Infant care dilemma

Hi all, anyone has any thoughts on private vs government infant care? My hubby and I are both working, in laws and parents are also not able to help look after... not much options left. Was suggested to hire helper instead of sending to infant care, but heard a lot of horror stories hence not so keen to hire. What are your thoughts? Appreciate any response :) thank you.

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I’m sending my girl to my first skool and the experience is good so far. Personally, I don’t think govt / private really matters at infant care level. At this age they can’t do much anyway, just feeding, sleeping, change diaper. And they’re happy with simple interactions and activities when they’re awake. As long as my baby’s basic needs are met, and teachers are kind and patient towards her, it’s good enough for me. Convenient location is also important as commuting with baby can be quite challenging, unless you have a car. I guess private is more expensive because they may have better facilities (furniture, toys etc.) and teacher-student ratio may be lower. Also they tend to be more tech savvy, like I heard some have apps that provide live updates about your child, as compared to my ifc where communication to parents (e.g. what time they feed, sleep, change diaper) is manually recorded in a book. My ifc also has an app but it’s only for checking in and out daily, and occasionally upload photos of the kids’ activities.

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4mo ago

thank you for sharing! I have tried to enroll but the MFS and Sparkletots near my area are all fully subscribed 🥲

It boils down to you and spouse opinion. All IFC will have different routine, policy and standard therefore cant say whats good and bad until you see it for yourself. Or get review from people who choose the centre you prefer. On the other hand, even FDW also have horror stories. So I would say depend on your luck for FDW and whats your t&c when taking FDW. My POV would be choose school and then ask review then put baby in IFC. End day the trust you put in to either FDW or educators to care for your child. Having said that it doesnt matter government or private both have pros and cons.

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I have both helper and send my baby to IFC. Helper to mainly help with household chores and getting my firstborn ready for childcare in the morning. and we send our baby to infant care as I prefer her to have a more structured routine and learn more social skills. Babies are more independent in IFC but of coz, be ready for ur baby to get sick often. Tt's also why we take helper too as she can help to take care of our sick child at times when I and hubby couldn't take leave. If i can only have 1 option, I'd rather send baby to IFC.

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I have this preconception that private infant care is better than government infant care. however, I went down to pap sparkletots for a visit and was very impressed by the teachers and principal. however, do note that their q is pretty long so do register as soon as possible!

I’m a preschool educator. Every preschool is different, even the same organisation but different branch has different cultures, teachers, leadership etc. most importantly, choose a school which you feel comfortable with.

I sent mine to ifc because i dun have help either. To me they get to learn but anyw, mine is in private ifc. Not keen to enroll in gvt ones thou nearer (last time also no slot anyway)

There’s always horror stories to everything 😮‍💨 List down the pros and cons of both, maybe it will help you to decide. Eg, Can install cctv at home or enroll to ifc with cctv.

4mo ago

so far all the horror stories are at private schools right?