Daycare for a 3 or 4 year old

[Jsquare]

Hi everyone,

We are planning to go to New Zealand on a job hunting campaign. I do not wish to sound irresponsible but is there daycare or childcare service in New Zealand where we can place our child (3 turning 4 years old) there for a couple of hours in the morning so that we can focus on job hunting and meeting prospective employers?

Or should we consider a nanny? I am guessing it would be expensive.

People are telling us to just send the main applicant (my husband) to NZ to look for jobs while I remain in our home country to look after our child. But we really hope to do this together as a family.

We just need someone trustworthy to care for our child for a few hours in the morning so that both of us can focus on the job hunt.

Any advice is appreciated but please, no hurtful remarks. Thank you very much!

[JandM]

Daycare in a group situation is almost all done in "kindies" (kindergartens), and these are not casual drop-ins. Very often, a child's name will have been put down for a place when they were an infant, long before they were old enough to go, and many kindies have a waiting list for places for older children who may move into the area. For the situation you describe, I think you're going to find you need to make private arrangements, and in your place, I think I would feel I needed to use a qualified nanny in order to have the assurance of trusting the little one to someone reputable. As you're not local, you won't have any way of knowing if casual advertisements for a baby-sitter come from a decent person with experience.

[Dave in NZ]

This may interest you.My neighbours used to use Karitane for babysitting when they were stuck for a baby sitter. Looking at their website they are very experienced. If you contacted them and explained your situation and see what they say.

http://www.karitanenannies.co.nz/con...tting-services

[Jsquare]

This may interest you.My neighbours used to use Karitane for babysitting when they were stuck for a baby sitter. Looking at their website they are very experienced. If you contacted them and explained your situation and see what they say.

http://www.karitanenannies.co.nz/con...tting-services

Hi Dave, thank you so much for being a great help as always. I will definitely look into that. Thanks again! I am grateful.

[Jsquare]

Daycare in a group situation is almost all done in "kindies" (kindergartens), and these are not casual drop-ins. Very often, a child's name will have been put down for a place when they were an infant, long before they were old enough to go, and many kindies have a waiting list for places for older children who may move into the area. For the situation you describe, I think you're going to find you need to make private arrangements, and in your place, I think I would feel I needed to use a qualified nanny in order to have the assurance of trusting the little one to someone reputable. As you're not local, you won't have any way of knowing if casual advertisements for a baby-sitter come from a decent person with experience.

Hi JandM, thank you for explaining to me how is daycare like in NZ. Thanks also for your suggestion of hiring a qualified nanny. Does a qualified nanny come with some sort of certification or credentials that I can request to see to make sure that she is qualified? Or do I go through a nanny agency? Sorry, I have not used a nanny before as it is not common here in my home country. Thank you very much.

[JandM]

Exact qualifications vary, but here https://www.careers.govt.nz/jobs-dat...-enter-the-job is a careers website giving an overview. As a parent and grandparent myself, I would want to know about the person's previous experience, paper qualifications if any, and to see that they have had a check to show that they are of good character to work with children. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/...ction-policies

[Jsquare]

Hi JandM, thank you so much for providing the links and information. They are extremely valuable to help us know what to expect of a nanny. I am grateful for your help!