Tips

Practicalities Using Childcare Tips 

If you are arranging childcare, whether through a tour operator, your accommodation, a local agency or a personal contact, you should check:

• What amount of notice is required.



• What the rates are.



• Whether the sitter has any experience of dealing with children of the age and nationality of yours.



• Whether the sitter speaks English.

To Be Safe

It may sound obvious but it is a very good idea to tell your babysitter where you are going to be. Particularly if overseas you can't rely on the sitter knowing anything about your brands of medicine, or indeed tackling problems in a way similar to yours.

Advance or Last Minute Booking

Whatever style of care you opt for, you should think about the hours you need. Pay as you go can work out better value than advance block booking which means you feel obliged to use the service. On the other hand, at peak periods you could find that the creche is full if you haven't booked ahead. You have to trust the operators on this one but obviously it is in their interest to encourage booking.

As a rough rule of thumb, the major childcare providers are completely booked up over the summer school holidays, but you might be able to book on the spot at other times. Childcare arranged through self-catering operators is much more flexible.

Though full day care leaves parents free to spend full days exploring (or relaxing) on their own, for those who want simply to give the children some time with playmates, and then spend family time together, it can be cheaper and just as successful to go for somewhere offering shorter hours. A combination of three hours a day, alternating between morning and afternoon can be particularly useful as it allows for different types of outings together.

Check if you can arrange care once you have started the holiday. Sometimes you don't know what will suit until you get there and some children who are fine with carers at home scream blue murder if left by parents with strangers in a strange place.