BYOB -- bring your own babysitter??

[kpk89]

Has anyone done this? How do you work it? Our sitter is moving in with us, due to a bunch of long-story circumstances. She'll be getting free room and board in exchange for about 10 hours a week of childcare and will be also working at her other job. I've considered whether bringing her along on our January trip would be feasible or smart. We've known her a long time, she's like part of the family.

Sooo, anybody have experiences to share?

 

[ducklite]

What kind of accomodations do you have? Would she be comfortable sleeping in the same room as your DH?

Anne

 

[kpk89]

We're traveling with dh's family, and staying in a grand villa at SSR. So we'll have dh and I in the master, our kids on the sofa bed in the living room (baby in the pack n play) FIL and SMIL in one bedroom upstairs, and BIL, SIL and their 2 kids in the 2nd bedroom upstairs. We could either convince FIL & SMIL to let the kids share their room, or let the kids sleep in the loft area upstairs (bring an aerobed) and give the sofabed to the sitter.

 

[ducklite]

Have you spoken to the other people in your family about this? Although the sitter is "family" to you, others might not feel that way. I also think it might be a bit of an imposition to your in-laws to ask them to share with your kids. Could you swap bedrooms with your in-laws so you can share with your kids?

Who's points or cash are paying for the unit?

Have you mentioned this to the sitter, does she even have interst in going? Who is paying her travel expenses, park passes, meals? If you expect her to pay for it, can she afford to? Can she get the time off?

Not trying to discourage you--we brought our Nanny once and it worked great, just looking at it with eyes wide open.

Anne

 

[kpk89]

The thought had just occurred to me, I haven't thought through all the details. You said you brought your nanny once -- how did you arrange it? (who paid for what, etc.) I am very interested to hear how others have done it so that I can consider all the possibilities and what will work for us.

I really wouldn't ask my inlaws to share with the kids -- we are paying for the villa with our points, but still. There's also a strong chance that BIL's family won't make it (another long story) but of course they're not going to say that until the last minute.

 

[Mobly]

We had taken our sitter with us when we just had 2 kids (ages 2 and 4). We paid for everything and hoped that she could watch the kids a little when we went to the beach for a few days. Kids were sick the entire time, so that didn't happen - but we were very glad to have her along anyway. (7 years later we still talk about that trip--she was 14 at the time, and after being around 2 kids for 8 days vomiting the whole time, she swore she would not have kids for YEARS. She is 21 now and still claims that she remembers that trip well, and still doesn't want kids for YEARS. That's a good thing!)

 

[runner26.2]

We haven't taken a sitter to WDW but have taken one on ski trips in the past. She was responsible for her own ski gear and spending money. She was not expected to contribute to room costs, food, meals out or her ski pass.

For us it worked out quite well. She looked after those that couldn't ski every morning and then either my wife or I would stay back at the condo for a few hours each afternoon so our sitter could ski.

Our children are old enough know a sitter isn't needed for skiing or Disney but if we had a live in nanny I wouldn't hesitate on taking her/him. It would be great fun for them and a huge convenience for parents looking for a quiet dinner.

 

[lmogs]

My sisters and I are bringing 2 sitters with us this January (for 7 kids). We are paying for their flights and hotel (we are staying in villas, and they are staying in a studio with another couple whom they know VERY well). I think we plan to have them with us during a few afternoons so we can go on some rides too. . .and then they're on duty at night! This is a college-age couple who are big Disney freaks too. . .so they're so excited to only have to buy their park passes and meals. Hope it works out for you!

 

[bridegirl]

We pay for all her park tickets, airfare, meals. If she wants to buy stuff to bring home she pays for that herself. We always work out for her to have a little time off to do stuff on her own.

It's a great way for us to have flexibility, ie, if the baby needs a nap, they can go back to the room for a real nap instead of a stroller nap, etc.

The one night DH and I go to V & A, she and the kids will have room service and play.

Our kids are small, 6, 3, and 10 months, so the time of day she is the most helpful - getting out the door in the morning!

Not sure about how the rest of your family will feel. When we went on DCL this summer, the rest of our family loved it! At some point or another she helped everyone with something.

Susy

 

[SqueakyMouse]

My cousin takes her babysitter with her every year. She says its well worth the price of an additional ticket and a few extra meals. Personally, I would do it in a heartbeat; but I've never had a sitter who wanted to go on vacation with us. Typically, our vacation time becomes their vacation time.

 

[scouthawkk]

We are planning on doing this in 2007 (take a while for us to save). Our DS will be just about 5, his aunts will be 11 and 13. We are paying for transportation (autotrain) tickets, meals room...basically everything. Their dad has agreed to provide them with spending money for anything they want to bring home (hats, shirts, stuffed animals...). But that is about all he can afford, so that is why we are "treating" them. But they know that in return, they will have to put in some time babysitting DS. They are fine with that. They are just excited at getting a chance to go!

 

[Mom to Jordan]

If you were not going with other family members, I would say take her in a heartbeat. We never really had the chance to take anyone with us when DS was little and since we would not go the sitter route we never got time alone. Since you are going to have family there, I would probley just take turns giving each other a night alone while the others watch the kids. That cuts out added expenses and having another person in the villa. If however,you really want to give her a chance to go to WDW anyway, it might work out well. Just be very specific in what the arragments are. WHo pays what. When she is in charge and when she is off. Will she watch all the kids are just yours? Who pays he???

Good luck. Sounds like you have the best of both worlds.

Jordans' mom

 

[missymagic]

I have never taken the sitter to Disney but have on other vacations. I paid for her air, room and meals but she was responsible for the girls if we wanted to go out or needed an extra hand. I always had dinner with them but then the adults would have an adult dinner later. I loved having the extra help.

 

[jennilouwho]

I'm on the flipside. I was the nanny that went I nanny twins and when they were 2 1/2 the family decided to go to Disneyland. They paid my airfare, hotel, park tickets and meals. At the last minute, the mom's parents decided they wanted to come too, so it was me, the twins, their parents, and their grandparents all in one hotel room. It was a 2 bedroom though, so I slept out on the sofa bed and then they split up between the 2 bedrooms. It worked out really well and we all had a lot of fun. The only "work" I ended up doing was taking the little girl back to the room in the afternoon for a nap. She was having far worse meltdown problems than her brother. They brought me more as part of the family than as an actual baby-sitter, (it was my Christmas bonus that year) so it was a really enjoyable trip.

 

[kpk89]

That's really good to know, jennilouwho! I've decided that we won't be needing a sitter on this trip -- as someone pointed out, we'll have other adults along with us (grandparents, even!) who will surely give us a night out alone. If we could afford it, I'd take her just because we love her! But since I just thought of it, and we're going in January, I don't think we can pull off airfare, park ticket and meal money in that amount of time. And I definitely wouldn't want to put it on her to have to pay.

Next time we'll plan ahead and take her along. This time at least someone will be home to feed the kitty.