CHILDCARE

1. Introduction
2. Full childcare
   Creches
   Childminders
   Nannies
3. Preschools
4. Out-of-school care
5. Contact information

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Full childcare

Nannies

This is someone coming to your house to look after your child(ren) while you work, and can be the ideal solution for some families; all the advantages of a childminder (personal contact, familiar home environment...) and no need to ferry the child to and fro, plus potentially more flexibility about return times.

Just as for a childminder, though, finding the right trustworthy person can be fraught with difficulties, the more so because nannies are relatively rare here compared with many other countries. Nannies here tend to charge by the hour, not per child, meaning that they are a good bet for the larger family, especially if they are registered and you can claim the subsidy. Note that if the nanny works for you for more than three days in the week, you become officially her employer and responsible for all sorts of things like health insurance, pension etc., and things become (prohibitively) more complex and expensive.

The agencies already listed under Childminders can also help you find nannies and organise the financial side (in Dutch ...). Nannies are markedly more common in expat-rich places like the Hague or Amsterdam, and www.blueumbrella.nl may be able to help you (in English). Their fees are high, but a phone call for advice, at least, will not cost you anything. Another high-end organisation is www.nanny.nl .

HomeinLeiden confesses to ignorance about au-pairs and can't offer any help on that front!