It depends on the type of parental leave, and on your contract with the childcare provider.
The parental leave law says the parent on leave must mainly devote themselves to bringing up the child. The CAE, which pays the allowance, applies this as follows:
– Full-time parental leave: in principle the child should not attend a crèche or other childcare. The CAE accepts at most a few hours a week, for example for settling in at the end of the leave, so you do not lose the place completely, or for contact with other children. You must tell the CAE before the child attends.
– Half-time parental leave: the child can attend childcare during your working hours.
If these rules are not respected, the CAE can ask you to repay the whole parental leave allowance.
Whether the crèche or maison relais holds the place for you is a separate question. Childcare is covered by a contract between you and the provider, and admission criteria are set by the commune or the provider. Before your leave starts, read your contract and ask the provider, or the commune for a maison relais:
– whether you can reduce the hours for a while and return to your usual hours afterwards;
– what notice you must give and what you keep paying during the leave.
Get the answer in writing. Unsure how the CAE rule applies to an older sibling? Ask the CAE in writing.
Once bill 8686 is voted: the CSA reform is planned for 1 January 2027 but is still in parliamentary committee and may change. The government has said parents on full-time parental leave will then no longer be able to use the chèque-service accueil, and the bill lets the ministry share CSA data with the CAE to check the parental leave conditions. The announcement says nothing about half-time leave. Until then, the CAE rules above apply.