Daycare

[mama hen]

I don't know if this is the right place to place this but here goes ....

Does anyone know what is involved in becoming a Daycare Mum??
How much do you get of the fees??
What do you have to do to your home to make it acceptable??
Do you have to provide beds, toys etc for the children??

Thanks for your help

Angela

[Chickadee]

Angela,

Probably the best thing is for you to phone your local council and ask them what is required. If you're talking about providing Family Day Care, those are usually run under an umbrella scheme that is administered by the council or by a local agency. They can give you the info you're looking for.

From my understanding, these are the basics of what you'll need to do or provide:
- police checks for all household members over the age of 18.
- safety check of your house and an outside play areas.
- child specific first aid training
- cot(s) and or mattresses appropriate for the ages you'll be looking after. Cots would need to meet Australian Safety Standards.
- suitable table, chairs and highchair(s) for meals.
- Toys and activities
- approved car seats and/or prams if you're going to be going on taking trips out or to the park.

Fees vary. The 2 carers I used in WA set their own daily and hourly fees, on top of which there was a scheme fee charged to the parents. But I'm not sure how much of the carer's fee they kept and how much they might have paid to the scheme (for example) for insurance coverage, membership, access to playgroups etc.

Both carers I used provided meals. Very young babies would have milk/formula usually provided by parents. In my experience, parents provide enough nappies for the day.

[mama hen]

Thanks for the info Martha