Daycare Teacher Job Description Templates for Infant and Toddler Rooms
6 templates for licensed centers hiring into the youngest rooms: infant, toddler, lead, assistant, float and closing, and a general center version. Download as DOCX.
The first child care center I helped with hiring had exactly one job description for the whole building. It said Daycare Teacher at the top, listed circle time and lesson plans, and got sent to candidates for the infant room, the toddler room, and the four year olds without a word changed. The preschool room was stable. The infant room turned over three times in a year.
Nobody could work out why until we read the posting the way a candidate would. It promised a classroom. The infant room is not a classroom. It is bottles on six different schedules, safe sleep checks on every nap, a diaper rotation, a written record of the whole day for every family, and the tightest ratio in the building, where one call-out breaks the room.
At FirstHR we write hiring templates for the small licensed centers where the director is also the HR department. The six below cover the infant room, the toddler room, a lead teacher, an assistant, a float and closing role, and a general center version, each with the ratio, licensing, and classification language the generic versions leave out.
TL;DR
A daycare teacher job description for an infant or toddler room describes care work, not curriculum: ratios, safe sleep, feeding, diapering, and daily records. These roles are non-exempt and overtime-eligible. ChildCare.gov recommends one provider per three infants and one per four toddlers, but your state license sets the number you must meet. Six templates below as DOCX.
The Infant and Toddler Room Is a Different Hire
The rooms in a daycare center are different jobs with the same title, and the gap is widest at the bottom of the age range. An infant teacher runs no shared schedule at all, while a preschool teacher runs a curriculum on a fixed one. Hiring both with one posting is why the youngest rooms churn.
The federal government counts these roles separately too. Childcare workers and preschool teachers are distinct occupations with distinct wage data, distinct credential expectations, and, as it turns out, distinct overtime rules. Your posting should follow the same split.
Infant room
Care on each child's own clock
No shared schedule. Bottles, naps, and diapers happen per child, safe sleep rules apply on every nap, and the tightest ratio in the building means one absence breaks the room. Documentation is constant because parents get a written record of the whole day.
Toddler room
Routine plus constant redirection
A group schedule finally exists, and so do biting, climbing, and toilet learning. The job is running a predictable rhythm while coaching social behavior all day. Incident documentation and family conversations take real time here.
Preschool room
A curriculum and a different posting
Three to five year olds on a planned curriculum is a separate occupation with its own credential expectations and pay band. Use the preschool teacher templates for that room rather than stretching a daycare teacher posting to cover it.
Mixed group at open and close
Regulated, not improvised
Most states set rules for combining ages at the start and end of the day, and the tightest ratio in the group usually governs. Whoever covers that shift needs it written into their job description, not passed along verbally.
Write One Posting Per Room, Not One Per Building
Name the room, the exact age range, the ratio, the group size, and the shift in the first eight lines. Candidates with infant experience are looking for those words, and candidates who want a teaching role will stop reading, which is exactly what you want. For the three to five year old classroom, use the preschool teacher templates instead. If the role is mostly supervision with no room ownership, the childcare worker templates fit better.
What Belongs in a Daycare Teacher Posting
A daycare teacher posting has to do four things at once: describe the actual room, filter out candidates who cannot clear the requirements, state the legal terms that protect the center, and give a strong candidate a reason to reply today. Most center postings do only the first, and vaguely.
The parts candidates read first
The room and the exact age range
The ratio and the group size
The shift, in hours, including closing
Whether a second adult is in the room
The parts that filter applicants
Credential or coursework, marked required or preferred
The background check notice, stated up front
Pediatric CPR and First Aid expectation
Physical demands: lifting, floor work, outdoors
The parts that protect you
FLSA status written on the posting
Essential functions in plain language
Mandated-reporter duty named explicitly
Equal opportunity statement
The parts that win the hire
The hourly rate, not a vague range
Paid training and credential support
Who covers breaks and how
A named person to apply to
The single most common omission is the shift. Early childhood candidates are choosing between openings that pay within a dollar of each other, so the schedule is often the deciding factor: a 6:30 opening shift and a 6:00 closing shift attract completely different people. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure in more depth.
6 Daycare Teacher Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: center overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you change.
Download All 6 Daycare Teacher Job Description Templates
Infant room, toddler room, lead teacher, assistant teacher, float and closing, and a general center version. All in one download.
Infant Room Teacher
Six weeks to about 18 months
Safe sleep, bottle handling, per-child schedules, and the daily written record parents expect, with the tightest ratio in the building stated up front.
Toddler Room Teacher
About 12 to 36 months
Routine, hands-on activities, toilet learning, and the biting and incident documentation that toddler rooms actually generate.
Lead Teacher
Owns one infant or toddler room
Plans the room, directs the assistant, owns family communication, and carries the licensing paperwork for that room.
Assistant Teacher
The second adult in the room
The entry point into early childhood, written so the ratio dependency and the paid training expectation are both explicit.
Float and Closing Teacher
Break coverage and the last hour
Covers every room, combines ages correctly at close, and carries the late pick-up and closing checklist duties.
General Center Version
One posting, any room
The broad version for a center that assigns rooms after hiring, with the compliance language kept intact.
Template 1: Infant Room Daycare Teacher
For the youngest room: safe sleep on every nap, bottle handling and labeling, per-child schedules, and the daily written record parents expect. The ratio and group size are stated in the header where candidates see them first.
[Center Name] is a licensed child care center in [City, State] serving [number]
children from [six weeks] to [five years]. We are hiring a Daycare Teacher for
our infant room, which runs at a ratio of [1 teacher to X infants] with a group
size of [number].
POSITION SUMMARY
The Infant Room Daycare Teacher cares for a small group of infants on each
child's own schedule, keeps the room within the licensed ratio at all times,
follows safe sleep practice on every nap, and gives parents an accurate daily
record of feeding, diapering, sleep, and milestones.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Keep every infant in sight and sound supervision at all times
•Hold the licensed teacher-to-infant ratio, including during breaks and
transitions
•Follow safe sleep practice on every nap: infant on the back, in a crib, on a
firm flat surface, with nothing else in the crib
•Prepare and give bottles per each family's written instructions, label and
store milk correctly, and log every feeding
•Diaper on a set schedule and on demand, following the posted sanitation steps
•Support tummy time, floor play, language, and early motor milestones
•Record feeding, diapering, sleep, mood, and milestones for each child daily
•Communicate with parents at drop-off and pick-up and flag any concern early
•Follow illness exclusion, allergy, and medication policies exactly
•Report any suspected child abuse or neglect as a mandated reporter
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•High school diploma or equivalent; [CDA with Infant-Toddler setting /
early childhood coursework] preferred
•[Number] months of experience with children under [18] months preferred
•Pediatric CPR and First Aid certification (or willing to obtain before the
first day in the room)
•Must clear the comprehensive background check required for child care staff
•Safe sleep and SIDS risk reduction training completed before caring for
infants
•Able to lift [30] pounds repeatedly and spend the shift on the floor
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
This role is non-exempt: hourly and entitled to overtime past 40 hours in a
week. Daycare centers and preschools are covered enterprises under the Fair
Labor Standards Act regardless of size or revenue, and an employee whose primary
duty is caring for the physical needs of children would ordinarily not qualify
for the teaching professional exemption. Required paid training time generally
counts as hours worked. Confirm your state ratio, group size, staff qualification, and
background check rules with your licensing agency before you post. This is
general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Center Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [paid training], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
Template 2: Toddler Room Daycare Teacher
For the room that finally has a group schedule and also has biting, climbing, and toilet learning. Includes the same-day incident documentation duty that toddler rooms actually generate.
Template 3: Lead Daycare Teacher, Infant or Toddler Room
For the person who owns one room: the schedule, the environment, the family relationships, and the assistant working alongside. The classification note explains why a lead title alone does not create an exemption.
Lead Daycare Teacher Job Description (Infant or Toddler Room)
LEAD DAYCARE TEACHER JOB DESCRIPTION (INFANT OR TODDLER ROOM)
Center: __ ([City, State])
Room: [Infant / Toddler], ages [range]
Reports to: [Center Director]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Non-exempt (hourly, overtime-eligible) unless a genuine
instructional primary duty applies; see note
Compensation: $_ per hour
ABOUT THIS ROLE
The Lead Teacher owns one room: the schedule, the environment, the family
relationships, and the assistant working alongside. This is the person the
director relies on to keep the room running when the building gets busy.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Lead Daycare Teacher plans and runs the daily program for the [infant /
toddler] room, keeps the room in ratio and in compliance with licensing, directs
and trains the assistant teacher, and serves as the main point of contact for
the families in that room.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Plan the weekly schedule, environment, and activities for the room
•Keep the room in ratio and in licensing compliance at all times
•Direct, train, and give day-to-day feedback to the assistant teacher
•Own family communication for the room: daily reports, conferences, concerns
•Complete developmental observations and screening paperwork on schedule
•Maintain room records: attendance, allergies, care plans, incident reports
•Order and rotate materials within the room budget
•Lead transitions when a child moves up to the next room
•Cover the room during breaks, call-outs, and staffing gaps
•Report any suspected child abuse or neglect as a mandated reporter
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[CDA credential with the Infant-Toddler setting / associate degree in early
childhood: set the bar your state and your license require]
•[Number] years in a licensed center, including [12] months with the age group
•Pediatric CPR and First Aid certification
•Must clear the comprehensive background check required for child care staff
•Demonstrated ability to direct another adult in a small room without drama
•Written communication clear enough for a daily parent update
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Assume non-exempt. The Department of Labor says employees whose primary duty is
caring for the physical needs of children would ordinarily not meet the teaching
professional exemption, and a lead title, a room budget, and a salary-sounding
offer do not by themselves change the analysis. Directing one assistant is
rarely enough for the executive exemption either. If you decide the role is
exempt, document why in writing before the first paycheck. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Center Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [lead differential], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 4: Assistant Daycare Teacher
For the second adult in the room and the reason the ratio holds. Written as an entry point, with the paid training expectation and the credential path stated plainly. If you also staff aides in a school setting, the teacher assistant templates cover that version.
The Assistant Teacher is the second adult in the room and the reason the ratio
holds. This is an entry point into early childhood: we train on the job and
support the [CDA / credential] path for assistants who want it.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Assistant Daycare Teacher supports the lead teacher with supervision, care
routines, activities, and cleaning, and takes the room independently during
breaks and short coverage gaps.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Supervise children and help keep the room in ratio at all times
•Assist with feeding, bottles, diapering, toileting, and nap setup
•Set up and clean up activities, meals, and the room
•Follow the lead teacher's plan and the posted daily schedule
•Sanitize toys, cots, tables, and changing surfaces on schedule
•Help with arrival and departure and greet families by name
•Take the room during the lead teacher's break, following the same routine
•Report any suspected child abuse or neglect as a mandated reporter
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[High school diploma or equivalent / minimum age set by your state]
•No prior center experience required; experience with [infants / toddlers]
preferred
•Pediatric CPR and First Aid certification (or willing to obtain)
•Must clear the comprehensive background check required for child care staff
•Reliable attendance on the posted shift, which the ratio depends on
•Willingness to complete state-required orientation and annual training
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Non-exempt, hourly, overtime-eligible. Two points small centers get wrong.
First, required orientation and annual training time is generally hours worked
and must be paid. Second, an assistant who stays late because a parent is late
is working, and those minutes count toward the 40-hour overtime line. Confirm
your state minimum age and qualification rules for assistant staff, and check
whether your state counts an assistant toward the ratio. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Center Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [paid training], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
Template 5: Float and Closing Daycare Teacher
For break coverage, call-outs, and the last hour of the day, including combining rooms correctly at close and handling late pick-ups. This is the role most centers need and almost never post.
•Release children only to authorized adults with identification
•Log late pick-ups and follow the late fee and contact procedure
•Support the infant and toddler rooms first when coverage is short
•Report any suspected child abuse or neglect as a mandated reporter
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[High school diploma or equivalent / your state minimum for teaching staff]
•Comfortable with every age group in the building, including infants
•Pediatric CPR and First Aid certification
•Must clear the comprehensive background check required for child care staff
•Availability through closing at [time] and flexibility across rooms
•Calm under the pressure of a short-staffed afternoon
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Non-exempt, hourly, overtime-eligible. Float roles create two common wage
problems. First, staying past closing for a late parent is compensable time and
has to be recorded, not rounded away. Second, a float who works six days to
cover call-outs can cross 40 hours without anyone noticing until payroll runs.
Mixed-age grouping at open and close is regulated in most states, so confirm
which combinations your license allows and at what ratio. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Center Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour plus [closing differential], [benefits]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
Template 6: Daycare Teacher, General Center Version
The broad version for a center that assigns rooms after hiring, with the compliance language kept intact. Pair it with a room-specific conversation at the offer stage so nobody arrives expecting the wrong job.
Daycare Teacher Job Description (General Center Version)
DAYCARE TEACHER JOB DESCRIPTION (GENERAL CENTER VERSION)
Center: __ ([City, State])
Room: [Assigned by the director; ages served range from ____ to ____]
[Center Name] is a licensed child care center in [City, State] serving children
from [age] to [age]. We are hiring a Daycare Teacher to care for and teach a
group of children in a safe, warm, well-run room.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Daycare Teacher supervises and cares for an assigned group of children,
keeps the room within licensed ratios, leads age-appropriate activities,
documents each child's day, and partners with families.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Supervise children at all times and maintain the required ratio
•Lead age-appropriate activities, play, and early learning
•Handle care routines: feeding, diapering or toileting, nap, and hygiene
•Observe and document development, behavior, and incidents
•Communicate with families daily and at scheduled conferences
•Keep the room clean, sanitized, and stocked
•Follow health, safety, allergy, medication, and emergency procedures
•Complete state-required orientation and annual training hours
•Report any suspected child abuse or neglect as a mandated reporter
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•High school diploma or equivalent; [credential or coursework] preferred
•[Number] months of experience in a licensed center preferred
•Pediatric CPR and First Aid certification (or willing to obtain)
•Must clear the comprehensive background check required for child care staff
•Physical stamina and genuine patience with young children
•Clear, kind communication with parents
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Non-exempt: hourly and overtime-eligible past 40 hours in a week. Daycare
centers and preschools are covered enterprises under the Fair Labor Standards
Act regardless of size or revenue. If the role is genuinely a curriculum-led
teaching position for three to five year olds, use a preschool teacher posting
instead, because the qualifications, the pay band, and the classification
analysis are different. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Center Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [paid training], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
Ratios, Group Size, and State Licensing
Staff-to-child ratios and maximum group sizes are set by your state licensing agency, and they are the operating constraint behind every hiring decision you make. Federal law requires each state and territory to establish those standards, which is why the numbers differ across state lines for identical rooms.
The federal consumer education site ChildCare.gov publishes recommended figures: one provider for no more than three infants in groups no larger than six, and one provider for no more than four toddlers in groups no larger than eight. Those are recommendations. State minimums are frequently looser, and the state number is the one your license is measured against.
Age group
Recommended on ChildCare.gov
What it means for the posting
Infants
One provider to no more than three, group no larger than six
State the room ratio and group size in the header; it defines the pace of the entire shift
Toddlers
One provider to no more than four, group no larger than eight
Say whether a second adult is in the room and who covers breaks
Three to five year olds
Set by your state license
Different occupation and different posting: use the preschool teacher templates
Mixed group at open and close
Governed by state rules on combining ages
Write the coverage duty into the float or closing job description explicitly
Every minute the room is open
Ratio must hold during breaks, lunches, and call-outs
Post the coverage role you actually need, not the one you need at full staffing
The number that matters for hiring is not the ratio on the wall, it is the number of adults your schedule can put in the room on a Tuesday when someone is sick. Centers that staff to the posted ratio exactly discover the gap on the first call-out and cover it by pulling the director onto the floor, which is how licensing findings and burned-out owners both happen.
Overtime and the Teaching Exemption
Daycare teachers in infant and toddler rooms are non-exempt: hourly, and entitled to overtime at one and a half times the regular rate past 40 hours in a week. Daycare centers and preschools are covered enterprises under the Fair Labor Standards Act regardless of size or revenue, so a small center gets no pass on this.
The Department of Labor sets it out in Fact Sheet #46: the 1972 amendments brought preschools under the Act as covered enterprises whether public or private, for profit or not, and without regard to annual dollar volume. Bona fide teachers can be exempt under the same conditions as school teachers, but employees whose primary duty is caring for the physical needs of the children ordinarily do not meet those requirements.
The background check has named components
Federal child care law sets out what a comprehensive background check contains, and states run it: an FBI fingerprint check, a search of the National Crime Information Center National Sex Offender Registry, and searches of the state criminal registry, the state sex offender registry, and the state child abuse and neglect registry in the state where the person lives and in each state they lived in during the previous five years. Checks are redone at least once every five years. The practical consequence for a small center is sequencing: start the check the day you make the offer, keep the new hire under supervision until the required components clear, and file the results where an inspector can see them. Confirm the exact sequence, the supervision rule, and the timing with your state licensing agency, because states implement the federal floor differently. This is general information, not legal advice.
Training before the room, not after
Health and safety orientation is a condition of the job, and for an infant room the order matters. Safe sleep and sudden infant death risk reduction training should be completed before the person cares for infants, not during their first week on the floor. The wider orientation list that states build from covers child development, pediatric first aid and CPR, safe sleep, shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, medication administration, allergies and feeding, emergency preparedness, and handling hazardous materials, with ongoing hours every year after that. Write the requirement into the posting so candidates know what the first two weeks look like, and remember that required training time is generally paid working time for a non-exempt employee. This is general information, not legal advice.
Ratio is a staffing plan, not a wall chart
The licensed ratio has to hold every minute the room is open, which means it also has to hold during breaks, lunches, bathroom trips, call-outs, and the long afternoon when three families are late. Centers that post only the roles they need at full staffing discover the gap on the first sick day and cover it by pulling the director onto the floor. Two fixes belong in your job descriptions rather than in your head. Put break and coverage responsibility in writing in the float or closing role, and state clearly in every room posting whether that position counts toward the ratio in your state. A ratio the schedule cannot actually deliver is a licensing finding waiting to happen.
Credentials set the pay band you can defend
The Child Development Associate credential is the common baseline in center-based care, and it has an Infant-Toddler setting specifically for this age group. Earning it takes 120 hours of formal early childhood training covering birth to 36 months, with at least 10 hours in each of the eight subject areas, plus 480 hours of professional experience with children in that age range, then a portfolio, a verification visit, and the CDA exam. Many states also fold credential levels into a quality rating system that affects funding. For hiring, decide honestly whether you require the credential, prefer it, or will pay for it, then write that choice into the posting. Paying for the credential is one of the few retention tools a small center controls outright.
The underlying rule sits in the federal regulation on teachers as exempt professionals, which has no salary level or salary basis test and turns entirely on primary duty. That cuts both ways for a center: a genuine curriculum-led preschool teacher may qualify, while an infant room lead almost certainly does not.
If you are working through a borderline role, our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification walks the tests, and the guide to overtime pay covers the calculation. Write the classification on the posting itself, before an offer creates a payroll habit that is hard to reverse.
What to Pay a Daycare Teacher
Daycare teacher pay is hourly and modest, and the national numbers are a floor reference rather than a target. Most of these roles are counted federally as childcare workers, an occupation whose national median sits under seventeen dollars an hour, which is the honest starting point for any center budget conversation.
National Pay Anchors for Early Childhood Roles
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025) put the national median wage for childcare workers at $16.82 an hour, with a mean of $16.84 an hour, or $35,030 a year, across 518,910 jobs (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The national spread in the same survey runs from $11.66 an hour at the 10th percentile to $22.12 at the 90th. Preschool teachers are a separate occupation: a mean annual wage of $43,030 and a mean hourly wage of $20.69 across 478,780 jobs.
Rung in the room
Where to anchor the rate
Classification
Assistant teacher
At or just above your local entry rate for care work; the national 10th percentile for childcare workers was $11.66 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
Non-exempt, hourly
Toddler room teacher
Around the national childcare worker median of $16.82 per hour, adjusted to your local market (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
Non-exempt, hourly
Infant room teacher
Above your toddler rate; the tightest ratio and the hardest room to staff should carry a premium
Non-exempt, hourly
Lead teacher, infant or toddler
Toward the top decile for the occupation, above $22.12 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
Non-exempt unless instruction is genuinely the primary duty
Curriculum-led preschool teacher
A separate occupation: mean annual wage $43,030 across 478,780 jobs (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
May qualify for the teaching exemption
Float and closing teacher
Base rate plus a differential for the closing shift rather than a higher base
Non-exempt, hourly
Two things move acceptance rates more than a small hourly bump. Paid training time and employer-funded credential support cost less than a raise across the whole staff and are worth more to a candidate deciding between two centers. Publish a good-faith range wherever pay transparency laws apply, and put the closing differential in the posting instead of saving it for the offer call.
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Two requirements belong in every daycare teacher posting: employment is contingent on a comprehensive background check, and all staff are mandated reporters of suspected child abuse and neglect. Neither is boilerplate. Both filter your applicant pool before you spend an hour interviewing.
The federal framework administered by the Office of Child Care describes a check with named components, run by your state: an FBI fingerprint check, a search of the national sex offender registry, and searches of the state criminal registry, the state sex offender registry, and the state child abuse and neglect registry for the state the person lives in and each state they lived in during the previous five years, redone at least once every five years. Our guides to running a background check and to state background check laws cover the notice and consent mechanics.
Safe Sleep Training Comes Before the Infant Room
Health and safety orientation is not a first-month formality when infants are involved. Safe sleep and sudden infant death risk reduction training should be complete before a new teacher cares for infants, and the wider orientation list states build from covers pediatric first aid and CPR, shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, medication administration, allergies and feeding, and emergency preparedness. Build the clearance and training timeline backward from the start date, keep the new hire supervised until required components clear, and confirm the exact sequence with your state licensing agency.
Hiring Daycare Teachers Without an HR Department
Small center hiring fails in three predictable places: one generic posting for every room, a rushed process because you are already short-staffed, and compliance documents that no single person owns. Each has a concrete fix.
The same posting gets used for the infant room and the four year olds
One generic daycare teacher posting for the whole building is the most common mistake I see, and it is expensive in a specific way: the infant room hire arrives expecting circle time and lesson plans, finds bottles, diapers, and safe sleep checks instead, and leaves inside a season. Every one of those departures costs you a background check, a training cycle, and a stretch of running the room short. Writing separate postings for the infant room, the toddler room, and the preschool room is not extra work, it is the cheapest turnover control available to a small center. Candidates self-select correctly when the posting names the room, the age range, the ratio, and the actual shape of the day.
Hiring is constant, so every hire is a rush and the paperwork slips
Early childhood turnover means a small center hires for the same room repeatedly, often while short-staffed, which is exactly when compliance paperwork gets deferred. The fix is a fixed sequence you never improvise: post the role-specific job description, interview, make the offer, start the comprehensive background check the same day, verify pediatric CPR and First Aid, complete safe sleep training before the person enters the infant room, collect the mandated-reporter and policy acknowledgments, finish state orientation, and keep the new hire supervised until every required component clears. Written down once, that sequence survives a bad week. Kept in your head, it does not.
The license depends on documents nobody owns
Your license depends on producing certificates, clearances, training hours, and signed acknowledgments on demand, per person, with current dates. Most small centers keep that in a filing cabinet and a spreadsheet, and expirations go unnoticed until an inspection finds them. FirstHR was built for exactly this: onboarding workflows that run the same sequence for every new teacher, e-signature for offers and policy acknowledgments, document management that stores certificates and clearances against each employee profile with renewal dates attached, and training modules for orientation topics you can assign and track. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Once the offer is accepted, the work becomes a repeatable onboarding checklist rather than a scramble. If you also hire aides for school-age programs or a school setting, the caregiver templates cover the adjacent home and community care roles.
Key Takeaways
Write a separate daycare teacher job description for the infant room, the toddler room, and the preschool room, because they are different jobs with different candidate pools sharing one title.
ChildCare.gov recommends one provider per three infants in groups of six and one per four toddlers in groups of eight, but federal law leaves the binding standard to each state and territory.
Daycare centers and preschools are covered enterprises under the FLSA regardless of size, and employees whose primary duty is caring for the physical needs of children are non-exempt and overtime-eligible.
The national median for childcare workers was $16.82 per hour while preschool teachers averaged $43,030 per year across 478,780 jobs, both from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025).
The comprehensive background check has named federal components run through your state, is repeated at least once every five years, and should start the day the offer is accepted.
Safe sleep and sudden infant death risk reduction training belongs before the first shift in the infant room, not during the first month on the floor.
A child care license lives or dies on documents with current dates. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every new teacher, with e-signature for offers and policy acknowledgments, document storage for clearances and certificates with renewal dates attached, and assignable training modules for orientation topics. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a daycare teacher do in an infant or toddler room?
A daycare teacher in the youngest rooms supervises a small group of children, keeps the room within the licensed ratio, handles the care routines, and documents the day for parents. In the infant room that means feeding on each child’s own schedule, following safe sleep practice on every nap, diapering on a set rotation, supporting tummy time and early motor milestones, and writing a daily record of feeding, sleep, diapering, and mood. In the toddler room the day runs on a group schedule instead: arrival, meals, indoor and outdoor play, nap, and simple hands-on activities, with constant coaching through biting, sharing, and toilet learning, plus same-day incident documentation. Both rooms carry the mandated-reporter duty, illness and allergy procedures, and sanitation schedules. What they do not carry is a curriculum for three to five year olds, which is a separate role with a separate posting.
What is the difference between a daycare teacher and a preschool teacher?
The difference is primary duty, and it changes the credential bar, the pay band, and the overtime analysis. A daycare teacher’s day is mostly care and supervision: feeding, diapering or toileting, napping, safety, ratios, and daily records, usually for children under three. A preschool teacher delivers a planned curriculum to three to five year olds, with lesson planning, assessment, and school readiness goals. The Department of Labor draws the same line: an employee whose primary duty is caring for the physical needs of children would ordinarily not qualify for the teaching professional exemption, while a genuine preschool teacher delivering an instructional program may. Practically, that means a daycare teacher is almost always non-exempt and hourly, while a preschool teacher sometimes is not. Post them separately. Using one job description for both rooms is the fastest way to lose an infant room hire in the first season.
Are daycare teachers exempt from overtime?
No, in almost every case. Daycare centers and preschools have been covered enterprises under the Fair Labor Standards Act since the 1972 amendments, regardless of whether they are public or private, for profit or not, and regardless of annual revenue. Within that coverage, the Department of Labor says preschool employees whose primary duty is caring for the physical needs of the children ordinarily do not meet the teacher exemption. Infant and toddler room work is care work by definition, so those roles are non-exempt: hourly, and entitled to overtime at one and a half times the regular rate past 40 hours in a week. A lead title, a room budget, or a salary-sounding offer does not change the analysis. Two practical consequences: required orientation and annual training time is generally paid working time, and staying late for a late parent is compensable and has to be recorded. This is general information, not legal advice.
What staff-to-child ratio should an infant room run?
ChildCare.gov recommends one provider for no more than three infants, in groups no larger than six, and one provider for no more than four toddlers, in groups no larger than eight. Those are recommendations, not the law that binds you. Federal law requires each state and territory to set its own standards for group size and staff-to-child ratios, and state minimums are frequently looser than the recommended figures, so your licensing agency is the number you have to meet. Whatever your state sets, the ratio has to hold every minute the room is open, including during breaks, lunches, call-outs, and the last hour when families run late. That is a staffing plan, not a poster. Write the ratio into the job description, state whether the position counts toward it, and put break and closing coverage in writing in your float role rather than improvising it each afternoon.
How much does a daycare teacher get paid?
Most daycare teachers are counted by the federal government as childcare workers, and the pay is modest and hourly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025) put the national median for childcare workers at $16.82 an hour, with a mean of $16.84 an hour across 518,910 jobs, and a spread from $11.66 at the 10th percentile to $22.12 at the 90th. Preschool teachers are a separate and better-paid occupation in the same survey: a mean annual wage of $43,030 and a mean hourly wage of $20.69 across 478,780 jobs. For a posting, benchmark to your local market rather than to the national number, pay the infant room at or above the toddler room because it is the hardest room to staff, and publish a good-faith range where pay transparency rules apply. Paid training and credential support often beat a small hourly bump on acceptance rates.
What background check and training does a daycare teacher need before starting?
A comprehensive background check with named components, plus health and safety orientation, and for infant rooms the safe sleep piece comes first. Federal child care law describes the check as an FBI fingerprint check, a search of the National Crime Information Center National Sex Offender Registry, and searches of the state criminal registry, the state sex offender registry, and the state child abuse and neglect registry in the state where the person lives and in each state they lived in during the previous five years, redone at least once every five years. Orientation topics that states build from include child development, pediatric first aid and CPR, safe sleep and sudden infant death risk reduction, shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, medication administration, allergies and feeding, emergency preparedness, and hazardous materials. Safe sleep training should be complete before the person cares for infants. Confirm the exact sequence and supervision rules with your state licensing agency, because states implement the federal floor differently. This is general information, not legal advice.
How do I hire a daycare teacher without an HR department?
Run one fixed sequence every time, because a small center hires for the same rooms repeatedly and usually while short-staffed. Post a room-specific job description that names the age range, the ratio, the shift, the hourly rate, and the compliance requirements up front, so candidates self-select. Interview for the actual day rather than for a philosophy of education, and include a paid working interview in the room where the ratio allows. Make the offer quickly and start the comprehensive background check the same day. Then run onboarding as a checklist: pediatric CPR and First Aid, safe sleep training before the infant room, mandated-reporter and policy acknowledgments, state orientation hours, health records, and supervision until every required component clears. FirstHR handles that onboarding sequence with e-signature, document management with renewal dates, and assignable training modules. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
