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$100 a day childcare - with water views. I heard something on the Sunrise program today about a childcare centre in cronulla (new) promoting $100 a day fees with luxury interior and water views !!! - Are these not 0-6 yr old children we are talking here? What sort of world do we live in? I find it sad, very, very sad. We certainly do live in a materialistic world, dont we?......
LOL at waterviews!!! As if the kids care!
I saw this article the other day about this type of thing:
:
Luxury food and linen at designer childcare
By Clair Weaver October 01, 2006 12:00am
AN EXCLUSIVE childcare centre is enticing parents with five-star services including high-quality bed linen and gourmet food for babies and toddlers.
Other luxury features include designer furniture and handmade bibs in a purpose-built waterview cottage.
Parents can choose between standard family care in a home environment or upgrade to more expensive, boutique-style long-day care, which includes extra facilities and closer individual attention.
Prices range from $65 for a basic package to $100 a day for the deluxe service.
It is the latest tactic to attract customers in the fiercely competitive suburban childcare industry - but some fear a two-tier system could develop.
Parents at Lullaby Baby Cottage are given private access to a special lactation consultant and Mothercraft nurse.
Photographs and a daily diary of each child's activities are put together for parents by staff.
Music and language is incorporated into the schedule, while soft classical music plays in the background during the day.
There is one staff member for every 3.5 children, compared to the standard ratio of 1:5.
Owners Julianne and Robert Huddleston have opened centres in Gymea and Cronulla, and plan to expand into other areas.
"We wanted to find a special niche and I thought there's nowhere out there that offers small, boutique child care,'' Mrs Huddleston said.
"Other places are filled with cheap plastic furniture but we wanted to do something different.''
The centres, which charge up to $100 a day and have long waiting lists, have become popular with first-time parents who are anxious about leaving their child in care.
But Lyn Connolly, president of Child Care NSW, believes there are no benefits to paying extra for "designer child care''.
"I would hate to see parents thinking that if their children don't have designer label furniture or facilities they are worse off,'' she said.
"It's good marketing and if parents want that, great. But it is not going to give any child better development and it's not going to give them a better sleep,'' she said.
Australia is recognised as having among the highest standards of child care in the world and all parents have access to support services, she added.
Alice Voigt, director of Moore Park Gardens Pre-School and Long Day Care in Surry Hills, said most of her centre's furniture had been donated or rescued from the side of the road.
"I don't think children need designer toys or furniture,'' she said.
"I think they need a realistic atmosphere. Most of the stuff here is donated and we encourage that because it's a home-like environment.''
The arrival of luxury child care reflects the modern parents' increased desire for designer products and services in the home.
The first designer home insurance policy to cover clothes, shoes, jewellery, heirlooms and art was announced by GIO last week.
Major clothing brands, such as Armani, Ralph Lauren and Diesel, are increasingly branching out into children's wear.
Other designer services include delivered gourmet meals and personalised gift services.
That is so cheap! And really, really good service. Over here you'd pay about $125 a day for getting a couple of paintings a week and lots of destroyed clothes. There were some places around the $70 a day range, but they were the only-just-legal types of place.
Yes definitely sounds like it is more for the parents than the kids.
A baby is not going to notice or care whether he/she is sleeping on designer sheets or not. This is just ridiculous.