Family Day Care Home
- No more than 6 children in care at once Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-5-27-.02(9)
- No more than 3 younger than 12 months Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-5-27-.03(7)(e)
Your own children: count toward these caps (under 5 years).
Alabama DHR Child Care Services
Alabama home daycare ratios by age
Verified August 31, 2026Alabama caps home day care by headcount and by infants rather than a full age-by-age ratio table. A Family Day Care Home is capped at 6 children with at most 3 younger than 12 months. A Group Day Care Home is capped at 12, may have at most 6 children younger than 12 months, and must staff one caregiver for every 3 infants present.
Every tier, every cap
Family Nighttime Home
- No more than 6 children in care at once Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-5-27-.02(18)(a)
- No more than 3 younger than 12 months Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-5-27-.03(7)(e)
Your own children: count toward these caps (under 5 years).
Group Day Care Home
- No more than 12 children in care at once Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-5-27-.02(15)
- No more than 6 younger than 12 months Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-5-27-.09(4)
- No more than 3 younger than 12 months, per caregiver present Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-5-27-.09(4)
With an assistant: an additional adult is required above 6 children. No more than 12 children in care at once
Your own children: count toward these caps (under 5 years).
Group Nighttime Home
- No more than 12 children in care at once Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-5-27-.02(18)(b)
With an assistant: an additional adult is required above 6 children. No more than 12 children in care at once
Your own children: count toward these caps (under 5 years).
How Alabama defines the age bands
- Younger than twelve (12) months of age: 0 to 12 months
- Younger than eighteen (18) months of age (crib required for regular night's sleep): 0 to 18 months
- Younger than lawful school age (five years of age on or before September 1): 0 to 60 months
- Lawful school age and older: 60 to open months
- Child (any person under 19 years of age): 0 to 228 months
- Younger than 2½ years (pool touch supervision, 1:1): 0 to 30 months
- 2½ years up to 6 years of age (pool, 1:3): 30 to 72 months
- 6 years of age and older (pool, 1:5): 72 to open months
Mixed ages in one room
For family day care homes the chapter sets no general adult-to-child ratio table for awake hours: the binding numbers are the headcount cap and the under-12-months caps. Separate touch-supervision ratios apply around swimming pools by age band.
Real questions, short answers
What is the infant ratio in an Alabama group home?
One caregiver present and supervising for every 3 children younger than 12 months, and no more than 6 such children in the home, per rule 660-5-27-.09(4).
Does Alabama use age bands like toddler and preschool for homes?
The home chapter defines lawful school age (5 by September 1) and sets caps for children under 12 months and cribs for under 18 months. It does not publish toddler or preschool ratio rows for homes.
How many children can one adult keep at night?
Nighttime homes carry the same ceilings: 6 in a Family Nighttime Home, 12 in a Group Nighttime Home, with the licensing-wide infant caps.
Keep reading
Sources for Alabama
- Ala. Admin. Code Chapter 660-5-27, Minimum Standards for Day Care, amended effective September 13, 2021 660-5-27-.01 to -.12
- DHR License Exempt Day Care Facilities sheet, August 2026, quoting the statute Ala. Code 38-7-3
DaycareRules is an informational reference about home child care licensing rules in the United States. It reprints thresholds, capacity limits, ratios and citations from state statutes and regulations, together with the date each state was last verified. Nothing on this site is legal advice, and rules change. Confirm with your state licensing agency before acting on any number printed here.