International Nanny Training Day Workshop

    Traveling with Parents as their Nanny

There is a big difference between being a nanny that travels with her parents/bosses and being hired as a travel nanny by strangers.  If you asked me the biggest difference?  I would say you have more control options as an independent travel nanny.  There are also some big advantages in traveling with your family/clients. Both careers call for you to be fearless when facing the unknown. I am writing here some of the important points that could be helpful if thinking about traveling with families. 

I started my crazy career by traveling with parents where I was also their temporary nanny.  I had been working with them as a newborn care specialist for several months and they weren't ready to hire a nanny and didn't want to travel with a stranger.  It was freezing cold in Connecticut and the offer was to vacation in Saint  Croix.  I had no experience traveling with families and it was only the third job with my Traveling Nanny company.  I had no one to tell me about "what was expected” or even about travel contracts! But I was fearless when challenged and in the next 5 years would travel the world with them. I just learned as I went and wished I had someone I could have called with questions.

Let's start with the advantages of traveling with your family/clients.  The biggest plus is you know the children's personalities, their quirks and their habits such as eating times and preferences.  They already know you and trust you.  To a certain extent, this is also true with the parents.  They trust you and you know something about their personalities.  

However, knowing parents in moments before they leave and come home, is not the same as being with them 24 hours a day!  They are not always the same on vacation as you will see them in stressful situations during travel time and you might experience their couple "moods" during the trip.   

It's important to remember that your role in this vacation is as the nanny.  Yes, you might be casual friends at home but you are still an employee. I only mention this as I see on FB posts where a nanny is upset with they way she was ignored by adults when they were with other couples - treated like the "help"!  Well, you are the help! You disappear when not working as they need their couple time.  When working your main goal is to help entertain the children so they can have adult time.

Your main goal traveling with them is to always be thinking of ways to occupy the children when stressful situations come up. -

In airport stressful situations - delayed flights, missed flights, cancelled flights - have in your nanny bag some books, activities such as sticker books and snacks.  Offer to take a walk with the children to keep their energy level down for the flight.  Before travel make sure you have a copy of the itinerary so you can look up airports to find if they have a kids play area.  If possible, try for bathroom breaks before boarding.  Your parents will relax if they can handle problems without kids problems.  

Important things you ask before commiting!

Scenario:  

Mom:  Guess what?! We are going to Aruba for vacation and thinking you could come with us to help with the kids!

You:  Wow! That sounds amazing!  What are the dates again?  Can I think this over tonight and can we talk tomorrow?

That night sit down and write out the questions that you should know before committing.

Will my hours be the same?  Or do they need flexibility? 

 If hours are so many in am and so many in pm, will you have a break in between? 

If additional hours are needed, do they understand it will be overtime pay?  This is a touchy subject.  Some nannies are flexible during the week and don't charge overtime except for weekend work if needed.  It keeps them from keeping a log of week hours and they know there are generous breaks during the day when they have family time.  It is your decision.

Will you have your own room or share with a child?  Sometimes rooms are limited and the only way to make it work is to share a room.  Sharing a room means there is a night fee.  If your own room but they want to give you a monitor for nights, there is a night fee.

This might be a deal breaker for you so be sure you ask before you commit.  

Room, Food, All transportation

Do they understand they are responsible for all your meals, even when on breaks?  Also transportation costs including taxi to and from airports.  

Write down the questions and talk about them with your parents. This will help you decide if this is something you would like to do. I would end the discussion, "let me go home and write this up to make sure I understand what you need and we can go over together tomorrow. This sounds like something I would love to do!" Or "I want to thank you for considering me but to be honest, I don't think this is in my comfort zone."

If you decide you want to go on vacation with them, you can present this to them with the explanation, "I am excited about going and  have written down what we discussed as it sounds like a great vacation!" Present them with the written form so everyone starts out knowing what is expected of them.  It can be signed by both parties if you have any doubts about compliance.

It's not as good as a travel contract but it will start you out with a leveling field if you bypass contract.

Flexibility -What does  it really mean?

Just keep in mind this is not your vacation!  Regardless of hours stated, things come up on vacation, kids get sick or in order to get an activity it changes your hours.   You should go in with the mind set of being flexible.  Even if  you are off at 5, this doesn't mean you can go party with the locals!

Don't do anything that will give you a hangover the next day!  Keep in mind emergencies can come up and they may have to call you back!  If you really wanted to plan a fun activity for yourself on your off time, clear it with them as they may not be comfortable you going off to scuba dive as there is no way to reach you or worry something could happen to you.  If you decide to pamper yourself with a spa massage, let them know the day before so they can be more considerate of your time.  Keep in mind that anything you choose to do in the way of activity, that cost is yours.  I keep a "mad money" stash when I travel in case I want to treat myself.

What do you gain by traveling with your parents?  You gain travel experience for your resume.  Experience will teach you what you "forgot to ask" this time.  It is fun to see new places and have new experiences!  

Remember to keep a positive attitude as that is invaluable to parents and kids will follow your example. Remember traveling is always a time to learn.  You may make a mistake and it's okay!  Be open minded and learn from the mistake.  

It helps if you know how to "read the room" and sense stressful situations.  It often helps to see if the kids want to go do a craft or go outside if you think parents need some alone time.  If you think a parent might be upset with you but you have no idea why, simply find a moment to ask "hey, is everything okay? Is there anything you want me to do?  Just know I am always open to suggestions!"  99% of the time she will say "No! Everything is great!" and you know the mood has nothing to do with you.  Or she could say "When we are all together and Johnny acts out, we'd like to be the ones to handle it".  Your answer " I really appreciate the heads up, it's hard to step out of the nanny role but definitely will try!"

Constructive criticism doesn't always come sugar coated but that is how we learn!

Goal:  Help your families have great travel memories. Build up your resume and pick up learning tips for travel.

What Not to Do:

If there are problems or you come back with a bad experience, please don't post on FB as families are entitled to their privacy and even posting anonymously, someone might read and go back to the family.  If you need to vent, call your best nanny friend and pour your heart out!  If she is a really good friend she can listen and maybe help you find ways to avoid or handle the situation in the future.  Posting only tells one side of a story and think how you would feel if the parent posted on a mom site!  

Most vacations are great!  Your positive attitude - the ability to always see the silver lining can make the difference in creating a fun atmosphere.

Want more detailed information?

Lora Brawley of Nanny Hub and has a detailed workshop on traveling with families and a temp plate for a travel contract if interested in exploring this further.