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Creche
I am planning to put my little into a creche in about six months. I've visited a few private ones around Schaerbeek, ranging in cost from 500 to 800 per month. (I was tempted to go with the 500 one but I noticed that a couple of the kids had dried snot literally covering the bottom third of their faces and, I don't know if I'm being paranoid, but there was a baby crying - maybe about 9 months - and it took a while for the caregiver who was just a few feet away from the baby to finish her phone texting and attend to the baby i.e. put the bibi back in his mouth. However I'm a first time mum so maybe I am over-concerned). Anyway my question is, do the non-private creches cost less, and if so, by how much and does this normally translate to less quality care for the children? Do you have any recommendations for creches in the Schaerbeek area? Thanks in advance for your help.
The public creches are usually better quality and are regularly inspected. However they have long waiting lists. The cost depends on the joint income of the couple, so they may be cheaper or more expensive than private creches, depending on your income . You are right to go by your instinct when you visit a creche, Having said that, some of the private creches are very good, so do visit as many as you can.
My kid is at Winnie & Co in Schaerbeek (close to Place Dailly) and we're very happy there. The directrice is somewhat "square" and I know quite a few parents have had run-ins with her due to her communication style but from my point of view, the most important thing is that the kids are thriving, and they are. Have certainly never seen any of the staff with a mobile phone in their hand or doing anything that wasn't directly related to the kids. The place is clean, bright and friendly and there's a good mix of nationalities also - lots of the kids seem to have at least 1 non-francophone parent. We pay 500 euros/month
p.s. you probably read that in the xpats article too, but the reputable private creches are inspected too, just like the public ones!
