Using Childcare

Practicalities Using Childcare The Drawbacks 

• As paid for childcare is expensive, if you don't get what you need it will be a waste of your holiday budget, whether officially free (but the cost included in the price you pay) or pre-booked and paid for separately.



• It is worth noting that much advertised holiday childcare is not particularly parent or child-friendly. It only applies to a limited age range, for a limited time (sometimes just an hour or two per day), with poor child to carer ratios, is run by unqualified staff, and has to be booked in advance. Some, say in camp sites, even specifically highlight that only child entertainment is offered, not childcare.



• Children's behaviour can rapidly descend to the standards of the lowest common denominator. Broadly this means that the more children there are around, the worse behaved they may all be. For parents who require good behaviour from their offspring, running around at meal-times, shouting, throwing food and more, can all become extremely wearing and probably not worth the bonus of the extra childcare offered.



• Good places with childcare can be very heavily booked and tend to exploit this so, for example, all meals have to be booked well ahead, especially at key times like Sunday lunch. This can make what is supposed to be a relaxing experience feel far too regimented.

What Can Go Wrong

• From around eight months on children can suffer separation anxiety. Some parents feel that they just have to get over this. Others find that they feel unable to use the expensive childcare because they don't have the heart to leave a wailing infant. (There are also reports from some parents that they are made to feel like wimps if they take this second view). You may feel you have to spend time at the creche while the children acclimatise, again wasting the money that was supposed to buy you time off.



• There are cultural differences in childcare. Some nationalities, for example in Asia, are happy to have their children in much more competitive environments so only the older children win the prizes throughout the holiday. Others such as the French can be much harsher than most British children are used to, for example on the subject of potty training. Italian childcare by contrast will probably be much less pro-active than British children are used to.



• You need to consider the issue of the carers' main language. This is felt by some parents to be a problem at Club Med resorts in Europe for example - though not those elsewhere. Children who can talk can be extremely reluctant to stay with carers with whom they cannot communicate. Pre-verbal children on the other hand may well settle well with almost anyone in a pro-child country because they sense the goodwill. (Children left to their own devices with a just a few foreign children, seem happy to find a way to play with children with whom they have scarcely a word in common, but much less so after the age of 8 or 10 years and this never seems to apply in set ups like kids clubs where the numbers are generally too big for this to happen.)



• The quality of care is not what you were expecting: children are simply parked in front of a TV, carers spend more time talking to each other than with the children, there is a poor child to adult ratio, or all age groups are simply lumped together. While there is little you can do in advance about unenthusiastic/unqualified staff, you can check details of the other issues. If there is anything in writing, for example in a brochure, you will be in a better position to complain if it isn't provided. Note that currently there is no obligation on British tour operators to adhere to UK childcare rules when operating overseas. Those for example who do not detail child to adult ratios indicate in effect that they are not adhering to British standards.



• There aren't any children of the same age group as yours. Unless you go to a real specialist this sort of thing can be difficult to check in advance. However, you can up the odds by going out of school holidays with pre-schoolers and during them if you are hoping to meet those of school age. If you are simply going with another family try to ensure there will be reasonably matching ages. It can be horrible being three years younger than all the others.



• The place is physically dangerous, for example with a loose carpet, glass doors, next to an unsupervised pool etc.



• There is no first aid or medical back-up in place. This is a particular concern if the staff are untrained.



• Your child or children don't like the staff. Not much you can do about this although well run establishments make an effort to introduce childcare staff as early as possible, say on the transfer from the airport.