Are u a family day carer?

[Bub2luv]

Hi :wave: ,

I am wanting to talk to any parents that are family day carers to get some advice.
I am considering becoming a carer after #2 comes along so that I can stay at home with my kids and earn some money as well.
I would love to chat on the positives and negatives of FDC and find out about anyones personal experiences and whether you would recommend it or not.

Thanks.

[jaydensmum]

I was a family day carer for 17 months in the Blue Mountains. I loved it, it gave me the freedom to stay at home with my son and still earn an income. There's a lot of work that has to go into it as a normal business would. The only reason i gave it up was because we moved to Sydney. Theres also a lot of advantages and disadvantages to it.

Advantages:

- get to stay at home with children,
- run your own business,
- choose the hours and days you work,
- theres lots of support from the family day care team,
- you can earn a good and stable income,
- get to be a kid again, :D
- make new friends and connections,
- its rewarding work

Disadvantages:

- its hard work,
- you have to share yourself with your family,
- you have to change your home around,
- its costs a bit of money to set up,
- theres a lot of regulations to follow,
- you have visits from the centre staff,
- have unexpected visits from DOCS,
- its a lot of stress.

These are just a few things theres probably a lot more but i dont want to go on and on. It is a rewarding and fun job to have and if you're prepared to give up a lot of time in the begining then go for it!! If you want to know further information just let me know and ill try my best to answer them for you.