Dear Hazel Nutty,
Maybe you wanna sign uo for the babycenter singapore newsletter? After you register with your EDD, you will receive weekly newsletters updating you on baby's growth
Try this:
http://www.babycenter.com.sg/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment/ I very kiasu, downloaded the app into iPad, there're updates on baby's growth on a daily basis. lol.
Dear Joanne,
Below is my criteria for getting maid and my reasons:
1) Filipino (Cos most are better than indon and myanmar in English, more hygienic, not afraid of dogs and ok with touching and consuming pork)
2) Prior experience in taking care of baby and housekeeping (But NOT in Singapore cos wld hv friends etc already, I don't mind training, thus need maid to come earlier)
3) Prior experience should be a sustained one, eg for 2 years (To show consistency)
4) With at least 1 child (Single/Married etc doesn't matter cos some are separated from hubby; they wld hv more motherly instinct, THO they may miss their children la) (And this wld mean they have greater commitment to work harder for child(ren), compared to those young and single ones who come here may look for boyfriend. Those with parents alive and not many siblings MIGHT hv greater commitment to work too)
5) In the 30s age range (Probably more mature and stable)
6) English proficiency (better be good, cos fair or little will mean very bad I think, hard to communicate)
7) Does NOT fear dogs (Some filipinos fear dogs!)
8) Preference of job scope should have baby as 1st or 2nd choice (the 4 choices are usually: care of baby, care of elderly, housekeeping, cooking)
9) NOT too pretty nor too plump nor too frowny nor too vain (Too pretty sure attract unnecessary attention, too plump might not hv enough energy and might eat alot, too frowny see already also not happy, too vain will wanna doll up and go out during weekends)
10) And on the biodata form should have more gradings of ""good"" lo
NOTE: This is NOT foolproof la, like there're Indons better than Filipinos in English, and there are 20+ year olds that are mature enough till they don't even want day-off etc, but I just try to narrow my scope for ease of search lo.
In the end, it is ALL ABOUT LUCK!!! NO such thing as which nationality or which criteria WILL give you NO problems. I have friends with both Indons/ Filipinos and New/Transfer etc and they did come across bad and good ones. Really by luck!!!
As for maid duty roster and a 55-guidelines (with bahasa Indonesia translation), do visit this blog! ALOT to read on this blog:
http://singaporemaid.blogspot.com/
One more thing I wanna share is to find an agency with good after-sales lo. When they help u find maid, service can be very good, but must note their terms when things go wrong, eg
1) Insurance need to pay again when change maid? Is there partial refund?
2) When i change maid, what do i need to pay for? Just the entrance test $95 or everything again?
3) When i return the maid for another, do i need to pay for food and lodging ($10/$15) a day til next employer is found (max 2 weeks/ 4 weeks)?
4) How many free replacements do i get and within what period?
5) Do i need to use the maid for at least 30 days before changing?
6) What abt the loan i paid if i return the maid during the loan period? Do i get full refund and how fast do i get the refund?
7) is there instalment payment or do i pay the $3000+ (approximately) upfront?
8) Do you interview the candidates yourselves going over to their country then place them in your training center or do you share database with other agencies?
Lastly, try using their online search database to try out different criteria and see what u get before going down lo. Note that the turnover rates for maids are VERY HIGH and if u don't do enough research, can't make up your mind when u see a good one, very fast she will be taken up. So do your research so that u know a good one when u see one.
I shortlisted two and let my mum see also, listen to her input. I also send whatsapp to my good friends who have maids to help me see and give me advice. The agency will usually print the biodata for you in hard copy (a few that u are keen to consider), but online has everything too.
Here are some with online search database that i found:
http://www.homekeeper.sg/web/maidsearch.asp
http://www.netmaid.com.sg/search
http://www.maidlibrary.com.sg/
http://www.signature.com.sg/maids/search.php
http://www.nation.com.sg/maidSearch.asp
http://sinarmas.netmaid.com.sg/search
http://www.jpbgroup.com/jpb_web/jpb_maidSearch.asp
http://www.cncmaid.com/applicants1.html
http://apple.netmaid.com.sg/search
http://www.maidcity.com/maidsearch.htm
http://www.ecomfort.com.sg/publicsite/
http://www.singaporemaid.com/sgmp/Agency_Search_Criteria.asp?sAgID=sgmp
P/S: I like my post!!! lol. I saved it into my google docs for my future ref! lol.