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In-home Daycare In Malaysia: Finding the Best Daycare Service for your Children

All you need to know about getting an in-home daycare service and how to get started.

4 minutes read

In-home Daycare, A Premium Daycare Choice

Wondering where to send your preschool children to for better care and education? Well, you’re at the right place. 

In Malaysia, sending them to daycare centres, nanny and babysitter, or hiring in-home daycare are options to consider.

Nowadays, both parents are working full time or part time to sustain the high living cost and expenditure on their children. That way, either one of the parents changes his/her job so he/she can take care of the kids, or rely on trusted third party to help to raise their children

Here, you will further understand (Click to navigate):
1. What is an in-home daycare service and how it different from daycare centre and nanny/babysitter
2. When is an in-home daycare a suitable option for your children?
3. 6 Tips for choosing the right in-home daycare for your child in Malaysia.

Home Tuition

What is an In-home Daycare Service and How it Different from Daycare Centre and Nanny / Babysitter?

An in-home daycare is a service where a daycarer, nanny or babysitter goes to your house or a place where you wish your child to be taken care of.

This service is getting momentum in recent years due to advancement in monitoring technology and improvement of residential safety.

More and more parents wish their children to grow in an area that they know, like their own house or any place that they wish their kid to enjoy their childhood.

In-home daycare service is suitable for babies and toddler of 12 months to 4 years old. Usually, the service is customizable based on what the parents’ expectation and the kid’s need.

A trained in-home daycarer will give their full attention to the children’s daily needs. For instance, feeding, toileting, putting on clothes and basic learning.

Toddlers of 2 years old and above are able to respond well to their carer and curious about literally anything. A daycarer would aid them in exploring the house environment safely and learning new things.

Carer are good at providing early childhood education, which is crucial for children to learn the basic language and number, learning verbal communication, and cognitive development. All the skills learnt are close to what the kids will experience in a daycare centre.

Daycare Centre

For working parents in urban areas like KL, Klang, Penang and Johor Bahru, a registered daycare center (or sometimes known as TASKA) would be a better and safer option for the children aged 12 months and above. There, children receive professional care and early education from trained carers.

At the centre, children will mingle with each other and they are taken care of by several caretakers at the same time. Each child will receive all the daily needs such as feeding and toileting, as well as a safe place to play and facilities to learn.

Usually, children wear their daycare centre uniform and the whole process is made to be close to children attending an actual school. Children will attend predefined lessons at fixed time, covering different topics, aimed to provide them verbal, sensorial and cognitive development.

Nanny/ Babysitter

Nannies are people who care for your children on long-term consistent schedules while babysitters are hired on an as-needed, short-term basis, usually for a short period of time.

In Malaysia, for working parents who do not have time to take care of their newborn, they will send their baby to a local nanny who will look after him/her, attend to all the needs such as feeding, changing pampers and putting the baby to sleep. This helps nannies become a part of the family and support in the development of the baby they care for.

A nanny usually takes care of 1 – 3 babies of aged 2 – 12 months at the same time. Parents are required to send all the baby’s necessities such as diapers, feeding accessories, formula milk powder, clothes and others to the nanny’s house.

Some parents may be looking for a more flexible assistant in taking care of the children, at the same time not willing to enrol in a daycare centre. A babysitter does the job nanny does, addressing all the kids’ needs and helping the kids to learn.

Sending your babies/toddlers to a nanny or babysitter that you know provides you the flexibility on cares you wish you children to get and at the same time they receive more attention from the carer.

It would mean the parents are trusting them to provide the best care service to their kid. There are certain underlying risks, but it is currently one of the most popular daycare services that parents are looking for.

When is an In-home Daycare a Suitable Option for Your Children?

No matter which type of daycare service, the main reason why you need a daycare service is because you need a professional carer to take care of your children in your absence.

The advantage of in-home daycare service is to have your children to learn and play in an environment that you are confident with. For example, specifying restricted areas for your children in your house. With supervision of a caretaker, your children can safely explore the house and play with their toys.

It is safe too at daycare centre or at nanny/babysitter’s house, however you have lesser control over things that might occur.

Some children might be very resistive toward social places and would cry whenever they see new faces. Although a daycare centre is a place where your kids are able to interact with other children at their age and develop social skill sets, however in-home daycare lets your child grow at their own pace safely and happily at place they familiar with.

Most importantly, home-based daycare in the form of 1-to-1 or 1-to-2 brings more attention and focus to your kids.

If you wish to have more control over the daycare service such as the care education, food and activities you kids receive, in-home daycare is definitely the right option.

For parents who work on flexible hours, the flexible service period will suit your schedule.

Some parents have been relying on other family members who are present at home to take care of their kids. Hiring an in-home daycarer is a perfect solution to reduce the burden of the family member and at the same time it is safer to have another pair of eyes ensuring the safety of the kids at home.

6 Tips for Choosing the Right In-home Daycarer for Your Child in Malaysia.

Tip 1: Home location and Working Hour of Parents

For in-home daycare service, it is the carer responsibility to arrive at your place at agreed time. For urban areas, considering the traffic during peak hours, it would be better to communicate well on the time so both sides are on the same page.

For parents who work on flexible working hours, carers should be notified on the time when the parents would arrive at home. Considering the carer’s own schedule, unpredicted work schedules should be discussed upfront, as well as the fees.

Tip 2: Qualification and Experience of the Daycarer

Different from an daycare center that have access to more resources and professional staffs who manage classes and taking care of the children, hiring a daycarer require stricter selection process and more background check on the carers themselves. This is important to ensure your children are safe with the carer.

As most in-home daycarer belong to a private service, they might not have proper licensing or registration on their business. However, a trained daycarer should have gone through babysitting training and assessment delivered by national industry experts who are Kursus Asuhan Permata (KAP) certified trainers. KAP is the Malaysian certification for childcare centre workers as certified by the Malaysian Government.

Carer who possesses Hands-on CPR and emergency first aid certification by Pertubuhan CPR Malaysia (CPR4Malaysia), conducted by certified CPR expert trainers is a bonus. CPR4Malaysia is an NGO that advocates hands-on CPR knowledge aiming to have a CPR certified person in every Malaysian household.

Experienced daycarers, usually a mother, know well what to do and take good care of the baby at all ages. New mother has the chance to learn from the carer on how to deal with all the baby’s problems.

You need to let the carer know if you have pets in the house as some carers may have allergies toward animals.

Tip 3: Safety and Security at Your House

Your own house may seem safe to you, but not for your kids who would do anything that you cannot even think of and hurt themselves. It would be better to invite your carer candidate to visit your house and advice on preparing a safe environment for your children.

Kitchen, staircase and garage should be barred from children unless with supervision of a carer. Make sure all cabinets accessible by your kids are locked properly and if not, no sharp and fragile items are kept there.

Round table is preferred over rectangular table, sharp edge of desk and cabinets should be wrapped with spongy material to avoid hurting the kids when they bump into them. Put electric sockets plug on unused sockets and keep away all the small objects that can be easily put into mouth.

At normal residential, you should expect weaker security measures and standard operating procedures (SOP). Hence, you might consider installing proper safety equipment at your house, such as CCTV cameras. You need to let the carer know if there is another family member in the house or anyone who will be visiting the house during babysitting period. This is to ensure safety of both the kids and the carer.

Tip 4: Service Included

Aside from formula milk, knowing how to prepare nutritious meals for kids of all ages are important. It is perfectly fine to ask about the food that will be served to kids and request for a sample menu if possible.

For parents who have unpredictable work schedules, make sure to discuss if they offer after-work service. Ask if they offer holiday programs or other events beneficial for your children.

Check on the educational syllabus and enrichment activities provided by carers.

Tip 5: Parenting Philosophies

Every daycarer/nanny/babysitter has their own parenting style and teaching method. For toddler of age 18 months to 4 years old, they learn by imitating adults.

Hence, make sure you ask the carer about their early childhood philosophy, life skills taught, activities prepared, and how they handle different situations at your house. Parents might want their children to be raised close to their expectations.

For example, how does the carer instill the habits of cleanliness in daily life? How would a carer handle a fight between two siblings? How does a carer deal with fussy eating habits?

Tip 6: Communication

The carer is the main source of information about the kid, unless your kid can express well. You want to know everything they do and participate in their development.

Make sure the carers are observant and able to communicate important information with you on the daily activities your children participated in, meals your children took and interesting things they did throughout the day, as well as suggestions for parents.

Final Thought

There are a lot of things to consider when choosing an in-home daycare service for your child. In Malaysia, in-home daycare is getting popular in urban areas especially among young couples who both have full-time jobs.

Spend some time to do homework on the daycarer candidates.

It is a tedious work, but I assure you that you will not regret it at the end of the day after seeing your child grow happily.

If you do not know where to start with, you can consider our in-home daycare service. GoLearn is a professional educational consultant who provides home tuition service in Malaysia. In the meantime, we also help many happy parents to match with their desired in-home daycare service in KL-Selangor areas. Fill in the booking form below to get started! 

GoLearn Daycare Booking Form

Please let us know the details of the In-Home Daycare Service that you are looking for.

NOTE: We accept child more than 24 months. For younger babies, another adult family member present at home is required. Please contact us at 013-825 2818 (Alric) for further inquiries.

Once booked, we will get back to you in 12 hours!


I want to request for

*2 hrs = RM50, 4 hrs = RM80, 6 hrs = RM110, 9 hrs = RM140, 12 hrs = RM180, 24 hrs = RM260. For Nightcare only (9 pm - 6 am), it is 1.5 times normal rates.
i.e 9 a.m
i.e 5 p.m
State your expectations and needs here. E.g need special attention, learn A-Z characters, flexible service hours, e.t.c
*This is to ensure the safety of both the carer and your children
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