I'm have been tossing around the idea of opening a in home daycare. I am just tired of working for someone else and the stress that comes along with it(I know watching kids can be stressful too). I just looking for some suggestions

I have my day care license. I have had it for a year. Apparently I got mine at a good time before the number of hours needed went up. But a bad time because of the economy people are using family more or are working less. So my phone isn't ringing too often. I have my ds in private school and my dd home with me so i can only have 2 day care kids during the school year. That's all I have room for in my van. But it's fine with me. My dd has playmates, it's a small group care so everyone gets lots of attention. I can keep my house clean and be home with my family.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous

I have never had a daycare, but I did own my own business.

The one piece of advice that I would give anyone, starting out is make sure that you have all of your state, local or city licenses bought and displayed. Also make sure that you contact your health department, if your state requires it.

I would also draw up a contract, stating the fees, late fees, no show fees and any other fees. Get it sign when the child enrolls. In fact I would make a folder and keep a form with the child's name, medical history, contact information and any other vital information about the child.

You have to be very up front about your expectations and theirs. Like if you have to drive during the day to pick up other kids from school, etc. the parents need to know.

I have never had an at home day care, but have had youngest DS in one since he was born. Here are my suggestions:
-If you are licensed, you can work with EAP agencies (Employee Assistance Programs) who refer working parents to licensed day care providers in their area. This is pretty helpful if you like getting new referrals/kids.
-If you are licensed, the parents can also claim the daycare cost as a deduction. Speaking from the parents point of view, this is very important. I would never consider having my kids in non-licensed day care.
-Make sure to set down very strict rules about sick kids coming to day care (and stick to them). If you will not allow a sick child at your house, you should put that in writing and be very clear on what is acceptable and what isn't. With the day care providers that I have known, this is their biggest complaint. Parents will give the babies/kids Tylenol and then drop them off, even though the parents knew the child had a low grade fever.
-Make sure that if you need a day off for some reason, the parents get a lot of notice. I dropped a sitter who kept letting us know last minute that she couldn't watch my kids. The reasons were good (she was sick, her kids were sick, grandparent was in the hospital, etc), but the frequency was impacting MY attendance where I work.
Good luck whatever you decide.

I also wanted to mention. My license is through the state which is through the Dept. of Ed. Once you contact them you normally start by going to a couple orientations free of charge. They will give you more info. with out committing. You find a lot of info. on line. Then weight out the pros and cons. Then before you open for business think about your contract and all that. It can be overwhelming at first. So I would start out by researching the requirements and see if it is something you are interested in.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous

I have had an daycare going on three years. It can be stressful at times, but it does provide extra income and I get to be home with my kids. I would suggest making sure there is a need where you are. There was a high demand in my town, and everyone started opening one and now other daycares are low in numbers. I try to be a little different than most and only charge people when their child is in my care. I think parents appreciate that, but that also doesn't always guarantee you will make a certain amount each week. I also do a lot of part time kids which is hard to find care for since most providers just want full time kids. You could charge a litte extra for part timers since like I said, most providers just want full time kids. Let me know if you have any mor questions.