Hotel Babysitting Services From a Mothers Perspective
While I was writing destination related travel blogs , many of my friends approached me suggesting to speak about baby friend hotels and babysitting services. From what I have seen there are many parents out there who are afraid to travel. They don’t want to be stuck in the hotel room at 7-8pm in the evening. Especially when visiting over a longer period of time they want to explore the city/country.
Do what feels comfortable
To be honest it is not always easy to do and everyone´s situation is completely different. Our daughter has always been a great sleeper and a big fan of routine, which has been amazing. As she is getting older and we are traveling a lot, we are realising that she is not the one to go out past 8pm. At present if we do go out her bed time she throws mega tantrums. Therefore we have been exploring the option of hotel babysitting and baby services.
Hotel Cots & Cribs
Also just as a reminder as you are searching for Air BnBs, Hotels, accommodation I would contact the hotel before booking to see if they are able to supply a cot. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that many hotels and temporary accommodations have them, especially during our travels through out Europe.
Baby Friendly Hotels
From our experience traveling with our daughter, we have seen that most 4-5 star hotels should be able to assist in either providing babysitting services or can recommend local baby sitting. The first time we used the hotel babysitting was for our Wedding at Hyatt Ziva in Jamaica.
The hotel and the staff were absolutely amazing. 4 or 5 star hotels normally have a kids zone from ages 3-12. Since we came with a big group of people and many guests had kids under 3 we specifically asked for a babysitter for the Wedding night and other nights as well. The hotel arranged for 1-2 childminders to watch the babies on the night of the Wedding and some of our friends used a sitter for other nights of their trip. This was amazing and gave the parents a nice break to enjoy themselves for a few hours. It is also something that many parents do not dare to ask so they were definitely pleasantly surprised by the level of service.
Checklist
Should you decide to use a hotel babysitter there are some precautions that you can take:
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- Ask for details of the childminders experience (qualifications, etc.)
- Confirm with the hotel if they contacted the employees references and carried out police vetting
- Ask the hotel about previous feedback in relation to the childminder (positive or negative)
- Confirm method of payment with the hotel beforehand.
- When the sitter arrives ask about his/her experience to ensure it matches with the information provided by the hotel.
- Ask about the sitters experience around first aid.
- Make sure you leave time for the baby/toddler to settle in and adjust to the sitter if the sitter comes before the baby is asleep.
- Make a list of the things that soothe the baby/toddler, foods to eat, bed time, bed routine, medication requirements, allergies, etc.
- Leave your mobile number and/or contact telephone number of the location of where you are going.
- Ensure the babysitter has food and drink or order room service for them.
- Lastly, if you do not feel right about the situation and the person then trust your instincts and do not go out. It is not worth it. There is always room service?
Havana ordering room service
If interested in seeing our list of seeing our summer holiday essentials checklist. Click here
Happy Baby Happy Travels
xo
