Infantcare

We were really pleasantly surprised this morning when we went for a tour of NTUC infantcare's facilities. This one is at jurong west St 65. At first impression, both of us thought that everything was scrupulously clean, and also, the place felt really cosy, so much that Ade wanted to take a nap on one of the mattresses, and for her to say that, it must be really clean, meaning dust-free, smell-free and clutter-free.

Making this trip gave us the assurance that infantcare was the best decision, measured against the other options of hiring a full time maid or putting our baby with a nanny. Below are the reasons why we feel it is our best choice, considering that we are both working during office hours.


1) The infant care givers were all highly qualified with diplomas in infantcare. We stayed around long enough to verify that, and witnessed firsthand their experience and decision making skills in action. An example was that when one of the babies was crying really loud, the in-house protocol was not to give him immediate attention, after the reason for crying was established as his craving for milk. So he was left to cry while the milk was warmed. The crying lasted only a while as a result. This was really good, because it does not breed crying as a tool for getting what he wants, and we felt that it was a good decision on their part. Instinctively, many parents would succumb to the attention-demanding cry of the baby.

2) Caregivers really looked like they were baby-lovers, from their handling and the attitude they portray, something which is really difficult to expect from a maid, unless you really get lucky.

3) The babies had their own dedicated cots, and the cot room was physically separated from the main area. This ensures hygiene, and familiarity.

4) They had mentioned that they will personally alert all parents if one of the infants fell sick and they check the temperature 3 times a day. Besides this, they do have an isolation cot room where the sick infant will be taken care of.


5) In the infant's first year of life, the social environment naturally encourages the infant to become more sociable, being constantly exposed to the company of fellow infants, as well as 5 caregivers. As a result, they get comfortable with people, a sure benefit against being shut out with only a maid to face all day.

6) There is a government subsidy of $400, resulting in a monthly fee of less than $900.

To sum up, we are now convinced that care of the baby is assured under these professionals, who are equipped with knowledge and experience of perhaps both of us combined.