What is the child/provider ratio at your daycare?

So there are laws..... different laws in different states..... and then there is bending the laws.....

Many daycare providers in my area (home family daycares) seem to be bending the rules regarding ratio in respect to age. I'm really curious about this. I've been checking around.

I really like most things about our provider, but the ratio isn't great considering the ages of the children who attend (ages 12-24 months). It's great because there are a small # of kids (5-7 including mine) and that they are similar ages and temperments, but I feel uncomfortable knowing they aren't following the rules. How do I weigh the pros/cons? My kids are doing well there (except for napping).

The alternatives are daycares w/ 12-14 kids. Finding small family home daycares is really, really, really hard.

 

If you are happy with it overall, I would be inclined to let this one rule slide. HOWEVER, it would make me nervous that the DCP isn't following rules in other areas -- areas that might be more related to your children's health or safety.

Actually, now that I think about it, I'd be worried about having too many kids as a safety issue, too. What would she do if there was a fire? How would she get 5-7 young toddlers out of the building by herself?

Sorry, I don't mean to freak you out, but I do think that's worth looking into. If she has a helper or there's another person there, that would be a different story.

FWIW, we use a center, but their limit is 4 infants per person, and 5 toddlers. So there are 10 kids in our class right now (ages 22-28 months or so), and two teachers. If a provider is sick, occasionally one teacher will have 6 toddlers for half a day, but there are always other teachers around to help out if needed.

 

From my experience its a common practice to go over the legal # of children in a in home daycare. I'm not saying its right, I'm just saying it happens often. In MI the ratio for a infant/toddler age in a center is 4-1 and in a in home daycare its 1-6. The state (at least in MI) doesn't do surprise visits unless there has been a complaint, so all visits are scheduled.
If you are happy with the care your children are getting them I'd over look the extra child, but if things start happening and you begin wondering if your children are getting the appropriate care then I'd look for another provider. Good luck HTH

 

One thing I would worry about is OK, 5-7 young toddlers might be manageable, but 5-7 two or three year olds for one person? What is she going to do if the children all stay and they get older?

 

We have kind of the same here. Home providers take in more than the ratio, where licensed facilities stick to the rules. I don't have any examples of the home day care currently, but there were some doing that when we were checking out daycare for our first.

 

I don't know about home care, but at our center it is 4:1 up to 2 years old. I think it would make me nervous if my provider was bending the runs a bit. If they were going to bend the ratio rule, what other rules would they bend KWIM?

 

Our day care center has a ratio of 4:1 for infants and in our one-year old room it is 6:1. If there are more than 6 toddlers, there has to be two teachers in the room at all times. They seem to be strict about following the rules, even if someone has to go to the bathroom or go get the mop to clean up, the person at the desk has to come into the room and help watch the kids. I believe the ratios are mandated by DHS for licensed facilities in our state.

 

It would make me uncomfortable, but I'm a rule-follower. I would call whoever is in charge of licensing and ask a few questions about what the laws are... if you are indeed concerned and the rules are being broken, I'd probably say something to the provider.
Good luck!