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Childminding Pilot for Infants

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Childminding Pilot for Infants
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Childminding Pilot for Infants
You are now reading: Childminding Pilot for Infants

Childminding Pilot for Infants

The Childminding Pilot for Infants aims to grow childminding services to be an affordable, safe and reliable infant caregiving option for parents. The Pilot will run for three years from 1 December 2024 to 31 December 2027. Singapore Citizen infants aged 2 to 18 months may participate in the Pilot.

ECDA has appointed three operators – EduNanny by Butler, Kidibliss and NannyPro Care – to provide infant childminding services under the Pilot. Childminders engaged by these operators will provide services at their homes or in community spaces. Each childminder will be allowed to care for one to three infants at any one time.

ECDA will work with appointed operators to ensure the delivery of safe and reliable services to infants. ECDA will conduct background checks on childminders prior to their deployment. Appointed operators will have to adhere to service requirements, such as assessing the suitability of childminders, putting in place guidelines for child-safe practices, and following the Industry Standards. Childminders must undergo mandatory training, such as infant first aid and basic infant care training, before they are deployed to care for infants.

Eligibility Criteria

The Pilot is for infants who are:

  • Singapore Citizens (SC)
  • Between the ages of 2 to 18 months
  • Not concurrently enrolled in ECDA-licensed infant care centres

Subsidised Hours of Care and Fees

Childminding services under the Pilot will be made more affordable through the provision of Government subsidies for services during typical working hours, in half-day (5-hour) or full-day (10-hour) blocks, between 7am and 7pm from Mondays to Fridays, excluding public holidays.

Depending on their caregiving needs, parents have the flexibility to choose the number of days a week they require infant childminding services, and blocks of hours for each day.

The childminding fees under the Pilot are as follows:

 Fees (before GST)
Half-day service (5 hours) $16.50
Full-day service (10 hours) $33.00

Parents can tap on Child Development Account (CDA) monies to further defray their expenses for childminding services during the subsidised hours of care.

Community Spaces

The provision of childminding services at community spaces is a new model that ECDA is testing, to increase parents’ access to childminding services in convenient locations.

We have identified community spaces at Tampines East CC and Nee Soon East CC for a start. Parents can expect to register their infants for childminding in these community spaces in the first half of 2025.

ECDA will also work with operators to secure more spaces in locations where there is higher demand for infant care services.

Industry Standards

ECDA has worked with operators to co-develop Industry Standards which lay out the best practices for the safety and well-being of infants. The Industry Standards outline the operators’ and childminders’ obligations in carrying out their responsibilities, and includes provisions on service standards, health and safety of infants, and communications with parents.

Click here for the Industry Standards

How to Register

Parents can contact appointed operators directly to sign up for infant childminding services under the pilot.

For more information on the respective operators, their services, and childminders, please approach the appointed operators.

List of Appointed Childminding Operators

Operator Information about the Operator Contact Details
EduNanny by Butler EduNanny started the childminding business in early 2023. They focus on delivering personalised care and nurturing the child through their trained childminders to support the diverse needs of families. EduNanny has worked with many parents to provide accessible care and attention to their children.
  		Tel: +65 31292133
 
Email: hello@getbutler.com
 
Website: https://edunanny.com
 
 
Kidibliss Childminding Pte. Ltd. Kidibliss is an on-demand kid care service provider offering a range of children-related services, including childminding for infants and children. Kidibliss has been operating for more than five years and has vast experience delivering high-quality childminding solutions. Kidibliss mostly caters to corporate clients, but also provides childminding services for parents.
  		Tel: +65 86857858
 
Email: enquiry@kidibliss.com
 
Website: https://kidibliss.com
 
NannyPro Care Pte. Ltd. NannyPro has been providing childminding services in Singapore for almost 20 years and is one of the more established childminding operators in Singapore. They have partnered many families on their parenting journey through dedicated childminders who strive to give parents a peace of mind through their care. As a social enterprise, NannyPro also empowers and enables women of diverse backgrounds to be meaningfully and gainfully employed. In 2023, NannyPro was a finalist of the President’s Challenge Social Enterprise Award.
 
  		Tel: +65 69943009
 
Email: hello@nannypro.com.sg
 
Website: https://nannypro.com.sg
 


General Enquiries

Today, nanny/childminding services cater to children of all ages, and services are often provided in parents’ homes, with one childminder caring for one child. Under the pilot, each childminder will be allowed to care for one to maximum three infants at any one time, at the childminders’ home or at community space. This allow more infants to be looked after to benefit more families. ECDA will also provide funding to childminding operators to keep childminding service under the pilot affordable for parents.

Currently, childminders who provide childminding services at the parents’ homes will likely only care for one infant at a time. This limits the number of infants who can benefit from such caregiving arrangements.


Childminders’ homes and community spaces are more suitable as these spaces allow childminders to care for more than one infant at a time. This would also allow childminding services to be kept affordable for parents since childminders can care for more than one infant.


Parents who prefer to opt for childminding services in their own homes can continue to make their own arrangements with suitable service providers, outside the Childminding Pilot.
ECDA will subsidise childminding services during typical working hours as the pilot aims to provide an alternative option for families who do not have other infant caregiving arrangement. Parents needing extended hours beyond the subsidized hours can directly discuss additional care options with the operators. These will be based on operators’ regular rates.

Safety

Operators must ensure that the care environment is clean, safe, conducive for infants and designed to minimise potential safety hazards and risks to infants. This will be set out as part of the industry standards on the best practices and safety measures which operators and childminders can reference.

Childminders may be concurrently looking after their own infants/children. Childminders are expected to disclose such arrangements and parents should check with childminders or operators directly.

 

Regardless, childminders can only look after up to a maximum of 3 infants/children under the age of 12 at any one time.

For community spaces, operators will be required to set up CCTVs as these are public areas.

 

For childminders’ homes, childminders are not required to set up CCTVs. Nevertheless, ECDA encourages operators and childminders to make use of CCTVs and monitoring devices as part of their commitment to the safety and well-being of infants. Childminders can consider placing CCTVs in caregiving areas only, and during the hours of care. This is to balance the privacy of childminders and those that reside in their homes while also providing parents with peace of mind. Parents may also wish to discuss such arrangements in selecting their childminders. 
Appointed operators must ensure that childminders undergo basic training such as infant first aid and food safety courses, as well as have the necessary skillsets to care for infants, such as how to feed and bathe infants.

Operators will be required to establish agreements with parents prior to providing childminding services, which will include clear incident management protocols to ensure that all disputes, feedback and incidents are handled in a timely, fair and transparent manner.

 

Parents should thus reach out to operators first if the services provided do not meet the contractual terms that were agreed upon between operators and parents.

 

Where there are disputes related to the contractual agreements between the operator and parents, individuals may approach other consumer channels for assistance. Parents may also reach out to ECDA for serious incidents, and operators found to have breached the service requirements or industry standards may be removed from the pilot.
ECDA will conduct background checks on childminders, including checks on whether childminders have any criminal history, such as child-related offences. For services conducted in childminders’ homes, such background checks will also be extended to those who will have regular access to the homes (e.g., family members).

Health

Parents may discuss such arrangements with the operators and childminders.

Parents should discuss any medical needs with both the operator and childminder in advance. If medicine administration is necessary, parents should:

  • Provide clear instructions to the childminder
  • Include details on dosage, timing, and method of administration
  • Inform childminder of any potential side effects to watch for

Childminder

Individuals who are interested to become childminders under the pilot will need to be engaged under one of the appointed operators. Childminders will not be allowed to operate individually under the pilot.