I amsterdam - Child Care

Day Care Centres & Crèches

At a day care centre, or crèche, children from the ages 0 to 4 are looked after when their parents are at work. Infants aged six weeks and above can also be cared for in the crèche. Toddlers are looked after by qualified supervisors. The kids receive individual attention, care and supervision. In addition, they learn to engage in playful creativeness in a day care centre and how to play together with others. The crèche aims to create a daily routine already familiar to the child from home. Several options for child care are available to parents: full-day care, half-day care and 24-hour care. Waiting lists for private day care centres tend to be shorter than for subsidised day care because they cost more. You will be expected to pay the full rate irrespective of your income. Private day care is also for children aged six weeks to four years.

After-School Care

This form of care is intended for children aged between 4 and 12. They are generally cared for in groups of 18 children, in centres that focus on providing a social environment as an alternative to the home situation. In the group they can eat, drink, read, play and receive help in doing their homework. The children can also take in extra activities such as museum visits or a sport on free afternoons during the week or during the holidays. The opening hours are coordinated as far as possible with school times. Some centres also provide care for teenagers up to the age of 16.

Host-Parent Care

Parents with children aged between 0 and 12 can also select host parent care. In this variant the child is looked after by a host family. Such a host family can accommodate up to three children. The parents and the host parents are brought into contact by an intermediary agency. This host family agency advertises for and selects surrogate parents on the basis of suitability. The involved parties and the intermediary stay in regular contact in order to ensure that everything is going well. Host parent care is not always limited to the daytime. In consultation with the host family it may also be possible to look after children in the evening, overnight and sometimes at weekends.

Company Crèches

Company kindergartens are rented by companies that provide their own care centres for their employees. The advantage of these centres is that the waiting lists are often shorter and that all employees with children are able to make use of them. Parents can also organise a private kindergarten on their own initiative without the intervention of government or employer. In this case the parents pay for the costs themselves.

Subsidised Day Care

In the case of a subsidised care centre the parents make a contribution to the day care centre and the municipality pays the remaining costs. This arrangement varies from municipality to municipality. It is intended for parents who do not have access to a private or company kindergarten.

Playgroups

These are informal groups that usually meet weekly and provide mothers/fathers of children aged 0-3 with the opportunity to meet and chat over a cup of coffee, while their children play together in the same room. The kids can play with different toys and learn to socialise with others. Usually a small fee is charged to cover room hire, refreshments and the purchase of toys.

Nannies, Au Pairs & Babysitters

When hiring someone to look after your children, whether occasionally or as live-in care, it is always important to make sure that time is taken to retrieve references  and to get to know the child minder. Babysitters are best found via friends and social groups, but quite often can be found by placing advertisements in schools and universities. Further, oppascentrals, (babysitting agencies), are listed in the phone book under 'Oppascentrales'. Lastly, the local papers quite often carry listings for oppas aangeboden/au pairs aangeboden (child minding offered). Many families choose to make use of au pairs and nannies, live-in or on-call babysitters. In the case of a live-in child minder, it is important to make sure that you provide adequate living and sleeping space, income, and board, as well as clarifying from the beginning what your expectations and guidelines are for raising your child. It is always important that emergency lists (doctors, ambulances, fire, etc) and contact information is provided to them, especially as nannies and au pairs often tend to be from other countries themselves.

Centres & Agencies

Here is a list of common centres and agencies. It is important that you research these agencies fully, as these are not necessarily recommendations.

Nannies & Au Pairs
World Wide Au Pair & Nanny
Burg.Hogguestraat 785
1064 EB Amsterdam
Tel: 020 411 6010
www.worldwideaupair-nanny.com
info@worldwideaupair-nanny.com

Combiwel
This network of child care centres has locations throughout the city for day care centres & after-school care.
Lutmastraat 81
1073 GP  AMSTERDAM 
Tel: 020 575 4700
www.combiwel.nl

Stichting Kinderopvang Humanitas
This network has approximately 80 day care centres in the Netherlands, as well as child minders. It also has a national registration point for child care that can help you find a place for your child in one of their centres, or elsewhere.
Tel: 045 572 9797
www.humanitas-kov.nl

Elynx
This internet site for expats has listings where you can place adverts or read adverts for child care. Look under 'Notices' in the left column and scroll down.
www.elynx.nl

General Child Care Centre Listings
www.kinderopvang.nl
www.skon.nl

Other Related Websites
www.expatica.nl
www.nibud.nl
www.minszw.nl
www.gemeentegids.nl

Supplemental Information

ACCESS is a not-for-profit organisation established in 1986 to bridge the gap between the international community and English-speaking services available in the Netherlands. They supply free information from an extensive database, offer publications, courses, events, a professional counselling referral service and run a free helpline. They also provide several fact sheets covering subjects such as these. The ACCESS Guide to Having and Caring for Children in the Netherlands provides an extensive chapter on Childcare Services.
Tel: +31 (0)20 423 3217
Website: www.access-nl.org

Updated 12 July 2007.