Guide
Nursery, daycare, crèche or childminder: what the words mean in French-speaking Switzerland
Moving to the Riviera means learning a new childcare vocabulary — often in French. Here is what each term covers, and how the Vaud system is regulated.
Last updated : 7 min read
In short
In French-speaking Switzerland, crèche and garderie both mean a licensed group nursery for preschool children. Nurserie is the baby room. An accueillante en milieu familial is a registered childminder working from home. In the canton of Vaud, all of them fall under the LAJE law and are licensed by SCAJE.
Is there any real difference between crèche and garderie?
Today, no. Both words describe a licensed group setting for preschool children, with an educational project and qualified staff.
Historically, crèche suggested full-day care for the youngest children and garderie suggested occasional, hourly care. That distinction has largely disappeared, and the name a nursery uses now depends mostly on its history and local habit.
What matters is not the sign above the door but three checkable things: the operating licence, the age groups accepted, and the educational project. Two settings with the same name can offer very different daily experiences.
For us, garderie means full-day care, Monday to Friday from 7:00 to 18:30, 50 weeks a year, for children aged 0 to 4.
What does nurserie mean?
It is the baby room, or baby group, within a nursery: individual rhythms, a key person for each child, and a space designed for the youngest.
So nurserie describes a section rather than a type of establishment. A setting can be a baby room only, or combine a baby room with older groups.
Care here is organised around each child's own rhythm — sleep, feeding, being carried, free movement — rather than around a group programme. With us this is the Babies group (0-18 months).
What is an accueillante en milieu familial?
A registered childminder who looks after a small number of children in her own home, coordinated by a regional childminding office.
The setting is domestic, the group small, the hours sometimes more flexible. It suits families looking for a gentle transition, a very small group, or unusual working hours.
A group nursery offers a multidisciplinary team, continuity when someone is away, purpose-built spaces and a peer group of the same age. Neither is better: they answer different needs.
Which French words will you see on Swiss childcare websites?
Garderie and crèche mean nursery or daycare, nurserie is the baby room, accueillante en milieu familial is a childminder, and UAPE is after-school care.
The equivalences are never exact, because the Swiss, British and American systems divide ages differently. One practical consequence for expatriate families: children start school earlier here than in several English-speaking countries, so the preschool period is comparatively short.
A second practical point: many Riviera settings, including ours, work bilingually. Ask how the second language is actually used during the day — as a working language with the children, or only with parents.
Garderie / crèche
Nursery, daycare — licensed group care for under-fours.
Nurserie
Baby room, infant group.
Accueillante en milieu familial
Registered childminder, caring for children at home.
UAPE
After-school and lunchtime care for school-age children.
Adaptation
The settling-in period before regular attendance starts.
What are LAJE, RLAJE and SCAJE?
LAJE is the Vaud law on day care for children, detailed by its implementing regulation RLAJE. SCAJE is the cantonal office that licenses, inspects and advises childcare providers.
No preschool setting may open without an operating licence. It covers premises, safety, management, the qualifications of educational staff, the number of children present at once, and the educational project.
Staff-to-child ratios are set by regulation and vary by age, with more adults per child for babies than for older children. Always ask a setting about the actual staffing of the group your child would join.
These rules apply to subsidised and private settings alike. A privately licensed nursery is subject to exactly the same supervision — the key point for parents comparing options.
How do you choose between these options?
Start with three questions: what rhythm does your child need, how much flexibility does your family need, and which educational approach speaks to you.
A few-month-old baby needs few different adults and a respected rhythm; a three-year-old needs peers, group play and a gentle path towards school. Families often change formula over time, and that is entirely normal.
Then visit. A late-morning visit tells you more than any brochure: listen to the noise level, watch how adults speak to children, look at what materials are within reach, and check the light and access to outdoor space.
Frequently asked questions
Do crèches and garderies cost the same?
Not necessarily. A subsidised setting charges an income-based fee set by the commune network; a private setting sets its own. Ours are public and identical for every family enrolled directly.
Does a nurserie take newborns?
In practice care starts at the end of maternity leave. Our Babies group takes children from 0 to 18 months.
What is a UAPE?
An after-school unit for school-age children, covering before school, lunchtime and after school. It is not preschool care.
How can we check a setting is licensed?
Ask the manager directly. Any licensed setting can tell you its status and show that it holds a SCAJE operating licence.
Rather see it than read about it?
The clearest way to understand the difference between two settings is to visit both. We arrange visits by appointment, in English or in French.
Keep reading
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Intermunicipal networks, central waiting lists, priority criteria and the difference between subsidised and privately licensed nurseries — explained from scratch for international families.
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