First hols with baby - need kids club!

[darlingbabs]

we plan to take our first holiday in sept with our baby who will be 5.5 months old. We either want to rent a villa and get a nanny/help/babysitter from somewhere or go to a hotel that has a kids club that will take him at under 6 months. WE are clueless, does anyone have any ideas or experience of doing either of these things? thanks

What with a 4 year old and 7 month old? The 4 year old jumping in and out of the pool all day and in the sun? Nope my children dont do late nights, they strop and the stress of going out for a meal wasnt worth it. Yes the old night but after fun days you cant expect a child to behave in nice restaurants.

I've seen children and babies out late and seen some very upset children and unhappy parents (also some very annoyed clientel in the restaurant). Yes, some are lucky but also doesnt it have a knock on effect the next day? I noticed that my son was on the edge all day after a late night.

Luckily havent had problems with massive tantrums EVER I see sleep is the ultimate problem solver.

Not for me, I like my boys tucked up while we can pop out and have a nice few hours alone stree-free.

I would try to find somewhere where you don't have to prepay nanny before you go, but have the service available if you want it. You may choose not to leave your DC once you see the set up, or you may only want to do it on odd days, or you may find that your baby is no bother and therefore you are quite happy to have him/her with you the whole time.

We went away when DS was 3mo, 8mo and 10mo. We found we didn't feel the need to leave him with anyone as we could sit and read by the pool or whatever while he slept in the shade, as the heat made him nap well!

Once DS was a toddler, we started using kids club. At 18mo he could use a kids club with a nanny, so got 1-1 care. Last month at 26mo, he could go to toddler creche (and actually ended up with 1-1 care as the hotel was very quiet!) Both were 2 hour sessions, and we didn't need any longer away from him to recharge our batteries. We didn't use it every day, and we trialled it for a short time at first to see how he got on.

MCTH/thisisyesterday - you think that a 5.5mo is better off left at home with other people while parents are away for a week/fortnight than being cared for just an hour or two a day by a qualified nanny but being with parents for the remaining 22-23 hours? And you think the OP is being unreasonable? Strange world you inhabit!

OP don't let anyone guilt trip you on this.

Oh well Bacon, I guess we all do things differently. For us a family holiday is just that, a time where we all do things together. My children have a sleep in the afternoon then they are able to stay up late and have a meal with us in the evening and because they go to bed later they don't wake at the crack of dawn either. They are always well behaved in restaurants too.

I don't see any problem with looking for childcare if that suits you. My first experience of a holiday was with an 8 month old and quite frankly it was hell on earth. He was a very fractious baby who liked his routine and taking him on holiday was not only not relaxing it was horrible. The couple of times that we took him out for dinner he screamed so loudly and was inconsolable so we had to leave and spent the rest of the holiday being unable to do anything as we were tied to the villa for naps and sleeps. My children still get up at the crack of dawn whatever time they go to bed and the knock on effect is horrible behaviour the next day.

After that we swore that we'd never do another holiday without childcare, just for a couple of hours a day and with babysitting and for the next 3 years we did Simply Travel where we could drop him off and later 6 month old DD with lovely nannies and read for a couple of hours or have a walk and then spend the rest of the day with the children. We took them out some nights and also had the nannies babsit some nights.

Nowadays we don't use childcare because that ratty baby has turned into an absolutely delightful 7 year old and his 4 year old sister is pretty good too and we love spending all our time with them. Now we have another baby and he's an easygoing little thing so childcare wouldn't occur to me but some children don't do coming out of routines and managing late nights and sometimes parents just need a little break and there's nothing wrong in that.

hello all, thanks for your responses. It is a case of having some time off a couple of hours a day rather than not seeing the baby. Currently he doesnt really like to sleep in the day so it wouldnt really be a break if i just did the exact sam ethings on holiday as i do at home, just in the heat! i also want a bit of one on one time with hubby and currently if we take baby out to dinner he just screams and we end up eating solo (to be fair he has had reflux and i assume he wont at that age)....thanks though for the help

You need www.totstoo.com/babies
Just two baby-free hours in a day can really make your holiday, much as you love 'em.

Hi there.
I am the lady Bacon mentioned from www.tenerifechildcare.com (thanks Bacon)
I have 14 years experience as a nanny and 5 years as a maternity nurse, sleep routiner etc.

I also have an iceland 5 minutes away from me so if you need formula milk, nappies, wipes, any home from home items, i can get most things there (but not calpol, you can not find that here)

If you need any help at all please have a look and get in touch.

Also, if you need help/ideas on hotels let me know and i will do my best to help and advise you.

Lisa.

Mallorca is a wonderful base for families and particularly the north of the island. I run a very sucessful childcare business here on the island of mallorca I am a qualified nneb british nanny who provides nannies to people like yourself who want sometime to yourself. Imyself also go to villa,s and hotels in the area to take care of children in the daytime and in the evening For more details contact me at [email protected]