Taking a Baby Sitter on Vacation with You

Private schools just had their Spring Break and public schools have theirs coming up and as we're waiting for the weather to warm up, we've got vacations on the brain.

Have you ever been stuck with a family vacation that actually seemed like more work than not being on vacation? If you are used to having childcare, a family vacation can be a shocking experience. It's not something that most people want to admit, and of course we all love spending lots of time with our kids, but hard-working parents need some real down-time too or they're going to have their own little melt-downs that no binky can fix.

Taking a babysitter on vacation with you might seem like a huge luxury, but sometimes luxuries are really necessities. But wanting to take a baby sitter on vacation with you and actually doing it are two different things, two things with lot of steps in between, like how much to pay and how to find a sitter who will travel with you, etc. The experts at Sittercity have shared some tips with us on how to make the fantasy a reality.

Sittercity is a baby-sitting placement service that I have heard rave reviews about from several New York City parents. Sittercity might be like Craigslist, if you imagine that all the posts on Craigslist were vetted, with background checks and lots of information about each applicant, even video interviews. Sounds like a huge time-saver. Here's what they say about taking a sitter on vacation with you:

PAY AND OTHER THINGS TO REMEMBER

Remember the sitter's sacrifice: When it comes to a trip like Spring Break, it's different that a typical summer vacation trip. On Spring Break, your sitter only gets that one week, which you are asking her to sacrifice.

Remember that it's not exactly a vacation for your sitter: The whole point of taking a sitter on the trip is so she can take on a lot of the grunt work. It's hard to lounge by the pool when you have two toddlers in your lap.

What to pay: $120-200 per day is a good flat rate. If you'll be bringing your live-in nanny with you, pay her the same weekly rate you pay when you're all at home ??“ even if she'll be working fewer hours on vacation.

WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD PROVIDE
The sitter's plane ticket, and room and board
All of her meals
A small daily allowance of $50/day for transportation, lunch, etc. for the kids
Her own room for some private time
Some time off each day, around 2-3 hours to herself

I'm usually pretty wary of advice about childcare rates from services, but this seems pretty even-handed. Have you ever taken a sitter on vacation with you? What advice do you have to share? How much did you pay?

If you are interested in trying out Sittercity use code SPRING10 to get a 10% discount off your registration.