Amuma Childcare Services Cebu: A Review
Last weekend, Amuma Childcare Services had a 2-hour free trial and open-house.
We have been doing quite well for almost a year without a yaya, but it's still nice to have a backup childcare plan in case of emergencies, or when situations arise where bringing a child can be quite inconvenient—or when parents simply want to have a little breather, even for just a few hours.
We took the chance to avail of Amuma's 2-hour free trial, and I must say, we're quite happy with our experience! (Even our little girl!) Here's our review:
Convenient location
Amuma Childcare Services - Cebu is located on the 2nd floor of the Pacific Square Building at F. Cabahug St., Mabolo, Cebu City.It's right across ICON Bar and Kima Glass; the same building with RCBC and Yakiniku Japanese Restaurant.
They also have a new branch in Makati that has recently opened. In Cebu, they plan to expand to Talisay and Lapu-Lapu, but no further details are available. Great news for parents!
Reasonable rates
To summarize, their current rates in Cebu are the following:
- Hourly rate: 99 pesos for a minimum of 5 hours; 175 pesos for 4 hours and below
- Daily rate: 750 pesos for up to 8 hours
- Weekly rate: 2, 500 for up to 8 hours a day, 5 days a week
- Monthly rate: 6,000 pesos for up to 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, 20 days in a month
Here's a comprehensive guide of their rates as of June 8, 2019, which you can also download here.
Clean and safe facilities
Prior to our schedule, we had a 15-minute facility tour guided by Amuma's owner herself.
They recently moved to a new location for their childcare facility on the 3rd floor of the same building (though the office is still located on the 2nd floor), which is bigger and safer and closer to the fire exit.
They recently moved to a new location for their childcare facility on the 3rd floor of the same building (though the office is still located on the 2nd floor), which is bigger and safer and closer to the fire exit.
They have separate areas for the nursery room, toddler play area, common play area, sleeping area, diaper change area, and rest room.
All these are equipped with child-proofing and security amenities:
Of course, the facility is air-conditioned and they have first-aid kits too.
- gated main entrance
- CCTV cameras for each area
- non-skid flooring
- guards for sharp-edged corners
- foam bricks for walls
- elevated electrical sockets and plugs
- smoke detectors
- fire extinguishers,
- flat panel TV that's wall-mounted
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| Main entrance to childcare facility |
What I noticed, though, is that the entrance to the childcare facility doesn't have a screen door, which I fear would let mosquitoes in (dengue season!).
I wasn't able to note this in their facility tour checklist, though. But so far, I didn't see any mosquitoes, and my daughter didn't get insect bites after the trial period. :-)
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| Common play area |
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| Nursery room |
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| Sleeping and toddler play areas |
It must also be noted that electronic devices and picture-taking are strictly not allowed in the facility for safety reasons.
We also asked if we can access the CCTV footage to monitor our child, but it's also not allowed, which we understand.
They provide photos of your child from time to time, though, through Facebook Messenger. :-)
Competent and patient childcare assistants
What I like most about Amuma is that they have stringent qualifications for their childcare assistants (CCAs or yayas).
They hire TESDA-certified caregivers, or yayas who have worked for at least 5 years with a certificate of recommendation from their previous employer.
All their CCAs have also undergone comprehensive health, security, and psychological checks, as well as first-aid trainings—pretty impressive, if I say so myself.
They hire TESDA-certified caregivers, or yayas who have worked for at least 5 years with a certificate of recommendation from their previous employer.
All their CCAs have also undergone comprehensive health, security, and psychological checks, as well as first-aid trainings—pretty impressive, if I say so myself.
My daughter is quite clingy, and it was the first time in a long time that she's been separated from me.
My husband and I were also super anxious when we left our daughter at Amuma, but their CCAs were very competent in handling our clingy girl.
My husband and I were also super anxious when we left our daughter at Amuma, but their CCAs were very competent in handling our clingy girl.
For children spending longer hours in the facility, Amuma has several activities to engage kids, such as reading, games, handcrafts, and more.
Since we were only there for a couple of hours and is only a trial period (it was also a Sunday), there weren't a lot of kids.
But our daughter seemed to have a lot of fun, judging from the photos that were sent to me by the owner via Facebook Messenger.
Since we were only there for a couple of hours and is only a trial period (it was also a Sunday), there weren't a lot of kids.
But our daughter seemed to have a lot of fun, judging from the photos that were sent to me by the owner via Facebook Messenger.
At the end of the two-hour trial, our daughter was crying. She is still exclusively breastfed and rarely drinks formula milk from a bottle.
She was sleepy by then and she usually throws a tantrum when overtired; when she's at this point, breastfeeding is the best way to comfort her.
It was a good thing the CCAs were very patient, even when our daughter refused her milk and refused to be held. We arrived a few minutes after her meltdown, thank goodness.
Upon pickup, the CCAs gave us a "report" about our daughter's behavior, her activities, what she ate/drank, etc.
One more thing is that only the parents or registered guardians are allowed to pick up your child. Otherwise, you need to prepare an authorization letter and IDs for your substitute guardian.
Reliable operating hours
Amuma is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
However, from reading the comments and reviews, if you plan to drop off your kid at night, it's best to inform the office at least a few hours ahead so that they can prepare accordingly.
However, from reading the comments and reviews, if you plan to drop off your kid at night, it's best to inform the office at least a few hours ahead so that they can prepare accordingly.
I agree that it makes business sense to only operate at night when there are actually kids to take care of, and as a responsible adult, I do believe that setting appointments is a good courtesy to make :-)
Our verdict
So far, our experience with Amuma was better than expected. We thought our daughter would cry the whole time!
We are definitely going back, but maybe only during the weekends and only for a few hours, until our little girl is ready to be left there for a longer duration—or until she finally weans (lol).
We are definitely going back, but maybe only during the weekends and only for a few hours, until our little girl is ready to be left there for a longer duration—or until she finally weans (lol).
If you plan to check out Amuma, you can schedule a facility tour.
Just email them at amumachildcare@gmail.com with the subject "Facility Tour Request."
They have tour schedules from Monday to Saturday. Just be sure to book a schedule at least a day before.
Just email them at amumachildcare@gmail.com with the subject "Facility Tour Request."
They have tour schedules from Monday to Saturday. Just be sure to book a schedule at least a day before.
For more information, please message them through their official Facebook page (you can also click on the photo below):
DISCLAIMER:
I am not an employee of Amuma Childcare. I'm just a happy parent who is sharing my experience with them.
For your questions, please contact them through their Facebook page provided above :-)
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