I don’t know about you, but when I picture my dream vacation, there are definitely elements to it that don’t involve the words “family friendly”.
My husband and I used to do all kinds of fun stuff on vacation. Climbing mountains, jungle canyon rappelling, white water rafting, going face to face with dangerous animals, partying until 9am in Ibiza, descending into a volcanic crater of burning sulfur – you name it, we’ve probably done it.
Obviously, you can’t do all of that with kids in tow. So does that mean that your vacations have to cater completely to your kids from now on?
Let’s hope not.
Anywhere that you go where there are some tourists, there will also be safe, reliable options for childcare. Let’s take a look at what some of those are.
Check out the hotel Kids’ Clubs.
This is the biggie, and the first one that most parents think of. If you are staying at a resort and your kids are old enough, this is a fabulous option. They will be well supervised, have other kids to play with, and many resorts offer exciting extras like storytellers, cultural arts and crafts, or even excursions to local attractions like the zoo.
One thing to consider before you book is whether there is an age limitation. Most Kids’ Clubs that I’ve looked at have a minimum age of 5. My family is still too young to have experienced the joys of a Kids’ Club first-hand. In fact, we decided against Aulani this year while we are in Hawaii precisely because if we can’t take advantage of the amazing Kids’ Club – what’s the point?!
Luckily for us, there are other options.
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Use a hotel-recommended babysitter.
When we were booking our hotel for our first trip to Mexico with our 13-month-old, I made it a point to only book at places that advertised “babysitting on site”. In fact, I ruled out lots of great places because they did not advertise that.
When we got there and asked about the babysitter, we were referred to the activities “counter” which was a separate business 2 blocks away. They told us there that they did not have a specific babysitter, but they could call around.
The point of my story is this: call ahead! Find out what to really expect if your hotel has an on-site babysitter. Many hotels actually have a few regular babysitters that they share with nearby hotels and have experience with. But you’ll want to call ahead to be sure – and to make sure you can book the babysitter for the day that you want anyway.
Book a local babysitter through an agency.
This has become our go-to strategy. Pretty much anywhere that you travel, you can search online for babysitter and nanny agencies that provide childcare for parents on vacation. Depending on where you go, they might have more or less rigid regulations, so I recommend doing a little research ahead of time.
Many of these agencies will have extensive reviews online, if that makes you feel better.
For babies and toddlers, I really like this option. They can stay at the hotel/Airbnb/yurt/whatever, play games and read stories, and your baby has a safe “downtime” day while you get out to have fun and reconnect with your partner.
Bring your nanny along.
Okay, let’s be real. I really wish I was in a position to bring a nanny along on vacation! That sounds like living the dream.
But, it’s worth actually considering if you can do some form of this. Do you have a niece or nephew of babysitting age who might be able to join you? A teenage family friend? I would imagine there are plenty of “kids” who would be happy to trade some childcare responsibilities for a free trip where they have some time to themselves, too.
Depending on your vacation plans, it might not be that crazy to think about spending on one extra plane ticket and an extra bedroom to ensure that you and your partner get a dream vacation.
In all honesty, when we went to Kauai with both kids for a wedding, we hired a babysitter for 4 occasions. It ended up costing several hundred dollars, because that service is not cheap in Hawaii. It would have been comparably-priced to bring someone along!
Travel with another family with kids.
Do you have friends who love to travel and have kids in the same general age-range? Why not see if they have any interest in joining your vacation?
This doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to all stay in a villa together and spend every moment as a group. [Of course, if everybody wants to, I think that sounds great, too!]
But maybe you can stay in the same area on the same days – you will still each have your own family vacation.
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Then you sync up on trading off childcare so that both couples get some adult time. We’ll take all of the kids to the beach on Tuesday, you take them all to the zoo on Wednesday – that sort of thing.
My husband and I have best friends who are married and we are just DYING for them to make babies so we can do this. No pressure or anything, but awesome group vacations await!
Find a random person?
Okay, this one I do not recommend. While we were in Thailand, we actually asked at a nearby shop if they knew of any places that offered childcare. [We obviously had neglected to research this subject before our first family vacation.]
We meant, like, do any nearby hotels have a childcare center? Something like that.
The guy thought for a moment, then spun around and pointed at the girl working the front counter. “She can do it! No problem! You need overnight? Come back tomorrow!”
The girl, who was probably 13, looked even more shocked than we were. Um, thanks but no thanks!
So what do you think? Planning to take advantage of babysitting options while traveling on your next trip? Have some ideas that I haven’t thought of? Share below in the comments!
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6 thoughts on “Somebody Take My Kid! Childcare Options While Traveling”
Great tips! I love that many hotels offer kids clubs for parents to have some time to themselves.
Great tips. I usually bring my parents along for travels and they help a lot. If we go to a place like Las Vegas we will switch off with the kids so we all can gamble a little. I also LOVE hotel and cruise kids clubs, because they are safe and really fun for the kids.
That’s perfect if you can bring your parents along! I’m sure they love the time spent with your kids. Yes, I can’t wait for mine to be old enough to enjoy the kids clubs!
We have done kids clubs on ships and in resorts – most take kids when they are potty trained. We have also done the baby sitter service at San Juan Marriott. Worth noting that there was a 4 hour minimum = $80 so again, worth calling ahead!
That’s such a good tip! I forgot that a lot of them have time minimums. Thank you!
These are some great tips! We’ve never left our kids while traveling since we have a hard time trusting strangers, but once they’re old enough we’ll have to look into those kids clubs at resorts like you mentioned!!