Bringing childcare with you on holiday can be an ideal way to both spend time with your kids and secure those important child-free moments to enjoy alone or with your partner.
Before inviting your sitter, make sure you discuss and agree your needs and expectations while on holiday.
Get Planning
Draft a childcare schedule to discuss and agree with your sitter before setting off on holiday. This will ensure that your expectations and needs are clearly stated to avoid any misunderstanding or conflict disrupting your precious holiday time.
Be mindful that your sitter should not be expected to be at hand 24/7 – this will only lead to burnout and expensive overtime payments.
Start planning a schedule by thinking through what’s important to you and your partner. Is your idea of luxury sleeping in, romantic dinners or daytime adventures? Do you expect your sitter to take control at certain points in the day and be on stand-by at others? What can your sitter expect when they clock on and off?
Example Schedules
Below are four sample schedules to help you in your pre-trip planning (on-the-clock time is in bold). Use whichever sample best meets your plans and the children’s requirements. You can either repeat the schedule that works best for you each day, or alternate between two or three of them during your holiday.
And last but not least – don’t forget that this is a holiday! So as long as your nanny is clear about your expectations, some flexibility may be needed from day to day!
Sample 1
7am-10am: Breakfast on your own<
10am – 12pm: Morning activities with child(ren)
12pm-2pm: Lunch on your own/Free time
2pm-3pm: Accompany family on activity
3pm-5pm: Do activities with child(ren)
5pm-6:30pm: Accompany family to dinner
6:30pm-8pm: Handle bedtime with children
8pm-7am: Free time/Sleep
Sample 2
7am-8am: Get up with children
8am-9am: Breakfast with kids (parents sleep in)
9am-12pm: Family activity
12pm-1pm: Take children to lunch
1pm-6pm: Free time
6pm-8pm: Parents’ dinner date/put kids to bed
7pm-7am: Free time/Sleep
Sample 3
6am-9am: Get up with children and feed them breakfast (parents sleep in)
9am-11am: Free time while family goes on activity
11am-12pm: Accompany family for lunch
12pm-3pm: Take children on activity
3pm-5pm: Free time
5pm-6pm: Feed children dinner
6pm-8pm: Watch children while parents go out
8pm-6am: Sleep (on-call if kids wake up)
Sample 4
6am-7am: Get children ready for day
7am-8am: Breakfast with family
8am-11am: Activity with children
11am-12pm: Lunch on your own
12pm-2pm: Kids’ naptime (on-call if they wake up)
2pm-5pm: Entertain children
5pm-7pm: Cook dinner while parents have time with children/eat Dinner
7pm-6am: Free time/sleep (parents will put children to bed)