Child minders, skilled not only in cradling babies in their arms but also knowledgeable about nutrition and early education, are now in great demand from Chinese urban families.
Zhao Jun, a resident of Harbin, capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, didn't entrust her 3-month-old infant to her mother, as many young Chinese couples do in a fast-paced society, but instead employed a child-minder who had received special training.
"The elder generation's knowledge of how to raise a baby is outdated now. A professionally-trained child-minder can provide both physical and mental care for baby and mother," Zhao said.
After coaxing her baby to sleep, the child-minder will help her do toning exercises, said the young mother.
Jin Yujie, a 49-year-old laid-off woman, became a professional child-minder after receiving two months' training in the domestic services center affiliated to the city's women's federation.
"At first I thought it was a simple job. It was only after training that I began to realize that baby nursing is a complicated job covering dietetics, hygiene and psychology," Jin said.
Child minders learn not only how to bath and pet a baby, but also how to prepare nutritionally-balanced food, how to develop babies' visual and listening abilities and how to steer mothers away from postnatal depression, Jin said.
Currently, all the 700 child-minders trained by the center have found jobs, and more families have called in to book the service.
Professional service results in high salaries as well as large demand. Wages for these child-minders in Harbin range from 800 yuan (US$100) to 1800 yuan (US$225) per month, much higher than the wages of an ordinary housemaid.
Some child-minders are invited to large cities. Su Ruifang, 54, earned 10,000 yuan (US$1,250) in three months in Shanghai for her comprehensive baby care experience.
Child minding has also become a popular job in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The household management center of the provincial women's federation has set up training courses for child-minders covering health care, art, cooking, nutrition balance and the development of infants' intelligence.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2006)
