Individual childcare in and around Munich – flexible care options through Kids Concept. Baby boom in parliament, but still too few childcare places. ‘Currently, places are available in nurseries for 9.6% of all children under three,’ according to the City of Munich’s website. Even though the coverage rate is to be raised to 20%, it quickly becomes clear that this is far from enough. Munich, 31 January 2011. The shortage of places in nurseries or cooperating facilities is forcing parents to look for alternative solutions. Flexible childcare options today need to meet the needs of both children and parents. Claudia Feistkorn is an office administrator and mother of three-year-old twins. Luis and Emma unfortunately belong to the 90.4% of under-threes who did not get a nursery place. Despite the official entitlement to a kindergarten place, finding care for the little ones was a real challenge. ‘It was simply awful and, in the end, lovely at the same time,’ reports Claudia Feistkorn. ‘Placing two toddlers at the same time in particular felt like trying to find an old friend again without knowing where she lived. It was only when I read about Kids Concept that I was able to feel hopeful again.’ Claudia Feistkorn hadn’t given up and had searched the internet for alternatives. In doing so she discovered Tobias Dreilich’s company, the market leader in the Munich area for placing childcare and children’s events. Through Kids Concept, the twins found a suitable childminder, and Claudia Feistkorn even found her old friend again, who, as chance would have it, had only recently registered with Kids Concept’s database as a trained childminder herself. ‘Many families find their way to us because they see no chance of placing their children in public facilities. Most of them want to go back to work while still ensuring the best possible care for their children,’ says Tobias Dreilich, managing director of Kids Concept. ‘That’s exactly where we come in.’ Susanne Kröll also used the extensive database of qualified caregivers. ‘We had very serious problems finding suitable care. The rigid rules and booking hours of public nurseries just didn’t work for us.’ Her daughter Emily is now cared for by a young woman with pedagogical training, and on days when she really can’t make it, a rented grandmother, Gerdi, lovingly steps in. ‘The need for individual childcare concepts is high,’ says Tobias Dreilich. ‘That’s why a simple childminder concept isn’t enough for us. Together with parents, we work out the right concept and then provide suitable people for it.’ That’s a good thing too, because not everyone needs full-day care – sometimes just a little support is enough, as with Ben Großmeister. ‘The arguments we had,’ laughs Bernd Großmeister. By the time he got home, trouble was already waiting as he unlocked the front door. ‘My wife couldn’t cope with the homework, or with looking after Ben at the same time.’ But instead of arguing about algebra and chemical formulas every evening after a hard day’s work, Bernd Großmeister simply hired homework support through Kids Concept. ‘Since then things have calmed down noticeably. We use the time we’ve gained to do more things together.’ Many examples show that the situation isn’t hopeless and that alternative concepts, such as Kids Concept, can meet many families’ needs.
