys home with her when she comes, or maybe a neighbor could bring them home since she will be picking up her son, too. I don't plan on running errands with all those children in tow. My husband does have days off during the week, as he works a rotating schedule-- 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, etc. I usually just work my errands around his off-days.
I guess you either buy a big van or only babysit the number of kids you have room for. You have to pick up everyday by car or are you within walking distance. If within walking distance car not a problem because I can't imagine you would drag seven kids out to run errands. You are doing daycare. I would think parents would not appreciate you piling everyone in the car. Might want to look into getting licensed to be on safe side.
You don't go anywhere when you have all the kids at once.
If they can't travel safely (with all the car seats and using seat belts - then you don't travel.
The people I know who watch kids have vans... and I'm not talking minivan... full sized, 12 passenger vans. A few of them walk with strollers because they live close enough to school (the ones that pickup the child they are babysitting at the school).
Since this is after school, you'll either have to walk or have the parents drop their child off (or someone). There should be no other reason for you to have to transport kids except in a medical emergency but at that point I'd call 911. If the house is burning you exit the house by foot anyway.
I have assistants who watch the rest of my daycare kids and my own children while I do school drop-off and pick-up. When my daughter and another daycare child started pre-k last year, I hired a second assistant for the afternoons so we were always covered. This year, I have them on-call for morning drop-off when my husband is out of town.
If you cannot fit all children in your vehicle, then you either need to hire someone to assist you so you don't have to transport everyone or say no to the afterschool kids. Even a van won't accomodate 7 carseats and boosters in the backseats.
It sounds like you've just overcommitted yourself beyond what's practical.
Buy a van. That's what we had to do. We had 5 kids. Our car only held 3! We didn't have a choice. We actually bought a used 12 passenger van. It was great. We had room for our kids and a friend or 2 of theirs.
This seems like an easy one... You only care for the amount of kids you cN safely and legally secure in your vehicle. This stretches beyond school pickup, even if you plan to have them walk home, what about inclement weather? Or if you have to pick up early due to illness? Some other sort of emergency...
Eta: what type of vehicle do you have? I have to assume it's not a typical 5 passenger car since none of your four are old enough to ride in the front seat...
My neighbor has a small home daycare. She takes care of a handful of small kids and does before/after care for 1 or 2 school aged kids. She does not transport kids in a vehicle. Because she is licensed the school bus makes a special stop directly in front of her house. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a bus here either. We're just under a mile to the elementary school so the kids in this neighborhood are walkers by default.
In your situation, ether the parents will have to arrange transportation for their kids, or you will not be able to watch the school aged kids.
When I have more kids than I can fit in the van we only go places that are within walking distance.
Can you walk to the schools to do pick-ups? The walk would be good for the kids.
My first thought is: can 1 person legally care for 7 kids?
These are the legal requirements in Illinois:
http://ccrs.illinois.edu/providers/licensing.html
As a general rule of thumb, if the number of unrelated children you provide care for, is more than three (including your own children under age 12), you will need to obtain a child care license from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
The above website has a lot of detailed info. You, your home and the kids you care for have to meet certain requirements (age, inoculations, space).
Before something bad happens with this many kids in your home, I would make sure you meet the law and have the appropriate insurance. I would also have written contracts with parents so there is no misunderstanding - do they still pay you if a kids is sick and does not show up, what about when you or your kids get sick? I have heard too many stories (even on this site!) of watching a friend's kids and at one party feeling like there is no reciprocation or sufficient acknowledgement or payment.
Hope for the best but plan for the worst.
Licensed day care providers on MD can watch up to 8 children without a helper, my son's provider never had an issue with 8 kids at her home.
However, I would not have wanted her driving anywhere with more than 2 or so kids, it just adds to much risk for me.
I like the ideas to hire an assistant to help out for that time period, or to cut back on how many kids you take on.
You cut back on the number of children you watch if you cannot put them safely in a car. Are you saying 4 of these children are yours?
In any case, I think 7 children is a lot for 1 person to watch 24/7, especially with an infant a part of that group who will need more attention.
How old are the others? Can they walk to school? Maybe you can walk with them IF you have the stroller capability to keep those not in school safe. Is there an option for bussing if you pay for it?
That said, if you were babysitting my child, I would not want you out running errands while my child was under your care and in your car. This is nothing against you....it is a safety factor. The ONLY reason I would be ok with my child in a car with a provider would be in the event of an emergency and you were on your way to ER. Better yet, call 911.
You may need to check the laws in your area as well. If you do plan to cart that many children around, you probably need a different type of drivers license as well as insurance.
The children you are watching should be dropped off at your home. I don't understand how you don't have school buses. Do you mean the children are too close to qualify for a bus and should be walking? I would NEVER have considered a child care arrangement that required my child to be hauled around in order to transport other children. Also - I am not sure that you can legally care for 7 children if one of them is an infant. When the state considers child care numbers, they include your own children in them. You may just have committed to too many kids.
If this is something you think you'll be doing for a number of years (maybe the newborn will be in your care for several years?), it might be worth buying a full size van. They are not that much wider than a minivan, and they fit 3 passenger is each row. I guess that's only room for 6 kids, but if you can turn off the airbag in front then one of the older kids can sit there. Or, could you drop off the baby when you pick up the school age?
They do make bigger vans. A full size is an 8 passenger, but there are 12 and 15 passenger. Might be a bit bigger than what you need, but something to think about.
With 4 kids of your own, I think I'd be thinking about a full size van anyway. A minivan is just a bit snug!
I never took on kids I couldn't fit in the car. The only child in a car seat I ever regularly watched was my nephew though. Just a bit too much responsibility for my liking.
I would imagine your best bet is to buy a new car, by new I mean new to you.
I have always preferred a bit of car around me so I owned mini vans and now SUVs.
Oh, you could look into a neighbor or say a high school kid who would be home when you had to pick up a load. Pay them say 10 dollars to watch the kids at home when you pick up the rest. So long as you price correctly you should be able to pull that off.
have your school agers walk
If you live in IL and are not in busing distance then they have determined that you are close enough and on a safe enough route for them to do so. My girls did it from Kindergarten till the end of 8th grade every single day. Well ok, this past winter the snow was so high and I had the ability to drive my younger one to school so I did, but that was unusual.
Since there are 2 kids just have them walk together, tell them the rules and you can even test them on them if you want. I had a neighbor go up to my girls and ask them if they wanted a ride, they followed the rule and ran away instead of even answering.
Also in IL you can not watch more then 3 kids, includes your own, without a license. Make sure you are ready for the taxes that go with this as well. Please be legal, and charge a reasonable rate so as not to undersell the rest of the people who do home daycare. It hurts other moms when people do this job for unreasonably low amounts of money.
I guess I'd see if someone else can do the transporting. It will be a lot of logistics and you'd have to pay something, but it wouldn't be as much as what you are getting paid.
The other option is to have help, perhaps from a high school kid since they get out earlier. This helper could stay with two of your kids while you take the infant and go get the other kids. Usually high school kids haven't had their licenses long enough to be allowed to drive small kids who are not in their immediate families.
