Brussels - Post Report Question and Answers
Are preschools available? Day care? Are these expensive? What has been your experience with them, if any? Do the schools provide before- and/or after-school care?
Plenty of affordable options for before and after school care. Kids start going to maternelle (pre-school) at 2-3 years old. Completely affordable and good quality. - Aug 2024
Full-day preschools available and pretty cheap, but will be in local preschools that will be 100% in French (or Dutch depending on your neighborhood). Nannies are not a thing here. - Feb 2023
I know that people had trouble finding good preschools, since there is often a wait list. However, I'm not sure about the general availability. - Jan 2022
Our kids were much older and we did not need after school care. - Sep 2020
Most people use local preschools and daycare and are quite happy with them. No personal experience but we have heard good things. - Sep 2020
Yes and yes, not sure of exact cost but I believe full-time daycare for babies is around 1000 euros/month. Much less than in DC. Schools provide after school care that costs extra. - Mar 2020
Yes, but not sure the cost. - Feb 2019
Yes, but I have no experience with them so I can shed no light. - Feb 2019
It is very common for Belgian children to start daycare ("Creche") from 4 months and attend through 2.5yrs. Typical cost ranges from 550 Euros per month all the way up to 950 Euros for a creche that caters to expats. By age 3, children are in school which is, for the most part, free. Early years are called "maternelle" but parents interested in this option need to put their children on the wait list in advance or face the possibility of not having a spot in school. - Apr 2014
Good paid daycare options for babies. At age two and a half, all children are eligible to attend local public French or Flemish pre-schools free of charge as long as they are potty-trained. - Jan 2014
Yes, French and Dutch speaking local schools start at 2.5 years and are basically free, including for diplomats. - Jan 2014
No experience, but I have friends who have young children and they find the day care/preschool services in the local communes to be excellent. And inexpensive. - Jul 2011
I hear its good, but expensive - Jun 2011
Very good - private and public. We pay about $500/mo. per kid for day care, plus about $1000/mo for the nanny on top of that! - Jun 2010
Daycare is available, however beware that most nannies and housekeepers tend to live in the South of the city and will have to commute so if you live in the burbs it can be hard to find someone willing to spend an hour on public transport. It took us 8 months of looking, and struggling, to find someone. We were lucky that preschools and daycare centers are excellent and plenty - but they close by 5 or 6.Nannies are about 8 euro/hr, and the daycare is 450 euro/month. - Mar 2010
Yes. At NATO HQ there is on-site day care. - Jul 2009
