Skiing with babies & 4yo

[maxandru]

Any recommendations for ski companies that would be suitable for a holiday with 2 adults, one 4yo girl and 8 month old twins?

I'd like somewhere that provides childcare for the twins but would like the 4yo to have a combination of ski lessons and childcare alongside other children. In an ideal world we would go away as a group of friends with children of similar ages but no one seems to be up for it!

Any recommendations of companies that pair you up with other families looking to have a similar experience and make some friends? Or is that weird...?

In an ideal world we would go away as a group of friends with children of similar ages but no one seems to be up for it!

This does sound very ambitious tbh.

I don't know, we've done it before for different types of holidays and lots of friends have done group stuff for skiing before but our free dates don't seem to coincide this year unfortunately.

Club Med and Crystal both offer childcare in their hotels. Crystal chalets sometimes have a nanny service too.

Nanny’s are available in most big resorts. The company we use in Tignes is fantastic and the nanny’s all meet up together during the day so the kids can play together at the park/ do activities. We have an only child so this works really well for us. Lots of flexibility too.

Mark Warner, Neilson, Esprit, Ski Famille

Powder Byrne if you really want to splash out

Disclaimer: haven’t actually tried any of these myself.

Look for ski in ski out accommodation as this makes an enormous difference especially with little ones. Ski Famille has nice looking chalets on the slope in Reberty

Which company do you use? Thanks!

Can you afford to take a nanny? Being a nanny in resort is hard bloody work, far harder than the vast majority of the nannies realise before they take the job on. Having worked in several resorts (managing the staff) I'd take a nanny/willing nieces/nephews/ grandparents who like being out & about but no much skiing anymore (pay for trip & ski passes/hire etc for nieces/nephews etc) then book the 4 yo into ski school. But no, I wouldn't use in resort Nannies.

I highly recommend Family Ski Company. They tick all of your boxes and their childcare is fabulous.

Jumping on this - I think we are going to go with them. They are a good grand cheaper than Neilson / Mark Warner. Do you mind my asking which chalets / resorts you've been with them?

@Georgia324 We’ve been to Ardent and Reberty with them.

Would recommend both Ski Famille and Family Ski - we went away skiing with a 4.5 year old and a 6 month old with Family Ski and they were brilliant. They do in chalet nanny care for the babies, and then morning ski school, lunch and afternoon childcare from 3 years and up. Plus dinner for the children at an early time, so the adults can eat after the kids are in bed. Costs a fortune but worth every penny.

We use ABSki nanny service, been using them for the last 4 years and has around 7 different nannies over the years- all fantastic.

Thanks will look now

Haha I thought they were the same company, doh!

We preferred Family Ski as we took the kids who were skiing to their lessons and waved them off. Ski Famille collect them from the chalet and take them to their lessons - sometimes needing to go in a minibus depending on the location of the chalet. Our then 4 year old was a bit nervous but having us take them each day, meet the instructor and Family Ski ski school helpers really helped it to go smoothly.

They do look really reasonable price wise, then you add on the childcare (iirc it includes the ski lessons) which really pushes the costs up but we had several years of fabulous holidays with them and we all felt like we’d had a holiday thanks to the chalet staff and childcare teams.

That's so helpful, thank you. Our son will be 3y 10 months and I am worried it may all go horribly wrong & should we wait another year and go with a family friend instead of just the 3 of us... I'm also planing to TTC in Jan/Feb as I had a molar pregnancy which sadly became cancerous and I have to wait to try again until they clear me - so skiing feels like a huge milestone I want to do while I can before I hopefully! get pregnant & can't. I guess I could just go for a long weekend with a friend instead of taking my husband and son but I would love to see him on the slopes

We have been with Ski Famille the last few years and found it brilliant! In house nanny's, a playroom in every chalet, kids dinner time and a hot tubs etc. It's not cheap but ours love it. You can find cheaper weeks in January. Chalet Nicole in La Plagne also has a steam room, sauna and hot tub. It is big but very comfy.

We wouldnt book again with family ski they were horrific during 2020 covid and refused proper refunds. They also don't have a playroom in every chalet which means you drop off to the closest one.

Do any 3yos go to ski school or do they just do activities with them?

They used to do pups plus for three year olds who are closer to 4 where they can try morning lessons, but they keep a place in crèche in case they don’t take to it. It obviously costs a bit more though. All of the kids in crèche get plenty of time out in the snow as long as the weather allows, and they take them up in the bubble lift in ardent for a hot chocolate etc

Ahh- I had a molar pregnancy in 2022 and did exactly the same thing- booked a ski holiday!!

Huge huge good luck with your treatment; I'm sure everything will be fine, but I know it feels like such a long and frustrating road. Big love xx

Thanks so much for this- super helpful.

When booking into a chalet do you have to book out the whole chalet or just a couple of rooms. If the latter, do they "pair you up" with other families within the chalet? I'd love for our children to make some little friends!

I went with Ski Famille when DS2 was 3.5, and he was able to do skiing lessons.

This is up to you - in France they can start ski school at 3 (and are potty trained). So you can book them into ski school and afternoon Club or childcare all day instead (with ski famille they go sledging, up the mountain, hot chocolate and snow painting etc).

Would say it depends on where they sit as a 3 year old - ours will have just turned 3 when we go next year so not booking him into skiing but if 3.5 or closer to 4 then they can definitely do it.

You book a room in the chalet and it's other families who do the same unless your going with a huge group enough to book up a chalet.

They don't pair you up as such but children are with others the same age for activities so the younger ones are in all day together and the older ones will go to ski lessons and likely same ski group as the others from the chalet.
Depending on the size of the chalet depends on likelihood of your 4 year old having same age. The bigger the chalet the higher the chance compared to Katy 1 or Katy 2 which are small.

Would say don't be tempted to think your 4 year old will ski with you in the afternoon they are seriously knackered after 3 hours of lessons in the morning!

If you’re going outside school holidays then the majority of families will have under 5s so chances of getting the same age (ish) are increased. Also you can ask the company who has already booked in to which chalet - they will usually tell you the kids’ ages.