If you and your spouse are both full-time employees, around 3 months after your baby’s birth, you will have to make arrangements for an alternative caregiver while both of you are at work. One option is placing your baby in an infant care centre, which accepts babies from 2 to 18 months old (beyond 18 months, it will be under childcare within the same centre). A few basics in the choices of infant care centres are:
1. Programme
A full-day (from 7am to 7pm), or half-day (from 7am to 1pm or 2pm to 7pm). Some centres offer half day care from 7am to 2pm on Saturday. Not all centres offer half-day care and it is proportionately more expensive than full-day care.
2. Availability
You may be surprised that some centres are fully booked and there is a waiting list. If you are sure that you will be enrolling your baby in an infant care centre, you should start to survey the centres and reserve a slot early.
3. Cost
This ranges from S$1,000 to S$2,000, with an average of about S$1400. The amount stated in the MSF link is before the childcare subsidy which is typically S$600. An additional subsidy is available if monthly household income is lower than $12,000.
4. Learning/Teaching Approach
You can ask what programs they have for infants and also look at the centre’s curriculum for playgroup, nursery and kindergarten children. There are some centres that focus on academic, others that focus on play, project work or offer a second language (not all second languages are available).
5. Teacher-child Ratio
Some infant care centres adopt a smaller teacher-to-child ratio, providing attentive care and love for their students.
Here’s a closer look at some of the best infant care centres in Singapore, offering exceptional care and nurturing environments for your little one.
1. Star Learners
With over 20 years of experience in the child care space, you can count on Star Learners to support your child’s early years. Star Learners’ qualified infant educarers make meaningful connections and build strong bonds with little ones in clean, safe and conducive environments. Under their care, babies will be exposed to songs, stories and various sensorial activities, as they get ready for Playgroup level.
Under ECDA’s Partner Operator (POP) scheme, Star Learners is committed to accessibility, affordability and quality, and offers half and full day programmes for infants 2 to 17 months old.
Find out what a day in Star Learners’ infant care looks like here.
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2. Adventist Schoolhouse
Adventist Schoolhouse is excited to be your partner in caring for your infant in 2025! Our infant care curriculum is built on the Finnish pedagogy and emphasizes play-driven learning, flexible routines with responsive care and a tailored environment designed to harness your child’s innate curiosity and support their growth and individuality. Our environment aims to foster a love for learning from the start – while inspiring growth and developing character in a joyous Christian environment.
Limited spots are available! Click here to learn more and begin your child’s journey with trust, confidence and joy at Adventist Schoolhouse!
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3. Mosaic Preschool (Eunos)
Mosaic Infant Care offers a warm and safe environment for every baby to learn and grow. At the school, trained educators will focus on children’s development in the five key areas: language, social, emotional, physical and cognitive development, and develop nurturing relationships with the children. Place your trust in the school to provide your children with high quality, and attentive care.
Mosaic Preschool (Eunos)
📍 168 Changi Road, #3-01, S419730
Find out more about them here.
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Raffles Kidz International is a multi-award-winning bilingual premium preschool in Singapore that provides quality preschool and childcare programmes. Infant care is also provided in its largest centre at Jurong West for children aged 2 to 18 months.
Committed to providing the best head start for young children, their full-day and half-day holistic infant care programmes focus on developing the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional skills of infants in a safe and nurturing environment. To facilitate the development of strong and positive relationships with well-trained infant educators, their educator-child ratio is at 1:3 on average. Personalized infant care programs are also set in place to meet every infant’s preferences, routines and interests.
Find out more about Raffles Kidz International here. Keen to enrol in other centres? Book a tour here.
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Mulberry Learning is celebrated for offering the Best Infant Care and Preschool Programme, recognized for its innovative approach to early education. Combining the globally acclaimed Habits of Mind™ curriculum with the Reggio Emilia-inspired learning environment, Mulberry Learning fosters critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving from a young age.
Their bilingual programme ensures children achieve language mastery in both English and Chinese by age 6, providing a strong foundation for cognitive development. With a holistic infant care programme and over 250 hours of professional training for educators, Mulberry Learning delivers an enriching educational experience, preparing children to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Find out more about Mulberry Learning here. Schedule a visit to one of their centres today and see first-hand how their award-winning programmes can benefit your child.
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6. Little Footprints Preschool
Little Footprints Preschool is a community-based preschool brand offering Infant Care, Preschool and Childcare programmes under Babilou Family Singapore.
Designed to support the holistic development of infants, Little Footprints’ Blooming Minds curriculum is the first step to nurture children to become a confident, respectful and reflective individual.
There are 14 infant care centres under Little Footprints Preschool currently.
The half and full day fees are $920 and $1290 respectively, before GST and subsidies (for Singaporeans).
Keen to enrol in one of these centres? Submit your interest here.
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7. KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse
At KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse, a premium preschool of Babilou Family Singapore, the carefully crafted curriculum for infants encourages skills development through spontaneous learning in a safe and secure environment.
Designed based on the C.A.R.E framework, our educarers embrace the importance of being Communicative, Attentive, Responsive and Engaging, to establish positive relationships with the little ones.
Being the first preschool in Singapore to introduce a Sensory Space facility filled with elements that ignite our infants’ curiosity in a relaxing environment, babies will be immersed with soothing sounds and a variety of learning materials to discover while keeping their minds and emotions calm.
Find out more about them here.
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8. NTUC – My First Skool
My First Skool is the childcare arm of NTUC (National Trades Union Congress) First Campus Co-operative Limited. The curriculum for infants is under their Skool-Educare© Curriculum, focusing on development of sensory, motor and self-help skills. There are over 145 centres under My First Skool island-wide and the infant care fees range from about $1.3k to $2k with most of the centres charging $1.3k.
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9. Little Skool-House
There is also a premium brand under Little Skool-House International which adopts a relation-based approach that covers developing the Psychosocial Self, Physical Self and Thinking and Communicating Self. There are infant care centres under Little Skool-House International with fees ranging from $1,230 to $1,630.
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To decide on the centre, nothing beats making an actual visit and talking to the teachers and caregivers. Call ahead to schedule and visit during the nap time so that the teachers have more time to talk to you and you can get a better feel if you can entrust your baby to their care. In Singapore, parents are entitled to additional subsidies, talk to the school staff to find out what kind of subsidy your child is entitled for!
By Mei.
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