Hi All,

I can see that some of you have given ideas for kindergarten etc but what options do I have with a 3 month old when I have to return to work in October? ( I don't have a choice unfortunately, have two teenagers in private education and the costs are too high for me to stay at home )
Can anyone recommend a good nursery where they speak both German and English in Basel? Baby is due July and I'm panicking, where do I start looking at costs etc? I believe Nannies are hard to come by? I would really would like a recommended by expat place for him/her.
Thanks, Julie

Hi,

I can highly recommend Susanna's International Kinderkrippe:

http://www.kindergarden.ch/

They take babies from 3 months old and the costs are 110 CHF per day. If your joint income is less than 12,000CHF (I think this still applies) then you can get assistance with the cost from the government. The kinderkrippe can actually do all of the paperwork for you and tell you what copies of things the government require.

The staff mostly all talk English and they are fantastic with the kids. My daughter loves it there and I feel completely at ease leaving her. They do great activites with them and take them on daytrips to the zoo/animal farm/park/pools.

I chose this option over a nanny as a nanny can get sick and then you are stuck for help. With the kinderkrippe they are always open except for bank holiday's.

I know this doesn't help much, but aren't you entitled to four months paid leave? At least here in Zürich, many krippes don't take babies less than four months old.

In Basel quite a few take them from 3 months. Ours certainly does.

Legal maternity leave is 14 or 16 weeks depending on canton so not quite 4 months. But most employers are happy if you take vacations after so you should be able to stay home for 4 months.

In Zurich many Krippes also take them as of 3 months.

Cheers,
K

Does it have to be a bilingual nursery (your baby will be very happy to listen to Swiss or high german all day)? you'll have a lot more choice if you consider 'normal' krippes and it's more likely you'll find one near to home. I found that staff in our local Nursery spoke enough English for us to get by until my German improved.

have you considered getting a nanny ? One of the advantages of a nanny is that if the child is mildly unwell, the nanny can still care for them, whereas in group care they are likely to be sent home...the price could be not so bad, even better if you can share a nanny with someone else...

Good websites for finding care:

www.lilliput.ch


here - the forum

www.greataupair.com