I rest to be corrected but the shortage of places in the Crèches is apparantly over. You need to go and register at the Service de la Petite Enfance. People are constantly on the move in this city so places can become free overnight.

Service de la petite enfance.

Avenue Dumas 24, 1206 Genève            

Thanks Shirley for this helpful and encouraging post. I'll get in touch with the municipality once I'm in Geneva, but meanwhile perhaps

someone has any recent experience in terms of waiting time for a spot in public creches/jardins d'enfants? 

Thanks for any information you can share. 

This question on France voisine is related to my original question so I'll just add it to this thread:

I have read on a few websites that in France 3-year olds are (almost) guaranteed a spot in the public ecole maternelle. Is this true? Any experience from the Pays de Gex?

Thanks again for any information you can share.

We registered in January and we got a call in April. Just make sure u register as soon as u arrive here coz u never know.  Good luck

I was on this waiting list for over 2 years, and finally was granted a place - 3 weeks ago) in a creche which is almost an hour away by bus (I don't drive), and which means alsmot 4 hours travel each day for me to drop off and collect. When I asked if perhaps there was some mistake, since these places assign by the quartier you live in, I was told "be grateful you were given a place, the waiting lists are long, demand is high, and you are welcome to go back on the waiting list (and start from scratch). 

I would love your statement to be true.

That is such a bad experience. I have heard from several people that they got within 4 months of registering which made me jealous since when my daughter needed, I registered while 4 months pregnant and finally got a spot when she was 18 months old and only because the children's services intervened. I have really never heard of someone getting that far from where you live. How do they even justify that?

Thanks. I registered at 4 months of pregnancy two, but babyface is now 2 and 3 months.

They told me - in what were really incredibly rude terms - that you take what you get, and there were no places available for his age nearby, and his dad works "out there". Only thing is that dad travels all the time, and works 12 hour days when not in an airport.

I know it's hearsay, but I met a good handful of people with kids in the same age range, who said that they got in very quickly into the neighbourhood creches. And I was on maternity leave while waiting, so they can't say priority to working people in my case.

Sigh