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Child Care News for Parents & Carers
November 12, 2014
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If this is the first time you've put your baby into child care, then read our helpful article on how to make the best choice for you and your baby, including types of child care, waiting lists and what questions to ask. Toddler drowning incidents are on the increase, so before we all head to the beach or pool this summer, read our article on water safety to prevent accidents and recognise the signs of a child in danger.
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| First time for child care?
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Rebecca Watson Only About Children's Head of Curriculum & Innovation provides some top tips
If you've never tackled the child care jungle before, then it can be a bit daunting. Knowing what you want is one thing; finding it is another.
The important thing with child care is to be flexible and keep your options open. There is no one-size-fits-all policy when it comes to anything to do with children, least of all child care and different types of care offer different advantages and disadvantages depending on your own personal circumstances.
Child care is of course in short supply so you may have to go on a wait list for popular or over-subscribed child care services. You can avoid wait listing to a certain extent by using our child care search tool and only contacting those centres that have current vacancies.
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Need to know your child care options fast?
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Get a report of child care services that have vacancies now… and receive alerts whenever services change their vacancies |
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| Are you sure about water safety?
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Keep your children safe in the water this summer
Summer holidays are around the corner and swimming pools and the ocean are starting to look very appealing. We're all looking forward to summer on the beach and by the pool.
Last year's Drowning Report released by Royal Life Saving (RLS), showed a concerning increase in deaths by drowning in swimming pools of 95 per cent over the previous year. There was a particular increase in children under five.
Under five drowning incidents up
A great deal of energy has been expended by industry, regulators, legislators and the community in attempting to curb the drowning deaths of children under five years of age.
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Parent ratings & testimonials
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Check out the latest child care ratings + reviews
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| Don't miss out on Christmas fun
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Book your babysitter now
The Christmas season is a great time to reward yourself for another hard year's work; to catch up with friends; let your hair down a bit and have some fun with your colleagues. It's also prime babysitting season, so don't miss out on the fun, because you don't have babysitting sorted.
Oh yes, Christmas can be fraught with babysitting difficulties when your usual sitters disappear off into their own social whirl. Babysitters are in huge demand at this time of the year and get booked up early over the festive season.
Of course, as with everything else, babysitting is all about supply and demand and so the silly season also brings silly babysitting fees too, so be prepared to pay more than the usual rates. But only within reason. It's a great time for babysitters to cash in to pay for presents and their own Christmas fun, and some private babysitters will really try it on and you shouldn't really be paying that much over the odds.
Some babysitters can charge double for New Year's Eve or Christmas key dates, with rates going from a fairly standard $20 an hour to up to $50 on New Year's Eve. This is clearly ridiculous, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and that last minute New Year's Eve party invitation might require last minute expensive child care.
However if you book through an agency you should be able to avoid this (usually it's the same booking fee plus an additional fixed rate on top) and ensure that the babysitter you book is reliable and will show up.
Book a babysitter through our easy online booking service, which only uses reputable agencies with police checked, vetted and referenced, professional babysitters. Then go out and have some well-deserved Christmas fun.
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| Nanny Appreciation Week
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| 24 - 29 November 2014
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Show your appreciation for your nanny or manny.
find out more
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