How many times do you use Babysitting Services?

[Nicolepa]

Well, I personally would never do more than one or two nights, but we don't do sitters at home. My only concern for you is cost. Kids night out has a 4 hour minimum. I don't remember how much the hourly fee is, but I know we used them when we went to see Cirque. After travel fees, tip and such it was $150 or so.

I couldn't justify an extra $100 a night just so I didn't have to deal with my kids during dinner. I have taken them to many resturants at Disney, including the Brown Derby and one at the GF (I think Narcoossee's, but I can't say for sure.) Sometimes I would have enjoyed them more w/o the kids but for the most part my kids are well behaved and not much trouble. (They are 4 & 6.)

Now that both my kids are old enough for the kids club we will probably do one night per trip. I like that I can just do an hour or two and am not stuck to the 4 hour minimum.

 

[JamesMom]

Thanks again for the replies. It's interesting to see other peoples perspectives.

As for cost: KidsNiteOut.com says for 2 children it is $16.50 and hour PLUS a $10 transportation fee and optional tip. We will tip well. We estimate a 6 hour time frame per night to be around $130.00. These guys are endorsed and trained by Disney - that's enough for me.
The kids clubs charge $10 an hour per toilet trained child aged 4 or older. So for our next trip we have to save even more pennies for $20 an hour!!

At home, the hourly daycare center charges $12.50 an hour for our two kids and we don't tip or pay a transport fee, we do have to pay for the time to get there and back. An average date night (movie and dinner @ Chili's & transportation) will cost us around $60 for 4.5 hours. So for Disney to be double is expected. (Doesn't EVERYTHING cost double at Disney, LOL) For comparison, we once paid $10 an hour for ONE child for in-home babysitter. It's cheaper to go to the hourly place.

Eating out - we only go out to eat as a couple every 6 months or so. Nice restuarants are scare in our area (other then Chili's which is not 'nice', but special regardless as a respite from fast food.) We have to travel at least an hour to go to a nice table cloths and real crystal type place and that drives up the babysitting fee. Think PF Changs, Texas de Brazil, you know $100+ for 2 after wine type places.
So we truly look forward to dinning our way around Disney - Bistro in France, California Grill, Le Ceiler, to name a few. And we don't want to have to worry about our kids throwing a fit. The added bonus of park time or Cirque show is good, too!

Don't worry, you "family" types, LOL. We plan to do chef mickeys, Crystal Palace, Hollywood and Vine as well as Mickey BBQ for the kids. They won't starve, LOL!

Eating is big part of our vacation experience and plan to pay OOP for a bunch of stuff even with (hopeful) Free Dining.

Thanks again for all the perspectives.

 

[Lauralee131]

We haven't tried in room babysitting, although I'd LOVE to so that I can stay out later!! So I'd love to hear how they are. Earlier this year when we stayed at Wilderness Lodge, we put our son in the Cub's Den - he was 4 at the time - and from the moment we picked him up, he continued to ask to go back again all the way back to the room, and continued asking to go back again when he opened his little eyes the next morning.

I plan on putting him in the Neverland Club at least twice during our 8 day stay and he's looking forward to it about as much as I'm looking forward to an adults only night out.

I've heard wonderful things about the babysitting services on the internet and I think the real reason I haven't tried it is because he's an only child, whereas in the kids' clubs he'll have other kids to play with. He looks forward to playing with other children on weekends at home and on vacation; and since it's his vacation too, I want him to be able to do what he wants. If he wants to go several nights, I'll let him (so long as I can afford it of course) even if it's only for a couple of hours.

DH and I almost NEVER get out alone...once in the last 7 months that I can think of and only for dinner and a movie and then to pick DS up at the local Playdate place...we're fairly new here and don't know any babysitters, so I would gladly pay Disney, where I know they're going to take good care of him and he'll have fun, to give both us and him a break for a few nights.

And seriously, don't let others flame you or their opinions sway you...it's YOUR family, do what you want. And I think it's a grea idea that you want to use the same person each time - the kids will be comfortable with them. And again, I would love to hear how you make out...I'm going back in April too and would like to find in-room babysitting as we're staying at SSR and I don't want to drag him to the WL or the Poly, etc. and then lose time out of my night for bus rides back to get him, drag him on to a bus back to SSR, etc....

Please keep us informed!! AND HAVE FUN!!!!!

 

[nyyankeegirl]

I have been debating over getting a sitter for a while now. It's coming really close for me -- we are leaving in 3 days!! But I was originally thinking getting a sitter for next Sat. night -- I don't know if it's too late now? But our 2 DS's are used to having sitters they don't know. We have no family near us, so we occasionally have to use a sitter service (who screens & backround checks all their sitters). I don't think I could do more than 1 or 2 nights just b/c I think I would be too exhausted after chasing after 2 kids all day- then to come back get "all dolled up" and have fun out w/ DHubby! I guess I better make up my mind about next Sat huh?

 

[thirtycats]

We have not used many sitters yet....but as my son gets older we hope to use more.

My personal feeling is if the parents are happy and the child is happy, than go for it. On vacation, I wouldn't feel right leaving my son somewhere if it made him unhappy. I feel this is his vacation too. A FAMILY vacation and I want all of us to be happy.

We used a hotel babysitter this weekend for the first time. It was at a Ritz Carlton. My nieces were there also and the two nannies stayed together with the kids. They were fine....until they seperated for awhile. Then my son was very sad. And he did not seem to love the nanny. I wasn't impressed with her either. She didn't seem dangerous or anything. Or cruel. Just seemed a bit "blah". Not someone who could convert my son into a nanny-lover..... so he'd begging us to leave him and go out to dinner on future vacations.

I feel my son will not be happy, or willingly go, to any kid's club or babysitting service when we travel alone with him. I think he'll be sad and we'll not enjoy ourselves...knowing our son is unhappy.

BUT...my sister and I were joking that when we all take a family disney cruise together, the kids are so happy together. They hardly notice we (the parents) are around. We'll probably drop them off Saturday and barely see them until it is time to leave the following Saturday. I have no problems with this. If my son is happy, I can't say I'll mind having a break from him. It will be nice to do grown-up things and not worry that the kids are bored and misbehaving.

I homeschool my son and we spend a LOT of time together!!!!!!!!!! We both need breaks sometimes!

 

[hollyb]

Why have kids with you on vacations if you are leaving them most of the time? How much do you leave them at home with a sitter? 24/7? Well good luck with what ever you do. It's your childrens happiness at stake.

 

[Fintastic]

I've thought about using a sitter for a few hours but I'm just not going to pay that much money for it. Also I'm comfortable leaving her with sitters, but she's in daycare 40+ hours a week and I want to have her with us as much as we can on our vacation. I don't think I'd enjoy myself if I sent her to a sitter.

 

[jenseib]

Why have kids with you on vacations if you are leaving them most of the time? How much do you leave them at home with a sitter? 24/7? Well good luck with what ever you do. It's your childrens happiness at stake.

Thats a bit harsh, I think now!

From what I understand she is spending all day with her kids ,and just evenings, going out, and basically they will be ready for bed at this time as well. Now I couldn't afford to do it that many times, or would probably want to myself, but she can, and I if her kids are fine with it, what business is it of ours. I'm sure if her kids scream and cry about the situation, she will drop the other nights out.
And she is going for 2 weeks, and that is a long time to be spending 24/7 with your children with no break. Every family is different, and we need to respect others opinions.

 

[tjmw2727]

Why have kids with you on vacations if you are leaving them most of the time? How much do you leave them at home with a sitter? 24/7? Well good luck with what ever you do. It's your childrens happiness at stake.

Yikes, who on this thread as said they plan to leave the kids "most of the time" or "24/7"?

The OP is considering a few evenings out with her dh while the kids would be sleeping anyway. She also mentioned that they will have family meals such as Chef Mickeys etc in addition to the mom & dad nights out. Many of us feel that is appropriate to have adults only meals and times in addition to family time.

If you don't share that opinion thats fine but there is no need to be so judgemental or claim they are making their children unhappy.

My dd's beg for the kids clubs during vacations and yes when we plan an adults evening out and send them that makes them and us very happy indeed.

TJ

 

[thirtycats]

Why have kids with you on vacations if you are leaving them most of the time? How much do you leave them at home with a sitter? 24/7? Well good luck with what ever you do. It's your childrens happiness at stake.

When people have doubts about their own parenting ability, often instead of facing these, they insult the parenting choices of other people. This allows them to ignore their own mistakes and challenges.

I'm ashamed to say I know this from experience....but I'm changing.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to spend every vacation moment with your children. It doesn't mean you're suffocating them, that your family is too close, or you don't know how to "let go".

There is nothing wrong with wanting to have time AWAY from your children. It doesn't mean you love your children any less, that you're lazy, or that you're selfish.

Every family has different needs. And these needs change. A family who is with their kids 24/7 this year may be the family that rarely sees their kids three years from now.

 

[DaisyD]

We average 0 nights for babysitting or kids club. We generally stay 14 nights each trip but we enjoy the restaurants with DD. We've been doing this since she was 18 months. For us, we don't go to WDW to have fun without the kids. We have fun with them. If we want to have fun without them then we don't take them at all. We are going to Vegas next week and the kid is staying home! At Disney though we hang with the kid and have a great time. I personally think more then 2 nights is just too much but that is MO.

 

[jodifla]

Ah, I was waiting for the babysitting bashing to begin.

It's a non argument to me. DS goes to bed at 8:30, so if the babysitter comes at 7:30, we're not missing much time together.

 

[DaisyD]

Ah, I was waiting for the babysitting bashing to begin.

It's a non argument to me. DS goes to bed at 8:30, so if the babysitter comes at 7:30, we're not missing much time together.

I do hope your post wasn't referring to mine as there was no bashing involved. The OP asked a question and I answered it very nicely. I don't care what others do with their kids and their vacations. I was stating how I feel about mine.

 

[Fintastic]

Why have kids with you on vacations if you are leaving them most of the time? How much do you leave them at home with a sitter? 24/7? Well good luck with what ever you do. It's your childrens happiness at stake.

Are you one of those who would never let anybody else watch your child and think all daycares are evil and wonder why women even HAVE kids if they just put them in daycare all day . . . ?

 

[Dina]

We don't use babysitting on our trips, but we take the kids for one week a year, and then go back for one weekend each year as a couple while the kids stay with their grandparents. This is our third year in a row doing this. Believe me, there are plenty of people who think I'm a horrible mom for going to Disney so much without my kids. You do what you have to do. If you're kids are going to be asleep by 7:30-- then it's not like their going to spend much time without you-- they'll be asleep, and probably happier then being out and very tired and cranky. My kids go to sleep early and wake early at home, but at Disney can make it very late and sleep late. So for us, we don't need the sitter.

That being said, I shouldn't say we haven't used a sitter. Last year we took the DVC tour, and ended up buying, and they spent 3 hours in the kids club at Saratoga while we took the our and went through all the paperwork-- and had an awesome time.

 

[jodifla]

I do hope your post wasn't referring to mine as there was no bashing involved. The OP asked a question and I answered it very nicely. I don't care what others do with their kids and their vacations. I was stating how I feel about mine.

No, I wasn't talking about you at all. Sorry if you got that impression. Hollyb and I have been down this road before....

 

[noodleknitter]

We always have someone along to watch the kids to get a couple of nights out. I wouldn't leave them with strangers...that is just too creepy.

but on the other hand, I do let them use the restroom alone.

 

[DaisyD]

No, I wasn't talking about you at all. Sorry if you got that impression. Hollyb and I have been down this road before....

I'm glad. Well not glad you have been round with Hollyb before but glad it wasn't me! LOL!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Not to be rude, but who cares what anyone thinks? Personally we would never use a babysitting service. That is our choice and we don't care what anyone thinks about it. If you think that you need X amount of nights out without the kids then go for it. It is your family and you know what is best for all of you. You are never going to please everyone and quite honestly you don't have to. If you are asking opinions, then my opinion would be that there is no reason to leave the kids at all. Again- this is what makes our family happy. If you think that it would be better to leave your kids with a sitter then that is your choice. Be confident in whatever decision you make. You are the parent and you know what's best!

 

[JamesMom]

Why have kids with you on vacations if you are leaving them most of the time? How much do you leave them at home with a sitter? 24/7? Well good luck with what ever you do. It's your childrens happiness at stake.

Was this really necessary?

OK, I'll bite

I'm taking them to WDW for the love of Pete!
They go to bed at 7pm - How are they being neglected again by going out with my DH? Is not my marriage important too?

Wasn't ask for judgement, just curious what others did.