Nanny? Infant care?

[gravida]

We have a 3 months old baby, I am coming back to work in April and we need somebody to help us with the care of the little one while I will be working. I've contacted agencies that advertise (or have information on their website, I've googled out couple of them) that they are able to provide us with nanny who will come to our place.
I was quite optimistic and emailed around 6 agencies that from the website looked reliable and professional. Well, I didn't have to wait too long for a cold shower. The "nannies" are simply aunties with no courses or training whatsoever, they rely purely on their own experience (nothing wrong with that, but I thought that they go through some sort of training, I don't know CPR for babies, basic safety etc.). The agencies do not guarantee any replacements in case of emergency (i.e. nanny gets sick and cannot come to work). Overall, it seems that they charge their one time fee (figures I was informed about: $200-400) just to provide us with telephone number to a lady, who is eager to be a babysitter. Fine, nothing wrong with that, but that's not what I was looking for. I was hoping to have someone prepared, through agency which will be able to guarantee some sort of protection (as mentioned - emergency replacement, guaranteed exchange of nanny in case we would not be happy with the first one etc.). Nothing like that seems available. Oh, I do not want to simply advertise and hire someone "from the street". It is very important to me to have that peace of mind that I have a "regulated" and "controlled" institution behind, so I am not leaving my baby with someone completely random.
I know very well that most of the people here have maids. Leaving apart the fact that we do not like the concepts at all of someone living with us and having a "servant"... In our current apartment we do not have proper maid's room, it is actually bomb shelter without windows and we simply cannot place there a human being. We also do not have spare regular room to hire a maid and place her there.
Now, we have our current rental agreement till September, so after that we could find a more suitable apartment, with either proper maid's room or additional regular room. In the meantime I have to go back to work and we need to sort out the babysitting problem.
We start to think about infant care, even though we do understand its disadvantages (like: source of various easily spread illnesses, divided attention to our child etc.). However, I do not know anyone who used the infant care services.
Going now to the point:

1. Does anyone hire a nanny here? If yes, through which agency? Are you happy with the service?
2. Is there anyone with experience with infant care? Any recommendations?

Maybe you have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help.

[mbjs514]

Hi Gravida, noticed you havent had a reply and it may be early days yet. I dont think there is such a thing as a 'nanny' service, what you have here are 'child minders'.

I can offer some suggestions on how you may have more 'attention' to your plight, put up a clear simple sign on the Cold Storage message boards- asking specifically for ladies with children who can recommend a nanny. State you would like their advise/recommendations and to chat with them on the phone or meet for a coffee.

Bear in mind, u may get a sleuth of maids offering part time baby sitting.. but you may also get lucky and find a mom who can recommend someone.

I will let you know if i hear of anything too.

[gravida]

Thanks for your reply, mbjs514.

I may go ahead with CS notice board, but... I wanted to do it through agency for two main reasons: 1. to make it legally 2. to have a "body"/institution/agency/organization/company as a second party to make sure that it will be quality service, the nanny/child minder/babysitter will be trained and finally in case of any arguments.
After a two weeks of searching I must say I've been expecting way too much I have found ONE company that may be able to offer something similar to what I need, but they said is too early to make any arrangements at the moment.

[javierleow]

Thanks for your reply, mbjs514.

I may go ahead with CS notice board, but... I wanted to do it through agency for two main reasons: 1. to make it legally 2. to have a "body"/institution/agency/organization/company as a second party to make sure that it will be quality service, the nanny/child minder/babysitter will be trained and finally in case of any arguments.
After a two weeks of searching I must say I've been expecting way too much I have found ONE company that may be able to offer something similar to what I need, but they said is too early to make any arrangements at the moment.

Hi Gravida, may I know which company is that? My wife and I are also desperately seeking a baby sitter/nanny/child minder.

[gravida]

Birth and Beyond.

[pomwi]

We are moving to Singapore in a couple of months' time with 1 toddler and 1 newborn, and are also looking for a live-out nanny service, ideally through a reputable agency.

Doing quite a bit of searching, we've not been able to identify any agencies which do anything other than "Confinement Lady/Nanny" or "Babysitting" services. I'm assuming that this is because typical nanny duties are generally assigned to a live-in maid?

We were hoping to use a live-out nanny for a few months until we got ourselves settled and worked out whether we needed and could accommodate a live-in maid.

[gravida]

Yes, pomwi, most of the folks here have live-in-maids. Some may be stay at home parents with no helpers.
Thus real nanny service is almost non existing to my despair.

[anitha]

Hi pomwi, I have a live out nanny for my 22 month old son and have had one since he was three months old (maternity leave for non Singaporeans sucks!). I used an agency called NannyPro, who were incredibly accomodating and very helpful. I did interview a lot of candidates who were not at all suitable before finally finding one I was happy with. The nanny arrives every morning at 7.45 and does some basic (baby related) chores while I spend some time with my son before I leave for work at around 8.20. I'm home for 7pm most days though I'm lucky in that she is flexible about me being late if I have to stay at work or stop at the shops.

The cost is not cheap, I pay $1500 a month. It's much more expensive than having a live in maid but it is better for our family (who values our privacy!) and I prefer the arrangement this way also because the nanny is in our home solely to look after my son, she doesn't have to cook or clean for the family like a maid would have to. She cooks for my son and does his laundry - other than that, her sole occupation is to play with/stimuate him.

I did also interview some candidates from an agency called Maranatha. My favourite candidate was from this agency but in the end she declined to take up the job as my flat at that time was too far away for her to commute. Be warned though, Maranatha charge over $2000 for their nannies.

Good luck in your search!! Try not to get discouraged by all the duds you'll inevitably meet - it takes a lot of sifting to find a right match for you and your children.

[elven]

Hi anita,

Would you mind sharing your nanny's details with me? I am looking for one for my 3 months old, and trust word of mouth more than recommendations by strangers.

Big thanks!!

[x9200]

Hi anita,

Would you mind sharing your nanny's details with me? I am looking for one for my 3 months old, and trust word of mouth more than recommendations by strangers.

Big thanks!!

And the nanny will work full time in your place and full time in her place or shortly, only in your place?

[Ninaclare86]

Dear Parents,

[gravida]

Nina, freelance babysitting is illegal in Singapore unless you are Singaporean or PR...

[kani]

Advertising and soliciting are not allowed. Please use the classifieds for those.

-Moderator