# Child Care/Day Care for Toddlers.



## arunpral (Feb 11, 2014)

Hi,

I wanted to know what are the charges (weekly and monthly basis) for day care/child care for my toddler (20 months) in Frankfurt. 

What time are the day cares open from morning to evening?

Thanks in advance for your replies. 

Regards,
Arun


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

arunpral said:


> Hi,
> 
> I wanted to know what are the charges (weekly and monthly basis) for day care/child care for my toddler (20 months) in Frankfurt.
> 
> ...


How much you pay depends on your personal circumstances (=income).

If you opt for a purely private day care, charges can be very high, especially if they offer all sorts of music lessons, dance lessons and whatnot.

If you go for a state day care, how much you pay depends on your income. You'd have to go to the local authority and apply for a place, explaining how many hours per day you need and why.

After getting their approval, you will receive a document stating that you are approved for a place with X amount of hours per day (this determines how much money the daycare gets). With that document you can then go to the different day cares and ask whether they have such a place available.

According to your income, you will be asked to pay a certain amount yourself and if you are below certain thresholds, the state will pay the difference directly to the day care.

At least this is the procedure in Berlin, in other places it might differ slightly.

Do you know where you will be living within Frankfurt? Do a search for 

"insert area of Frankfurt here + Kindergarten" 

and you should be able to find a list of all the local day cares. There is no use securing a place at the other end of town.

Or try here:

http://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=4400

Also note that many day cares have long wait lists and lots of parents start getting into contact with day cares soon after the birth.

Day care opening hours can be anything. There are day cares that are only open for five or six hours a day and there are day cares that cater to parents working shifts and are open from 6am to 9pm or something similar.


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## arunpral (Feb 11, 2014)

Hi ALKB,

Thanks for your post.

It is a helpful information!!!

Regards,
Arun


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## beppi (Jun 10, 2013)

Please note that it is very difficult to get a place in a child care centre that is actualy open long enough to allow the parent(s) to work full time. Most public centres (which are cheaper at EUR200-600/month - Kindergarten) are open 8am - 4pm or less. More flexible, private child care (Tagesmutter) will cost you EUR6-12/hour.


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## beppi (Jun 10, 2013)

Researcher2014 said:


> every kid has the right for day care and the state must provide it. at least for german citizens... I don't know about foreigners. But the state is running out of spots in big cities. It is easier to find a free spot in a village than in a city. good luck!


This is true only for kids of three years or older - soon to be extended to two years old (and it DOES include foreigners resident in Germany). but only for half day care.
The OP's kid is below two, and I assumed he needs full day care typical for working parents.
And even this is a largely theoretical right, at least in the cities and Western Germany, as there simply aren't enough places, so the reality remains long waiting lists. In Stuttgart, where I live, you need to register your child right after birth to have a chance for your favourite (or nearest) kindergarten when he/she's three.

Edit: Researcher2014 was a SPAMMER who is now banned and his posts removed. The quote above was one of his (very few) half decent posts.


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## jennycr123 (Jul 1, 2015)

Child care centres are not full time available and many are highly charging centres where low-income people can't afford. Some charge normal and many too much. There is no fix for all child care centre.


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