Requirements for childminders

Are you responsible for looking after children in a family situation? Either in your own home or the childrens' home? Then you are a childminder (gastouder). In the Netherlands, childminders must satisfy various requirements, such as requirements for training, registration, and language.

Training requirements for childminders

• You must be at least 18 years old, and you must have the correct diploma or certificate. There is a list of diplomas that satisfy the requirements (in Dutch).
• If you have a diploma from the EEA or Switzerland that is not on the list, you must apply for recognition at the Education Executive Agency (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, DUO). You can apply via the online form (in Dutch).
• Do you start work as a childminder after 1 July 2026? Your training must include educational theory (pedagogy). If this is not included in your training, you must complete an additional pedagogical module (in Dutch).
• You must have a registered and valid first aid for children certificate (kinder-EHBO certificaat).
• The diploma and the first aid certificate must be available on the childminding premises.
• You must follow at least 3 hours of pedagogical coaching each year at each childminding agency where you are registered (pdf, in Dutch). You must also follow at least 7 hours of continuing education each year (pdf, in Dutch).

Registration requirements for childminders and childminding agencies

You and your childminding agency must be registered. This enables the government to monitor whether childcare is safe and of a high quality.

• You must be registered in the register for persons active in the childcare sector (Personenregister kinderopvang, PRK). This applies to everyone who works for you and to all adults who live on the premises where you take care of the children.
• For this you need a certificate of conduct (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag, VOG) with screening profile 84 (caring for minors) or 86 (working in the childcare sector) to register.
• You must be registered with a childminding agency that is registered in the Dutch National Childcare Register (Landelijk Register Kinderopvang, LRK).
• You are not allowed to register with more than 2 childminding agencies. Do you want to change agencies? In that case you may be registered with 3 agencies temporarily.
• You are not allowed to work as a childminder for your own agency.
• You must have a person on standby duty. This is an adult who can be on your premises within 15 minutes in case of an emergency.

Working with pedagogical plans and protocols

• You work according to the pedagogical policy plan, the health and safety policy, and the child abuse protocol of the childminding agency.
• You draw up a pedagogical work plan which sets out, among others, how you implement your childminding agency’s pedagogical policy plan (pdf, in Dutch).
• You must monitor the children’s development. If you record information for this purpose, or if you want to share this information with, for example, schools, you must have the parents’ explicit consent.

Language and communication requirements for childminders

• You must be easily reachable by telephone for the child’s parents or carers. And you must ensure a qualified substitute cover for you in case of your absence.
• You must speak Dutch when childminding.
• You may speak a regional language or dialect if you are a childminder in that region.
• You may also speak the language of the relevant family, for instance when minding children of foreign parents who are living in the Netherlands temporarily.

Interns and volunteers

Do you have interns or volunteers working or observing in your childminding location? Interns must register in the PRK if the internship lasts longer than 10 days or 2 consecutive weeks. Volunteers must also register in the PRK. They must also have a certificate of conduct (VOG). This also applies to interns and volunteers under the age of 18.

Requirements for childminding locations

You must make sure your childminding location meets the set-up requirements for childcare locations.

Childminding ratios

There is a maximum number of children that registered childminders can care for at any one time. The number of children you may care for at a time depends on their ages. You may care for at most 6 children aged 0 to 13 per day. In addition, the following applies:

• you may care for maximum 5 children up to 4 years of age at any one time
• you may care for maximum 4 children up to 2 years old at any one time
• you may care for maximum 2 babies (up to 1 year old) at any one time

Please note: your own children (up to 8 years old) are included in the number of children you may care for at any one time.