By DPA
Hamburg (Germany) : Amid headline-making cases of child neglect in Germany, enterprising professional babysitters are in greater demand than ever before.
During the past two years, Germany has been shocked by at least five cases in which children were starved to death by drug-abusing or dysfunctional parents and neighbours who did not notice anything.
So the demand for professional and qualified babysitters has soared, as responsible parents prefer not to let their little tots out of their eyes even at the doctor’s office or at the gym.
Commonplace in Britain and the United States, childminders at stores and business offices are almost unknown in Germany, where childcare traditionally has been considered the job of parents.
The media attention to cases of child neglect has created a demand for professional babysitters.
“We are trying to meet the needs of modern mothers who want to go shopping but who don’t want to leave kids at home or in the car while they pop out to the shops,” says Birgit Pridat, manager of the big Elbe Shopping Mall in Hamburg which has recently expanded its “children’s corner” into a full-service child-care centre.
Other major malls have scrambled to meet the demand.
“Profits aren’t the only thing. We have to make sure that customers feel free to spend time here in our shops, and they can’t do that if they are constantly worrying about their kids,” says Heinrich Hasselmann, head of Hamburg’s enormous Alstertal Shopping Mall.
Gyms, hairdressing salons and health clinics have jumped on the bandwagon.
“I’ve got a 2-year-old son myself and know from personal experience how hard it is to find reliable and affordable child care,” says Heike Meynberg, a Hamburg dentist, who has become the first medical practitioner in that city to provide professional child-minders in a special waiting room.
“Mothers often put off much-needed dental care or other medical appointments because they simply can’t afford to hire a babysitter for a couple of hours while they go to have their teeth cleaned,” says Meynberg.
Hairdresser Sevgi Doganarslan has restyled her salon so that it features a “Diva Baby Lounge” where children can engage in supervised playtime while their mother is having her hair done.
“A good hairstylist pampers her customers and part of pampering has to be taking care of their children,” she says. “It’s also good for business since a woman with children is willing to spend more time and more money at the beauty salon if she knows her kids are being cared for in the next room.”
Sunday brunch is also no problem for young mothers, who can enjoy their eggs Benedict at Hamburg’s trendy Ottensen Stadtcafé, where a nanny minds the kiddie customers Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Her services are free. But for 75 cents, she’ll also serve the kiddies a child-sized brunch of their own.