Bringing a Babysitter on Vacation

May 31st, 2009 | by Kayt Sukel 11 comments

When I was younger, our neighbors always took a babysitter with them on vacation. I thought this was the greatest idea ever — mostly because they told me once I was old enough, I could be the babysitter and go along. With dreams of trips to Thailand, Caribbean Islands and Europe dancing in my head, I thought this was the way that family travel should be done.

My Mom, however? Not so much. I very distinctly remember her sternly saying, “You should go on vacation to spend time with your family.” Her tone of voice finished the thought, “Why even take the kids with you if you’re only going to dump them off on someone else?”

I think it’s fair to say that my Mom has shaped the way I think about travel. And outside the usual Grandcation or family event, I had never traveled with a babysitter.

But then a new type of trip came up that forced me to rethink my stance on the no-babysitter rule: A work trip to Berlin. Sure, I could have left Chet at home. In fact, it probably would have been the simpler approach. But I knew I’d have some free time to explore and wanted to take him along. A few calls later, my sister-in-law agreed to come and mind him while I sat through meeting after meeting during the day.

And you know what? It was a great trip. And though I can’t say it’s made me rethink my babysitter-on-vacation mindset completely, I can see there being a time and a place where having a dedicated babysitter can really come in handy.

So what say you, dear readers, where and when should you consider bringing a babysitter along?

11 Responses to “Bringing a Babysitter on Vacation”

Amy @ The Q Family on June 1st, 2009

Sometimes we travel with our parents and I think they are the best built-in baby sitter. It allows you to have some free time together as a couple while still enjoy family vacation time. But I don’t know if I can personally afford baby sitter (non-family) on our vacation trip. I do think business trip is the perfect example of when baby sitter on vacation is a good fit!

Amber's Crazy Bloggin' Canuck on June 1st, 2009

If we could afford it we would totally do it, mostly for evening outings. We want to take our kids on a cruise and would play during the day but at night, it would be great to stay out later with just the two of us!

Jody on June 1st, 2009

My mom is single and doesn’t like to travel alone so she often joins us on vacation. It’s nice to have another set of hands along and my girls love taking grandma with us.

My cousin (who is our babysitter) joins us on some trips if there are late evening events my husband & I want to do that involve pubs. :)

Jenny Jensen on June 1st, 2009

My parents make great babysitters!

I’ve also traveled with an actual hired babysitter a few times but never just for my family. When traveling with 1 or 2 other families with kids, bringing along 1 babysitter is great. We all take turns using the sitter services and sometimes left all of the kids with her while we went to a grown-ups only outing. Great way to spread the cost too. Remember to schedule in some time for the sitter to do what he/she wants without kid responsibilities to keep everyone happy.

Sharlene on June 1st, 2009

I think the occasional babysitter for evening activities or outdoorsy things the kids aren’t old enough to do would be nice but mostly I think family vacations are about bonding and having a sitter might put a damper on that.

Sheri on June 1st, 2009

My mom is my daughter’s nanny anyway (she gets paid for it, don’t worry!) and that is the best solution. I trust her and my daughter loves her and I don’t mind paying for her to come on vacation if I need her because one or both of us has to work. We take a lot of working vacations, so it’s not really a choice. We just think we’re lucky for being able to do both.

Susan on June 2nd, 2009

We haven’t brought a babysitter, but have definitely enjoyed the baby club at Club Med. At the very least, you can be out and about versus in the room each day for a 2-3 hour nap. And enjoy dinner/drinks/etc once bedtime arrives; otherwise, we’d be in the room by 7:30/8 each night. Some of the parents have their kids out with them until very late – zonked in the stroller, but ours do much better with an early bedtime so it works out for all of us!

Patricia on June 4th, 2009

I would love to travel with a babysitter. With an extra set of hands, gives everyone more of a vacation. I have some nieces and nephews who would be great to take along and they would have a wonderful travel experience that they would never get. The one item holding us back is the cost – just that extra plane ticket puts you back a good chunk!

My mom did join us on our trip to Austria last year. It was nice having the extra set of hands and it let us go out a couple of nights. And as a widower who is not loving traveling solo, she went to a country she was interested in seeing.

Traci on June 14th, 2009

I’d do it. Especially with small children. We now take my MIL with us on vacation to help out. When it’s nap time, she naps with the 2 year old so we can go have lunch or something, instead of sitting in the room doing nothing. And then if we want a night out, we can. It’s nice. Once we went to New Orleans and we hired a local nanny to babysit our then 11 month old a couple nights so we could visit some of the nicer restaurants. It was great!

Mara on June 27th, 2009

I’m a big advocate of this, especially since my own mother passed away and my in-laws don’t like to travel. I brought a babysitter when we went to Paris last summer and it was worth ever nickel. We didn’t pay her, but bought her plane ticket (using airline miles), covered all her meals and expenses, and gave her a few afternoons off. Having her there allowed me to wander Paris unfettered and also meant that my husband and I got to go out for a number of fabulous meals. We probably would have rented an apartment anyway, so there was no extra expense for her lodging.

We also had lots of time together as a family – in fact, most of the time that we were apart from the kids they were asleep. and as an added bonus, the kids really bonded with the babysitter, who also helps me out at home.

Sue Idoubiya on December 25th, 2009

I want to take our babysitter on a cruise with us to help with our 1 year old daughter. How much should I pay her for this as we are paying for her cruise price? Any advice would be appreciated. My husband and I fully intend to schedule some time for her to do as she pleases during the trip. Thanks!

Sue in Florida