creche facilities shopping centres/mall

[winnerlili]

Hi I am new to mums net, what do fellow mums netters think about shopping /creche facilities, would love to start my own business, would mums/dads love to spend a couple of hours shopping child free, knowing they where getting quality safe care for their little ones, and what would you say was reasonable charge. would this be a good idea do you think!!!!.

i know there is one near me which gets used a lot im not keen on them myself but if you center doesnt have one then it could be a good idea. i would do a survey in your area and see what response you get.

This used to be a good idea 15-20 years ago. I remember back then that the local shopping centre had a drop-in crèche which was used by some people.

With more and more people using internet shopping, I think the actual shopping we do now we do for fun. Children are either left at home in the care of someone else, or they come along as well - I certainly know of parents who take their children shopping and make the trip out part of the fun... going to a cafe for example.

I would wonder how things change north/south. I'm in the south, so it may well be different in the north. I don't know... as a childcarer I would not use it obviously, so my view is pretty worthless. However I can't think of any parents I know who would use it... and that's more of a problem.

There is one near us (in the Bentall Centre in Kingston). It is very busy and we are frequent users. We use it on Saturday morning, when I would not expect my nanny to want to b-sit after she had the little devils all week long). Anyone who wants to make a day out of shopping with my kids can have them. No thank you... into the creche please. Besides the kids would have a fit if we didn't let them go to the creche.

We pay roughly £5 per hour per child. So a 2 hour shop costs us £20. I'm sure we have funded the owner's retirement.

Strix - we are near Kingston too. Have thought about using the creche, but not got round to it yet. How old are your kids, and how old were they when they went for the first time?

They are 5 and 7. We have been using it since DS (the younger one) was a baby.

Strix I live right near Kingston, too. We've peeked in quite a few times but never used it. I always think it's a great idea, though! The kids seem happy in there!