Traveling with Your Nanny

Making the decision to travel over the holidays with your nanny poses a number of questions. Sometimes, we know our holiday destination will be one where relatives are more than happy to shower our children with attention and affection, leaving little need of additional care. However, there are those who choose to use holiday time to travel to a vacation destination. While it may easy enough (depending on the destination city) to find a temporary nanny or babysitter while on vacation many families find it easier for the children and the routine in general to bring their own nanny along. Holidays aside, there are some people whose careers demand that they travel frequently. If this is the case, you may already be a pro at traveling with your nanny, and your nanny knows what to expect. But for those who are asking their nannies to travel for the first time this holiday season, here are some things to consider:

1. Plan ahead. Make sure to let your nanny know well in advance (three months) of your vacation plans in order to plan your trip with the nanny on board.
2. If you are asking your nanny to travel with you, it is standard to pay for their airfare, food (a meal stipend works), and lodging. Do not ask them to pay for their own way.
3. Secure private accommodations for your nanny so that she may have her own private time as she would at home while not on duty as your nanny. For example, if staying in a hotel, an adjacent suite would be fine as long as she has the option of closing a door for privacy. Explain to the kids that this is the nanny's private time.
4. Establish the same routine while on vacation as you do while at home: ask the nanny to work her regular daytime hours. If you are going to plan a special event that will ask extra workday hours, be prepared to pay your nanny overtime as you would if you were at home. Try to plan these events ahead. You are on vacation, after all, so asking your nanny to work extra one or two evenings within a week's vacation is not uncommon, but try to balance this with compensation time for your nanny after you return home or when you can fit it into your schedule.
5. If your destination is international, be diligent about planning (rule #1). Make sure your nanny has their passport and all of the vaccinations necessary to travel safely in your destination city/country.

A good question that you may encounter when trying to secure a holiday with your nanny is whether or not it is permissible to have your nanny bring along a friend or spouse. The answer to this is strictly the employer's personal choice, though a suggestion here would be to stick to the firm guidelines of the expectations you have set for your nanny. Make sure that the nanny knows what her compensation will be, and don't feel obligated to pay for her friend/spouse/boyfriend. What she does on her own time while nannying from your home is her own private life, so try to remain consistent. She'll have private time while on vacation with your family, and what she does during this time truly is her own business. If you foresee a problem, trust your instincts and communicate your concerns. If your household rule is that she has no visitors while working in your home, then remain consistent with these rules on vacation. Reiterate to your nanny that what she does in her own private time is her own business, and with these boundaries, many questions are answered.