Except remember Madeleine was left on her own, so completely different. You should have seen m e in Spain when DS was 18 months. I was convinced he would be stolen! But I digress.
Have you thought about getting a two room apartment? It means that you also don't have to sit in the dark if you are staying more nights. ( something again I had to do with DS in Malaysia.)
Then you can still come in and check on the sitter, without leaving him/ her sitting in the dark.
Ask the hotel heaps of Q's. Even f they seem silly ask anyway. And remember, if it s the same hotel, as the party, and you are really concerned, you and your partner could take it in turns looking after DS while the other attends the party.
An apartment is a great idea to give a bit more space. If you are not comfortable with a hotel babysitter, do your friends have kids and could they recommend any babysitters they know. FWIW I have used Agency babysitters and have always been very happy with them. If you did end up going down the agency path you could always meet them a couple of days before for a bit so you feel more comfortable with them. If you get a good agency, they do all the police checks, have first aid, etc, etc and are all checked out. I know it is a big thing to leave your little one with a stranger, the first time I went through an agency I was majorly stressed out but the babysitter we had was absolutely gorgeous, the reason they are babysitters is because they love kids. Good luck with this and I hope you enjoy the party.
I know Madeleine was a totally different scenario, but it still makes me nervous!! Those eyes... Anyway, thanks for your info! And sorry to any babysitters, I am by no means implying that you're all toddler stealing criminals! I guess it's just what COULD happen, and that makes me think through every possibility. I reckon an apartment is the answer, and then find a reputable agency.
Tegam- aw thanks for giving me permission to say no! That's so sweet. But we really want to go so would like to make it work with something we're comfortable with. I can count on one hand the times we've been out in the last 2 years, well maybe 2 hands, but only just!
getting so excited about a night out in a fancy bar!!
ps any good agencies in sydney that anyone knows??
i used to be an on call babysitter in brisbane for a couple of hotels. i would just go there. have a chat with the parents, get to know the kids.
we were there to look after the kids, not watch tv.
they get good agencies to do this.. i wouldn't be concerned with the quality of babysitter. just explain to however it is what you expect them to do... if you want them to sit in the room with your child then tell them that.
I wasn't implying that babysitters just wanted to watch tv, only that he'll probably be put to bed by us anyway, so he'll be asleep (hopefully) and the babysitter won;t have anything to do except sit in a darkened room. I know when we've been on holiday I've found that fairly boring and ended up going to bed REALLY early, so I wasn't sure if that's what babysitters did too. Anyway, Tegam obviously did it when she was a babysitter so that made me feel better!
Thanks for your replies
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