Tips for carseat talk for daycare providers - TONIGHT

Hey ladies - I'm doing a talk with a bunch of daycare ladies... who have very little carseat knowledge. Of course I have the knowledge about the carseats - but I don't know anything about running a daycare. Not sure if any of you tech/daycare ladies have any tips - like do you provide the seats? I believe I've read about daycare carseat contracts here too... maybe some examples. I tried to do a search, but it didn't come up with anything... so anything you can post or email me would be fabulous!

-Kate

Good for you for helping out with valuable information. I wish someone had given me the information when I started daycare.

I started out with whatever I had or what the parents provided. This ended quickly when I realized that I was liable regardless of who provided the carseat. I now purchase my own seats and install them myself. The kids ride rear facing as long as possible and stay in a harness as long as possible.

I don't believe that many parents in my area would purchase a seat for use only at my house. Because I purchase them, I can use them for which ever child I need in that seat that day. With the Nautilus and the True Fit, it is a little easier to purchase a proper seat for that child. If the area supports a deposit on childcare, and the provider doesn't have a proper seat, then a portion of the deposit can be used to get a proper seat for the child.

One other thought to mention to the providers. In Oregon (not sure about other states,) most auto insurance agencies will not cover daycare children in a private vehicle. I didn't even think of this for the first 2 years that I transported children. Have them make sure that they are covered by their insurance. Some daycare policies will cover kids in vehicles, but not many and they are specific about the requirements of coverage.

Hope some of this helps. Sorry it seems sort of random. If you have a specific question, please ask. I will try to answer.

I provide my own seats...after some people gave me expired or too small carseats or FF their 6 month old....

I HAVE A QUESTION! Can the carseats (if she were to purchase them) be tax deductible? That might be a breaking point for her to consider. =)

They are tax deductible. And, once you have a few, you don't need to replace them for a while. That, and the fact that most daycares won't need more than a few seats, means it is just better to figure out how to buy your own. Don't take anything for granted.

My husband the tax accountant told me to talk about tax deductions.

The seats are fully deductible if your ckk only ride in them, not your kids. If your kids ever ride in the seats (more than, say, in an emergency), you should only deduct the percentage of the price that's the percentage of the time they are used by other kids. (For example, if your kid rides in the seat 3 out of 10 times and CKK rides in the seat 7 out of 10 times you may deduct 70% of the seat's cost.) You can also deduct your insurance increase or the cost of your separate liability insurance as an expense. You should take these as business expenses, not itemized deductions, and you need to keep the reciept (if bought online, keep the invoice showing that you paid and when and to whom), not rely on credit card statements. You should keep them for 5 to 7 years.

If you have additional tether anchors installed in your car in order to tether your seats you should not deduct that expense even if your own kids don't ride in carseats and the anchors are used only for your CKK. My husband does not think that is an allowable expense or that a good-faith argument could be made that the IRS would accept.

I provide my own seats. It's in my contract that we follow best practice in the car. I did a presentation for my day care group a while back.

Susan

My kids only ride in their seats

My seats are tax deductable. ;-) I would not need these skinner seats if it wasn't for daycare. If it was up to me, I would have 2 regents and can't since I do daycare ;-)

*Spoiledinmyhouseofblue* said:

I provide my own seats...after some people gave me expired or too small carseats or FF their 6 month old....

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I do not run a daycare but rather my kids GO to daycare. Not only do I provide my own seat for Avery but I bought a FPSVD, a RA and a compass booster for the daycare van. I can't stand to see other peoples kids in bad seats. So I end up buying seats for them! Can't help it.

bethng said:

I do not run a daycare but rather my kids GO to daycare. Not only do I provide my own seat for Avery but I bought a FPSVD, a RA and a compass booster for the daycare van. I can't stand to see other peoples kids in bad seats. So I end up buying seats for them! Can't help it.

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That is very nice of you... I would probally do the same thing if I sent my kids to daycare. I need more daycare parents like you around here.