The kinds of daycare, and the ages
Danish childcare is sorted by age, and the age decides the word. The first four are run or paid for by
the kommune; the two after them are private, and the last is you.
vuggestue6 months to 2 years 10 months
A nursery: a building with rooms of the youngest children and their grown-ups. The word most families meet first.
dagpleje6 months to 2 years 10 months
A childminder looking after a handful of children in her own home, employed and checked by the kommune.
børnehave2 years 10 months to school
Kindergarten. A child moves here at 2 years 10 months and stays until school starts, in the August of the
year they turn six.
integreret institution6 months to school
A vuggestue and a børnehave under one roof - most kommune institutions in Copenhagen are this, so the
move at 2 years 10 months is often a move down the corridor.
privat pasningsordning24 weeks to school
Private daycare: a childminder, or a storordning of at least ten children in its own premises,
approved by the kommune, with a monthly subsidy paid to the parents. Kidz R Os is one -
an English-speaking storordning in Valby for children from 6 months to 3 years.
privatinstitution6 months to school
A privately run institution the kommune pays directly, so its price is quoted after the subsidy. Compare like
with like: our fee is quoted before.
pasning af eget barn1 to 3 years
The kommune paying you to look after your own child at home, for between eight weeks and a year.
If you arrived here with the words kindergarten or preschool
in mind, the kindergarten page and the preschool page map
them onto this ladder.
Two ways to get a place
The kommune's list
You put your child's name down with the Pladsanvisning as soon as they have a CPR number, name the
institutions you would like and the date you need care from (behovsdato). A child can start from
6 months. A named institution has no promise attached: most have waiting lists.
The guarantee. Join the kommune's guarantee list two months before you want to start and
Copenhagen promises a place within two months - a vuggestue or a dagpleje of its choosing, within 4 km of your
home. Say no to what is offered and you leave the guarantee list, though you stay on the lists of the
institutions you named.
A private place
You apply to the daycare directly and the place starts on the day you agree. The kommune's part is the
subsidy: you send it a contract and a monthly receipt, and it pays you - how that works,
step by step.
Your child keeps their place on the kommune's waiting list meanwhile, so a private vuggestue now and a kommune
børnehave at three is an ordinary path - it is the one a child who leaves us at three takes.
What it costs
Parents pay a share; by law never more than a quarter of what a kommune place costs to run. In Copenhagen from
1 May 2026 a kommune vuggestue is kr 4.289 a month with lunch (kr 3.555 without), a dagpleje
kr 3.489, and a børnehave kr 2.816 with lunch. With two children you pay full price for the dearer place and half
for the other; there is an income-based reduction (økonomisk friplads) for lower incomes.
A place at Kidz R Os is kr 12.700 a month with every meal included; København Kommune pays kr 8.909 of it back, so a family in København pays about kr 3.791. The kommune's sibling discount applies to private care as well.
Arriving mid-year: the order of events
The system assumes a CPR number, and a family from abroad does not have one on day one. This is the order that
loses the least time and money:
Before you land: if you already have a Copenhagen address, a moving receipt
(flyttekvittering) from Borgerservice lets the Pladsanvisning write your child up before you move.
A private daycare can confirm a place and a start date now.
CPR numbers for you and your child, then MitID and a
NemKonto. Nothing on the kommune's side can be sent without them.
The kommune route: write your child up, join the guarantee list if you need a place
soon - a family that has just moved is promised one within two months of the moving date.
The private route: your child can start before the CPR number arrives. You pay the
full fee until it does; the subsidy starts from the day the kommune receives your contract, and is not
paid for the weeks before. Send the contract the day you can.
The language
Kommune institutions run in Danish. For a child under three the language of the room is simply the
language they pick up; for the parents it is a different matter - the notes, the
meetings, the parent group and the phone calls are in Danish. A few public institutions in Copenhagen have
English-language groups; The Copenhagen Post
wrote in May 2026 about who can get one. Kidz R Os is approved by Københavns Kommune as an English-speaking
daycare: English at the gate and in the parent chat, Danish in the room as well, so the move to a Danish
børnehave at three is a step rather than a leap.
Six words you will meet
- Pladsanvisningen
- The kommune office that runs the waiting lists and hands out places.
- Behovsdato
- The date you need care from. What the list is sorted by, not a promise.
- Pasningsgaranti
- The guarantee: a place within two months, somewhere within 4 km, if you joined the list in time.
- Indkøring
- Settling in - the first days, when a parent stays close by while the child gets used to the room.
- Frokostordning
- The lunch scheme; the "with lunch" price. Ours is not a scheme - every meal is included.
- Lukkedage
- Closing days, beyond the public holidays. Ours are on the holiday calendar.
Before you ask
The questions in short
Is daycare free in Denmark?
No, but most of it is paid by the kommune. In a kommune vuggestue in Copenhagen parents pay kr 4.289 a month with lunch (rate from 1 May 2026), and by law never more than a quarter of what the place costs to run. A private place comes with a monthly subsidy instead: A place at Kidz R Os is kr 12.700 a month with every meal included; København Kommune pays kr 8.909 of it back, so a family in København pays about kr 3.791.
From what age can a child start daycare in Denmark?
A kommune vuggestue or dagpleje takes children from 6 months; a private pasningsordning may take them from 24 weeks. Kidz R Os takes children from 6 months to 3 years. Most Danish children start during their first or second year.
How long is the waiting list for daycare in Copenhagen?
For a place somewhere: two months. Copenhagen guarantees a vuggestue or dagpleje place within two months of joining its guarantee list, of the kommune's choosing and within 4 km of your home. For one particular institution there is no promise; a private place starts on the day you and the daycare agree.
Do I need a CPR number to get a daycare place?
For the kommune's list, yes - both parent and child need one before the child can be written up, and a family still on its way can be written up early with a moving receipt from Borgerservice. A private daycare can take your child before the CPR number arrives; the subsidy starts once you have it.
Is there English-speaking daycare in Denmark?
Kommune institutions run in Danish, and a few public institutions in Copenhagen have English-language groups. Kidz R Os is a private daycare in Valby approved by Københavns Kommune as an English-speaking daycare, for children aged 6 months to 3 years.
Arriving with a child under three? Tell us your dates and where you will live, and we will say
honestly whether we have a place and what the kommune will pay. Write to us ·
Book a visit · What it costs
Sources: Københavns Kommune -
Overblik over dagtilbud,
Skriv op til vuggestue og dagpleje,
Pasningsgaranti,
Dagtilbud når du flytter til København,
Priser for dagtilbud -
all read September 2026.
