A metropolitan city like Dubai is a global melting pot of expats from various parts of the world. Such a cosmopolitan mix is directly correlated with an ever burgeoning workspace and an evolving job market. Non-standard working hours are no longer a far-fetched thought but a living reality for many. The nature of such jobs means there’s no fixed time to come back home.
It also means less time for babycare after birth. With both parents working in most expat families and mothers having to get back to work within six months after a baby’s birth, families demand professional day care services take care of newborns in the most holistic manner.
Expats and Childcare Phenomenon
Childcare in Dubai has emerged as one of the most sought after areas of medical care and expertise. Apart from the conventional standard workday hours, most childcare centres now provide babysitting services at non-standard working hours keeping in mind the erratic and rotating job shifts of most parents. Most childcare clinics also work with contingency plans in case of change of schedule in parents’ jobs, sudden travel plans due to professional or personal requirements, overtime requirements or to fill in the gap when parents opt to do freelancing work on weekends or additional evening assignments on weekdays.
The fact that most expat families live without the support of their extended families makes it imperative for them to choose the best babysitter near them. The nearer the babysitting clinic the better it is to ease out accessibility and connectivity.
The Need for Nannies with Flexi Working Hours
The increasing demand and provision for flexible working hours and extended work shifts means the greater requirement for babycare clinics with arrangements to accommodate such needs. However, even though modern childcare centres are equipped to deal with sudden changes in schedule, most still work under limitations. And if childcare clinics do provide such services, the costs are usually very high making them affordable for well-heeled expat communities in Dubai. While drop-in services at a daycare clinic in Dubai might still be an option to tackle emergency professional calls or urgent and unplanned assignments, they usually do not cover weekends or out of city work trips. While in-home day nannies work the best for established exapts, most young and rising professionals do not have the budget to hire in-home childcare nannies willing to do flexible working hours of for that matter even hourly-basis babysitting.
Daycare in Dubai: Challenges and Solutions
The Sunday-Thursday schedule that most full-time babysitting clinics in Dubai cover leave out Fridays and Saturdays. The situation can be alarming in the case of families with two or more children. So, in comes the weekend nanny to bail out a couple from this tricky situation. Babysitters near you who specialise in weekend sessions can offer two types of services: Providing a helping hand with outdoor activities for the child, with transportation to and from sporting, art and learning activities. They can also provide in-home childcare assistance to help parents go about with their “urgent” assignments. In any case, most families are looking for a dedicated, fun, flexible, reliable and professional babysitter in Dubai who enjoys taking care of children of all ages. Often times during Fridays and Saturdays, there may even be groups of kids present in the apartment, so the sitter should be comfortable in that setting as well. Weekend babysitting jobs are often an awesome opportunity for college students to make some extra cash and make use of their time off. An extra perk is that weekend sitters tend to receive higher rates and be paid a bit more than in the traditional settings, as the weekend is generally prime time off for most professional babysitters. Weekend nannies are also hired by those parents who have higher disposable incomes and require assistance during their week-offs to tackle added work pressure or even other personal engagements.
But such daycare services are not availed only by parents who have to tackle extra working hours or the unplanned nature of their work. It is also common for families with members who have part-time jobs. However, most daycare nanny agencies in Dubai are not equipped to respond to child spot booking calls on a part-time basis as it’s most profitable for the agencies to book the spot for the full day. At Nightingale Dubai, we have a registered panel of part-time daycare nannies as well as nannies who work on weekends and on non-standard working hours. We conduct counselling sessions for both parents/families and part-time and weekend nannies for both to understand their mutual requirements. Our registered nannies understand the urban lifestyles, time-consuming and weekend freelance assignments and multiple personal engagements are a reality of most families. They are sensitive to those needs and are attuned in that manner to fill in the gap in their child’s life be providing a healthy balance between indoor and outdoor activities apart from providing holistic childcare services. Our experienced weekend babysitters are adept in arranging safe weekend transportation for your child and in understanding that children above 5 most often are enrolled at either sports, arts or any hobby class on weekends and they provide ample support and motivation for that.
Tips for Getting Smart with Daycare
- You can share your weekend or part-time baby sitter whom you might require for a few hours with another family having similar requirements. That will help you to share the cost as well and create a system of mutually beneficial co-dependence.
- You can think of giving some additional perks during weekdays to your regular in-home nanny so that she helps you during late nights or weekends, especially with the outdoor activities of your child. That will help you in saving the full fees of a new weekend nanny.
- You can look around in your neighbourhood for reference or ask for reference at your regular daycare nanny agency to save yourself some running around.
At Nightingale Dubai, we provide smart packages to help new-age parents to deal with the concerns of smart childcare.
