When the Childminding Pilot Ends Before Your Child Reaches 18 Months

The pilot's staffing limit may offer reassurance, but families whose children are still under 18 months on 31 December 2027 need clear written answers about continuity, fees and future care arrangements.

A staffing rule can tell you how many infants one childminder may care for. It cannot, by itself, tell you whether your child’s care arrangement will remain available when the childminding pilot reaches its published end date.

For a parent comparing the announced limit of one to at most three infants, the practical question is whether their own arrangement will still be available if their child is not yet 18 months old on 31 December 2027.

A Clear Staffing Rule Is Not a Continuity Promise

The Ministry of Social and Family Development’s announcement about the new childminding pilot states that each childminder would care for one to at most three infants at any one time. This staffing limit describes how many infants one childminder may care for at one time. It does not, by itself, establish whether an individual family’s care arrangement will continue after the pilot period.

At EduNanny, we describe the service as care in a small group, with opportunities for infants to explore, communicate and move through everyday interactions. Those details may help a parent assess whether the setting fits their child. Even so, a separate question remains: what arrangement applies to this child after 31 December 2027?

The distinction is straightforward. The staffing rule describes how care is organised while the pilot is operating. The continuity question asks whether the same childminder can continue at the same location and with the agreed care hours after the pilot’s published period. Both matter, but one does not answer the other.

Put the Two End Dates Side by Side

Parent and childminder reviewing a checklist about future care during a home meeting

Our current pilot information states that the pilot runs from 1 December 2024 to 31 December 2027. It also says that the EduNanny contract runs until the child turns 18 months old. For planning purposes, keep the two end points beside each other rather than treating them as one date.

If your child turns 18 months before 31 December 2027, the contract’s stated end point would come first. If your child will still be under 18 months on that date, the contract’s stated end point would fall after the pilot’s published end date. The practical question is which arrangement and charges would apply if care were still needed after 31 December 2027.

Our FAQ says that, after a trial lasting five days, the full contract begins and remains valid until the child turns 18 months old. This explains the sequence from trial to full contract and the contract’s stated end point. The quoted dates do not tell a parent what arrangements or charges would apply if care were needed after 31 December 2027.

Eligibility when care begins is a separate point. EduNanny’s pilot page lists Singapore Citizen infants aged 2 to 18 months who are not concurrently enrolled in an ECDA licensed infant care centre. The page lists these eligibility conditions. They do not, by themselves, confirm that the same arrangement will continue beyond the pilot’s end date.

Before entering the full contract, write down your child’s date of birth and mark the date on which the child will turn 18 months. Then place it beside 31 December 2027. If your child will still be under 18 months on the pilot’s end date, you have a practical planning question that deserves a specific answer.

Make the Continuation Question Part of the Enrolment Decision

Parents are encouraged to meet the childminder and visit the setting before deciding. A trial lasting five days can also be arranged under the pilot terms. These steps can help you understand whether the arrangement fits your family’s daily routine, but they do not settle what happens if the pilot ends before your child turns 18 months old.

Ask the operator for written answers to the points that will shape your family’s next step:

Can the same childminder continue caring for your child after 31 December 2027? Ask for a clear yes or no, or an explanation of the alternative.
Can care continue at the same location and with the agreed care hours? Another available place may not offer the same arrangement, so name the details that matter to your family.
What fees would apply after the pilot period? Ask whether the basis of payment, payment method or any subsidy would change.
What notice period would apply? Explain how much warning you would need if your family’s work schedule or your child’s care needs changed.
How would the security deposit be treated? EduNanny’s published terms include a S$1,000 security deposit, so ask how it would be handled if the arrangement continued on different terms.
Where would the answer be recorded? Ask for it to be included in the current agreement or another written document rather than relying only on a general assurance during a visit or conversation.

You can also ask what would happen if the childminder or location were unavailable. The aim is not to raise alarm, but to understand the practical alternatives before relying on the arrangement.

If the answer remains unclear, treat it as an unanswered question rather than filling the gap with an assumption. Compare the available options with your family’s likely needs beyond 2027, including the possibility that a different service may have different hours, fees or enrolment arrangements.

A clear written answer will not remove every practical uncertainty. It can, however, reveal whether the arrangement you are considering has a plan for the period after the end of the Singapore childminding pilot. If the answer is still missing, that is important information to carry into the decision rather than a detail to leave until enrolment day.