Comments on: Bringing a Babysitter on Vacation

By: Sue Idoubiya

Sue Idoubiya — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:55:15 +0000

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

By: Mara

Mara — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:13:02 +0000

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.

By: Traci

Traci — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:45:14 +0000

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!

By: Patricia

Patricia — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:39:26 +0000

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.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:06:19 +0000

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!

By: Sheri

Sheri — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:36:45 +0000

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.

By: Sharlene

Sharlene — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:10:31 +0000

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.

By: Jenny Jensen

Jenny Jensen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:39:11 +0000

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.

By: Jody

Jody — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:29:56 +0000

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. :)

By: Amber's Crazy Bloggin' Canuck

Amber's Crazy Bloggin' Canuck — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:20:09 +0000

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!