Cubby Count

Minnesota family child care ratios · who fits, and when

On this day

Showing the new license classes that take effect July 1, 2027 (Laws of Minnesota 2026, ch. 127). Before that date the current chart applies.

Your dates

When you can take another kid, and how many caregivers you need. Based on everyone checked “here today” aging up.

Kids

Check here today for everyone who is in the house right now, including your own kids when they are home. Uncheck a kid to see what changes without them.

What if?

A caller asks about a spot. Put in their kid’s birthday (a due date is fine) and the day they’d start. The kid is counted from that day on, everywhere on this page, without touching your real list. Several what-ifs are counted together.

License options

Every class she can operate under, checked against the kids counted at left. A group (C) license may run at any lower C option for the day, and a D may run as a B when one caregiver is present.

Coming up

Per-kid category changes. Click one to jump the calculator to that day. For dates you can actually take someone new, use the “When you can actually add a kid” box above.

The actual rules this uses

Age groups (Minn. Stat. 142B.01, subd. 13; Minn. R. 9502.0315) — these turn purely on the birthday; school enrollment does not matter:

newborn birth up to 6 weeks
infant 6 weeks up to 12 months
toddler 12 up to 24 months (up to 30 months for the specialized B and D licenses)
preschooler 24 months up to the 5th birthday
school age 5th birthday up to the 11th birthday — counts toward total capacity but not the “under school age” limit
off the books 11 and older — does not count at all

Current chart (Minn. R. 9502.0367, in force through June 30, 2027):

Class	Capacity	Caregivers	Max under school age	Max infants + toddlers	Max infants
A — Family	10	1	6	3	2
B1 — Specialized infant/toddler	5	1	3	—	3
B2 — Specialized infant/toddler	6	1	4	—	2
C1 — Group	10	1	8	3	2
C2 — Group	12	1	10	2	1
C3 — Group	14	2	10	4	3
D — Specialized infant/toddler group	9	2 (both adults)	7	—	4

Fine print baked into the math:

Capacity counts every child 10 or younger in the residence, including the caregiver’s own kids when present (Minn. R. 9502.0365, subp. 1).
On C3, the second caregiver may be a helper (age 13–17) instead of an adult only when no more than one infant or toddler is present. Class D requires two actual adults.
Newborn rule (9502.0365, subp. 3): with one adult, a newborn in care must be the only child under 12 months and at most two other children may be present — unless a second adult is there or the newborn is the provider’s own. This page counts newborns as infants for the caps (the strict reading) and flags the one-adult situation.
A license is a ceiling: a C3 can run as C1 or C2 on any given day, a D can run as B when one caregiver is present (Minn. Stat. 142B.41, subd. 5). All limits of the class being used that day must be met.

July 1, 2027: a new law (Laws of Minnesota 2026, ch. 127, new chapter 142I) replaces this chart. New classes: A 10/1 adult/6 under school age/3 inf+tod/2 inf; C1 5/1/5/3/3; C2 10/1/8/4/2; C3 12/1/10/3/2; C4 14/2/10/6/4; C5 18/2/12/5/2. The specialized B and D licenses and the 30-month toddler stretch go away, and helpers must be 14–17. Set the date above past July 2027 and this page switches to that chart automatically.

This is a planning tool, not legal advice — the county licensor has the final word, especially on anything close to a line.

Kids you enter are saved in this browser only. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.