Day Care for infant - months old

Family, Education, Health and Pets
21
This is not necessarily goiny to help the OP but there is an dvertisement today in the Tagblatt for a day-care centre called 7 Bears. They have openings for 1-5 year olds and they even advertise limited places for over 3y/o in the german/english section. Get cracking - these places go quickly!

22
Firstly, CONGRATULATIONS you are going to be a dad!!!

Secondly, I have a friend who just arrived 3 months ago and her birth was covered by the medical aid that she joined only a month ago. Obviously they did not cover for private facilities but they will cover the normal state care, I am almost certain of it. Perhaps you may even need to change insurers to find one that will cover the birth.

Then just a reminder, dont forget about the lump sum you will receive from the Kanton after the baby is born and the monthly sum you will receive too. I am sure it will go a long way to help with the expenses.

My suggestion is, if AT ALL possible, could your girlfriend not stay home with baby and maybe find something she could do from home for extra cash.

23
Huh? What lump after the birth????? I receive the monthly Kinderzuschlage but nothing else.

Our son goes to daily care for about 1950 Chf per month, my wife is pregnant, so in 8 months that will make 3900 - (two-kid 10% discount we got from the Krippe) = 3510Chf ... whoo hooo. That would almost *erase* her monthly income, the left overs will cover train, food and some minor expenses... . She spent almost 6 years searching for a job (non-EU,non Swiss), and of course will not quit to probably go through that again. At this stage we are starting to consider other alternatives (nanny, etc).

As far as I know, you get back from the taxes a maximum of 2000Chf

24

So you did not get any money from the communal when your baby was born?? We got just under 1500chf. It is something you need to apply for though and i think the amount various per canton. I seem to recall a thread on here about it two or three weeks ago. I think it was called child benefit or something.

25
Unfortunately, like everything else, it seems to be subject to the same swiss requirements which have placed us in this ever difficult situation. I feel somewhat guilty selling to my girlfriend the months of maternity leave and the great insurance benefits only to find zero leave and high costs of medical care. It's just something to deal with i guess. of course i'm happy but today i find out that there is no way it will have my last name unless i get married immediately, great, sure puts a damper on things. I'm not forcing this on my girlfriend, we agreed a long time ago that if this ever happened the baby would have my name, its traditional for us. Just another thing to get over i guess.

I was offered this job and accepted. i understand the law and perhaps even why you have these things in place to avoid exploitation, however, such a rigid policy seems unfair considering i was invited here by my current employer whom i've 12 years with.

thanks to everyone for all the information, it helps to get a good picture of what is possible.

kindest regards.

26
I could be wrong but i am sure an unmarried friend of mine told me that they had to go through a whole legal procedure regarding the canton insisting that her boyfriend pay for maintenance for the child or something like that as well. I should see her tomorrow so will ask her what happened.

27
Check out this thread , it may help in the baby being able to take your surname.

28
As a working mum (haushusband at home) I would strongly recommend she stays at home if at all possible (specially first 1-2 years). Apart from sleepless nights and illnesses (you can't take them to day care if they are ill - and this is pretty frequent the first 2 to 3 years!!) there's also the fact that your partner will probably miss the baby very much (without mentioning being exhausted, stressed, possiby breastfeeding?!).

I would really recommend one of you staying at home, reducing living costs (we don't have a car and live outside ZH - although only 15 mins by train to city centre). We manage on a Kindergarten teacher's salary - money is not spare but it's worth it for our daughter' wellbeing and our sanity.

Could your partner put job on hold for a while and enjoy being a mum?

Good luck!