Early childhood: enrolment in communal crèches

You want to enrol your child in a crèche – what do you need to know?

The municipality of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert organises the registration and reception of children in 8 French-speaking crèches and 1 Dutch-speaking crèche. There are also several private crèches in the municipality which cater for children: more information in French or in Dutch . The registration procedure is specific to each of these private crèches.

Registration procedure

  • Registration:
    • For the French-speaking communal crèches, registrations are centralised from three months of pregnancy: by telephone between 10 a.m. and 12 noon at 02 774 36 80, every working day of the week.
    • For the Dutch-speaking crèche, registration is only possible by email (helpdesk@kinderopvanginbrussel.be)
  • Parents must confirm the child’s registration in the 6th month of pregnancy.
  • Each application for registration is recorded in a register in the chronological order of its submission. The waiting lists are long. Not all registrations will automatically result in the child being accepted. The confirmation of acceptance in a crèche is confirmed by a letter from the alderman of the municipal crèches. The crèche manager will telephone the parent before this letter is sent.

Before entering the host facility: vaccination

  • Your child must be vaccinated in accordance with the law before entering a childcare facility. Vaccination is a collective prevention measure. The compulsory vaccines for children under three years of age are those against poliomyelitis, diphtheria, whooping cough, meningitis (Haemophilus influenzae b), measles, mumps and rubella.

Other vaccines are recommended: against pneumococcus, meningococcal C and hepatitis B.

When the child is accepted

  • The reception will start with a period of familiarisation in the crèche which will last +/- one week depending on the child, first with the parent partially present and then with the child without the parent.
  • All staff are professionally qualified in accordance with the guidelines of the Office for Birth and Childhood (ONE) and « Opgroeien » (Kind en Gezin).
  • In order to ensure the quality of supervision, each childcare worker is responsible for a group of +/- 7 children (5 for babies). Various activities are offered to them according to their age (reading, singing, drawing, music, etc.). The individual rhythm of each child is respected concerning meals, sleep and psychomotor development.
  • The preparation of the bottles and the supervision of the meals are carried out by the childcare workers.  The meals (which are mainly organic) are prepared daily at the crèche.  The menus are created in collaboration with the municipal dietician.  They take the nutritional values and dietary needs of children into account.
  • The crèche team consists of a paediatric nurse, a social worker or social nurse, childcare workers and housekeepers. The children are regularly in contact with a psychomotrician. A paediatrician/general practitioner provides preventive health care.

The cost: The municipal crèches and the Kangaroo Association (asbl Kangourou) charge for childcare according to the parents’ income. For example, for French-speaking crèches you can find the information by clicking here.

List of municipal crèches and contact details as well as more information on crèches: in FR or in NL