Ive posted this thread elsewhere but thought I would do it here too because Im depserate for some advice!! We arent surviving on one income (as you cant these days!! :mad: )so I was thinking about starting up Family Day Care at home. I have two little boys and dont want to leave them so I thought this would be a great option. I am a Registered Nurse, Mothercraft Nurse and a Doula so I have all the experience. I also worked for 5 years in child care whilst I was studying. Basically I just want to know what it is like. Did you earn a decent income from it?? Any info would be really great!!
Sorry I haven't done it, but I send my daughter to family day care and think its an excellent way for younger children to be cared for instead of in a centre environment.
I know the carer who my daughter goes too, has 2 children of her own & is a single mum.
My mum did family daycare while I was growing up - it was fantastic! She earnt good money from it (as a single mum managed to send me to a private school - she did cleaning and weekend jobs as well though) and it gave her great flexibility. The kids loved it and over the 10 or so years she did it she looked after so many wonderful kids. There are limits on the numbers of kids you can have in your home and age spread (ie: they don't let you have 3 under-one-year-olds, for example) but it can work well where you have a couple before and after school as well as a few littler ones during the day. You end up having really loyal parents and kids who love you. Many childcare centres penalise parents for showing up 5 or 10 mins late, and tehcnically as a family day-carer you are allowed to also, but my ma always said to the parents not to worry - she'd rather they got there in one piece than on time. Things like that are really appreciated by the parents and builds a good rapport. You should do really well with your background. If I was to leave my bubba in care, FDC would be my first choice, esp with someone with your skills. Go for it!!
Thanks for this positive feedback. I'm going to use family daycare for William when I first go back to work because he will still be little. Unfortunately, there are not many carers in our area so it's great to hear that more people are interested in doing it. It's such a great system and the demand is definitely there. You would never be out of work!
I'd definitely consider using family daycare because I know that I would be returning to work within 18 months of giving birth. Wishing you all the best with it!!!
Oh, and Fletch, yes I would be your first customer
Thanks so much for that info fletch. It seems like i can make a pretty good income off it which is GREAT!! and my kids should enjoy it too. My house is perfectly suited for Family Day Care. I was actually approved to do it when I was living in Coffs Harbour and went through all the processes etc. When I was about a week off starting we decided to move back to the Gold Coast! arrgghhhh!.
Anyway I will let you know how it all goes. I have the lady from FDC coming to see me on Wednesday next week.
I am sure they would be thrilled to have a Primary School teacher as a FDC person!. I have no 'childcare' related qualifications and they really want me. So I am not sure what they mean by Qualified? I just know you need First Aid and a Blue Card....
My friend looked into it & it was going to cost them a minmum of $25,000 in renovations to have their house 'safe' as far as the councils expectations went...
No windows to the floor, child locks on EVERY cupboard etc...
But hey as a working Mum I want to know my child is safe, just as a carer would not want anything bad to happen in their care!!!
Fletchie I definately thinks that classes as qualified lol. Trace you can glaze the windows to make them stronger...we have looked into doing it a couple of times..but something always puts me off lol
I put Joshua in Family Day Care (on the Gold Coast)...and have nothing but the highest regard for it. I would choose it over Child Care Centres any day of the week. He loved his day care mum and she was so good to him and helped us out if we needed extra time because of work meetings or the likes. If I need to with this one then I will be going FDC for sure! Although I am hoping not to need to do it.
My friend's mum did it for years and she loved it and paid pretty well from what I know.
I worry about this too, I mean for me my biggest concern would be the lack of regulation. I know you can get some dodgy centres but if there's only one person doing the care who's watching them? So I'd be interested on any info on the "qualifications" too as to me it would be hard to regulate...
yeah Cai this was something I was scared about and spoke with the FDC about when signing up. They said like centres they have a range of carers out there, and that even as regulated as it is, it really is up to me as the standard of care I choose for Matilda. When I went to interview Liz I was surprised because she is amazing. She is studying to be a social worker & our views on parenting just "fit" ykwim? I have been to other carers before & met others and haven't wanted to put Matilda in with them. Usually its not a matter of not thinking that Matilda will like it or that it is safe for her, but that I just didn't feel comfortable leaving her there for longer periods of time, over time. But that is what I also like about FDC, because you can choose the carer a bit better than you can at the centre. I've been to centre's before where the staff have hated where they work, I came in to visit one & the staff member in Matilda's room walked out while I was there.... I went to another one where they couldn't find the team leader... So I guess its the same wherever we leave our children.
I have decided not to go ahead with Family Day Care. I had the lady here the other day and although she absolutely loved me and my house, there was just tooooo much to do to the house and unfortunately just not worth it considering I would only be allowed two children which equals about $10/hr or less. Also in the area I am in on the coast, there is not much need for Family Day Care as it is slightly rural. Oh well! I am thinking about fostering newborns too, so I might go ahead with that one and see how it goes.
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Family Day Care..anyone do it?
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