Lillio keeps parents in the loop. Staff time off was never its job.
Lillio (formerly HiMama) is built around parent communication, daily reports, and attendance. The staff time-off process — requests, approvals, accruals — is the part it leaves on your plate. That's what we do.
No credit card · Sits alongside Lillio · Cancel anytime
Two tools, two different jobs
Lillio is a parent-facing platform. Photos, daily sheets, messaging, child attendance, billing — the things that keep families happy and your documentation in order. If that's working for you, keep it. We don't do any of that, and we're not trying to.
But when a teacher needs next Thursday off, Lillio isn't where that lives. There's no staff-submitted request, no approve-or-deny, no running balance of who has how many days left, no rule that stops a third person from booking the same short-staffed Friday. So that part falls back to texts and a spreadsheet — the exact mess this tool was built to end.
Staff time off, side by side
Based on Lillio's public product information, June 2026. We compare only the staff time-off workflow — not Lillio's parent-engagement side, which we don't try to replace.
| Staff time-off workflow | Lillio | Time Off Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Staff submit & track their own requests | – | Yes, from their phone |
| Approve or deny with a tap (with a note) | – | ✓ |
| Approve by SMS — no app or password for staff | – | ✓ |
| Accrual balances & "days remaining" | – | ✓ |
| Require a physician note on a category | – | ✓ |
| Coverage rules (cap per day, no day-before-holiday) | – | ✓ |
| Custom categories with their own rules | – | Unlimited |
| Child & staff attendance / check-in | ✓ | Not our job |
| Parent messaging, photos & daily reports | ✓ | Not our job |
| Pricing | Per classroom (quote) | $99/mo flat |
– = not a documented staff time-off feature, to our knowledge. We'd rather under-claim than overstate what Lillio does.
Use both. Here's the split.
Keep Lillio for
- ✓Parent messaging, photos & daily sheets
- ✓Child check-in & attendance
- ✓Tuition billing & payments
- ✓Developmental reporting & family engagement
Add Time Off Schedule for
- ✓Staff requesting time off from their phone
- ✓One-tap SMS approvals & denials, with notes
- ✓Accrual balances that update themselves
- ✓Physician notes, coverage rules & an audit trail
Also weighing Brightwheel? See the Brightwheel comparison →
Two honest notes
If Lillio has added a staff time-off request workflow since this page was written, tell us and we'll fix it. And we're English-only for now — if you need French, you should know before you sign up.
Keep Lillio. Hand off the time-off part.
$99/month flat. Unlimited staff. Set up alongside Lillio in an afternoon.
Built by a daycare director who runs 37 staff on it every day.
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Lillio and HiMama are trademarks of their respective owner. Time Off Schedule is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Lillio. Comparison reflects publicly available Lillio product information as of June 2026 and our reading of it; capabilities change. Verify current features with Lillio directly.