120 Neuburg children are waiting for a daycare place

The summer holidays are over, at least for the youngest: starting this week, thousands of little Neuburg residents will be going back to kindergarten or nursery. And for many families, this autumn will be the time to settle into the facilities. But not all parents who want a daycare place for their children in Neuburg have found one. The city is reacting to this – and is expanding it further. The first new places will be available at the end of the year.

Neuburg struggles with a lack of daycare places: New solutions planned

Anyone looking for a daycare or kindergarten place in Neuburg is best advised to use the city’s digital daycare planner: With a few clicks and information about the child, parents can quickly get an overview of which facilities are suitable for them – and can also submit their request for a daycare place digitally. At the same time, the city administration can use the online portal to estimate how many daycare places are currently missing.

For the new daycare year, which began this week, there are still 60 children on the waiting list for a crèche place and another 60 children on the waiting list for a kindergarten place. The daycare planner does show a few remaining free places for individual facilities. However, these are absolute isolated cases, stresses city councilor and kindergarten consultant Matthias Enghuber: “It is always possible that there will be changes at short notice.” Sometimes a family moves away spontaneously – or the required care times change and the daycare place no longer fits.”

No daycare place in Neuburg? Childminders are an alternative for small children

If a place becomes available, the facility reports this in the daycare planner – and a child from the waiting list can be added to the daycare. When it comes to allocating free places, however, the rule is not simply: whoever registers first gets it first. Instead, there is strict age priority, explains Enghuber: “Those who are further past their third birthday go to kindergarten first.” And the same applies to crèches: if a child is born earlier than another, they should also get a place earlier.

An alternative for children of nursery age is childcare by a childminder. There are seven trained professionals in and around Neuburg who look after the little ones either in their own home or together with others in a large day care center. Ramona Freitag from the Mobile Familie eV association arranges childminders for families from Neuburg and the surrounding area. Currently and immediately, there are still three places available with three childminders in Neuburg and three places with a childminder in Königsmoos. This is an unusual situation, especially for the urban area, says Freitag. “Normally, all the places in Neuburg are full by the beginning of September. Childminders are not quite as in demand in rural areas because children there often stay with their families until kindergarten age.”

Daycare expansion in Neuburg: New crèche places from the end of the year

One advantage of day care is the good ratio of caregivers, says Freitag: “We usually have four children per carer.” In addition, the alternative to daycare is a somewhat gentler introduction to external care, as the childminder provides a constant contact person for the small children. Kindergarten consultant Enghuber also appreciated the offer: “Childminders relieve our waiting lists in the daycare area considerably.” And new ones are constantly being trained.”

But the city of Neuburg is also continuing to invest in childcare places: 24 new daycare places in two groups are to be created in Längenmühlweg by the end of the year. Daycare centers are also under construction on Schwalbanger and Heckenweg. And the new building on Donauwörther Straße is also progressing. If nothing comes up, a four-group facility with a view of the Danube valley could open there in September 2025, says Enghuber. “A lot is happening right now, but that has to happen, because Neuburg’s children are increasing in number.”