3 operators to be part of home-based childminding pilot

Three childminding operators have been appointed for a pilot aimed at giving parents here another infant care option from Dec 1.

- Syarafana Shafeeq

Parents with Singaporean babies aged two to 18 months can contact EduNanny by Butler, Kidibliss, and NannyPro Care to engage childminding services at a childminder's home or a community space.

During the pilot, they can choose the number of days a week they need help and opt for more flexible hours. At infant care centres, parents usually leave their children there for a fixed period of time.

The childminding pilot, which will run for three years, was announced in March by Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling.

It aims to grow childminding services to be an affordable, safe and reliable infant caregiving option for parents, said the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) in a statement on Nov 21.

This is part of the Government's commitment to offer parents greater assurance in the first stage of their child's life, added ECDA, which will fund the appointed operators.

Each childminder will care for one to three infants at any one time.

The services will be offered at the childminders' homes, but ECDA said it is trialling a new model of using community spaces to provide more convenient locations for parents.

The Tampines East and Nee Soon East community centres have been identified as suitable spaces, ECDA said.

Parents can register their infants for childminding in these community spaces in the first half of 2025, and more spaces in locations with high demand for infant care services will be secured.