CHILDCARE

1. Intro
2. Full childcare
   Creches
   Early years teachers
   Nannies
3. Preschools

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Full childcare

Crèches (Day nurseries / Daycare centres)

These are for children from the age of about 10 weeks to 4 years. Some crèches have 'vertical groups' where children of all ages are in the same group, others separate babies and toddlers into two groups. Quality and atmosphere vary greatly, so do take a thorough look at the crèche before you register. Many have waiting lists (although these have eased somewhat since the economic crisis), and since you can register from the third month of pregnancy, it's good to start looking around well in advance to see what you want.

Some days are more popular than others; typically Monday,Tuesday and Thursday are the busiest, because Wednesday and Friday are often half-days for primary schools. This can mean that if you're in a hurry you may find a place sooner if you can be flexible with your days. Hours are generally 8am-6pm (and you really, really don't want to be late ...) but many crèches now open for longer, 7.30am to 6.30pm and/or offer extended care if need be.

Many crèches also have a 'Buitenschoolseopvang' group (after school care) at the same location - see Schools section for information on these.

There is one English-speaking crèche in Leiden, Teddy Kids Palace (www.teddykids.nl), and at time of writing they've just opened a BSO centre on the Voorschoterweg.

Some businesses own more than one crèche, for example B4 Kids (www.b4kids.nl) owns a good proportion of the crèches in the Leiden area. At present none of the crèches has reviews because things change so fast that three-year-old opinions may well no longer be valid. Please help us out with a review if you can!

LIST OF CRECHES CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED; WATCH THIS SPACE!