A Pennsylvania family child care home holds 4 to 6 unrelated children, with age caps that count every child present: no more than 5 combined infants and toddlers under age 3, and no more than 2 infants under age 1 inside that. A group child care home holds 7 to 12 unrelated children, or up to 15 when serving only older school-age children.
Every tier, every cap
Family Child Care Home
No more than 6 (unrelated children) 55 Pa. Code § 3290.51
No more than 5 infant and toddler combined (birth to 3 years), related and unrelated 55 Pa. Code § 3290.52
No more than 2 infant (birth to 1 year), related and unrelated 55 Pa. Code § 3290.52
Option 1: max 0 infant, max 5 toddler 55 Pa. Code § 3290.52(1)-(3)
Option 2: max 1 infant, max 4 toddler 55 Pa. Code § 3290.52(1)-(3)
Option 3: max 2 infant, max 3 toddler 55 Pa. Code § 3290.52(1)-(3)
Your own children: do not count toward the unrelated caps.
Group Child Care Home
No more than 12 (unrelated children) 55 Pa. Code § 3280.51
Option 1: up to 12 any age mix 55 Pa. Code § 3280.51
Option 2: up to 15 facility serving only older school age children 55 Pa. Code § 3280.51
Your own children: do not count toward the unrelated caps.
How Pennsylvania defines the age bands
Infant (a child from birth to 1 year of age): 0 to 12 months
Young toddler (a child from 1 to 2 years of age): 12 to 24 months
Older toddler (a child from 2 to 3 years of age): 24 to 36 months
Preschool child (from 3 years of age to the date the child enters kindergarten): 36 to open months
Young school age child (attends kindergarten to the date the child enters the 4th grade); boundary is grade based, fromMonths 60 is an approximation: 60 to open months
Older school age child (attends the 4th grade through 15 years of age); start boundary is grade based, fromMonths 108 is an approximation: 108 to 192 months
Mixed ages in one room
Pennsylvania's home bands run infant (under 1), young toddler (1 to 2), older toddler (2 to 3), preschool, and two school-age bands. The binding home numbers are the 6-child certificate ceiling and the 5-and-2 caps under age 3.
Real questions, short answers
What is the infant limit in a PA family child care home?
Two children under age 1, counting the caregiver's own, inside the combined 5-child cap for everyone under age 3, per 55 Pa. Code 3290.52.
Can a group home take 15 children?
Only when the facility serves exclusively older school-age children; otherwise the group home ceiling is 12 unrelated children, per 3280.51.
Do related kids really not count in the totals?
They do not count toward the 6 or 12 unrelated-children ceilings, and they do count toward the under-3 age caps. Both sentences are true at once, and that is the trap.
Human Services Code, definitions and license requirement 62 P.S. 1001, 1002, 1031
55 Pa. Code Chapter 3290, Family Child Care Homes, amended December 2025 edition read 3290.51, 3290.52
55 Pa. Code Chapter 3280, Group Child Care Homes 3280.51
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.