I started out using hairstyling clamps, and now use soft tipped plastic spring clamps. Just make sure you get lighter ones, because some of them have very strong grip and you always want to make sure that it's not going to become a safety issue.
To be honest, it sounds like you guys have a very good handle on this! ( Not surprising, considering how many flights you've taken her on so far)
I would put her in the window seat, just less stimulation on both sides. If possible, I'd bring a lightweight cloth to create a sort of " tent" over the seat ( I bring clips to clip the blanket/cloth to the back of the seat in front- making sure not to intrude on the person there- and the back of her own seat) to give the toddler their own space and a bit of a break from the stimulation of the rest of the airplane. Even if she doesn't sleep with white noise, this might be a good situation to bring white noise or lullibies into the equation, again to cancel out the stimulation from the rest of the plane.
Tip: The airline bans inflatable beds but I have taken a carry on bag, stood it up in between the seat and the seat in front of the toddler, and then placed a pillow over it to make a makeshift bed.
If she wears headphones, have you ever heard of the yoto player? It's essentially a little screen free audio player with cards that are physical version of audiobooks, childrens songs, etc. I've seen it keep multiple children occupied for up to an hour at a time, especially if she is at a phase where she loves plugging things in and taking them out.
In terms of screentime, I would go for low-stimulation shows that aren't going to aid in keeping her awake. Tumbleleaf, If You Give A Mouse a Cookie, Trash Truck, Little Bear, and Franklin are all great options to download in advance.
Have you considered an eye mask? You could start practicing with a toddler eye mask at home for naps and see if she will take to it.
I've found that for long hauls, the kids I traveled with would usually do a long nap and a short nap rather than sleep through the night, so having a quiet activity on deck for when they woke up in the " middle" of the night was very helpful.
Also, splitting shifts is useful. Having one parent have a designated time to sleep and trading off can save everyones sanity.
Here is where I crack my knuckles- I've done over 60 USA-Europe ( or vice versa) trips with babies and toddlers.
First, some information, feel free to dm me if you don't feel comfortable giving it out here.
What airline/class?
Is that she won't fall asleep on the plane at all? Or that she doesn't sleep well?
What is her routine at home with?
Are you okay with screentime or do you want to avoid it?
Do you have access to an airline lounge for the layover?
Do you have a backpack you can dedicate to toddler activities/snacks/etc on the plane? If so, do you already have an idea of what she likes to play with on planes?
Are you and a partner going together? Are there other kids?
It's awesome that you're thinking of her comfort, just make sure you guys clearly outline(in a document that you can both refer to) working hours, off hours, food allowances, and trip responsibilities so that you can both get the most out of this trip.
Especially on flights, outline exactly what time she is free to sleep/on duty. It will make sure that both you guys and your nanny get rest when you need it and don't feel obligated to stay awake during your off time.
Have a great trip :)
Are you specifically looking for a daily nanny to replace daycare? Or someone to look after your kids for the occasional weekend away? It's different sites/agencies/buzzwords for the latter and you might just need to know what to Google + your area.
I'm a nanny who has often proxy parented( multiple days being the only adult caring for the baby, while the parent is away) for my employers, so believe me when I say I know exactly what this is like from the nannies POV.
Not only are you not a bad mom, you sound like a caring daughter, a loving mom, and a good employer. You are leaving your child in the care of someone who knows their needs intimately, who you can trust, rather than uprooting them and disrupting their routine.
It sounds like your nanny loves your child, and they will both have a great time while you are gone, and be very excited to see you when you return.
In my experience, go with overnight. You can use a scarf/thin blanket to make a sort of fort over her sleep and use your phone for very quiet white noise inside this fort. That way she has darkness and white noise without bothering other passengers.
Have you traveled with your nanny before?
Actually sometimes they do take child-free vacations, while the childcare takes on a proxy parent role back home. It's often after the family gets to know the nanny via working together beforehand, but not always.
I've had my employers write a little "this is our nanny, she has permission to care for and transport our kids as she sees fit" and then I also have a video of them on my phone, with myself and the kids in it, saying the same thing.
Sorry, do you mean car seat cover? Or car seat itself? Because car seats are one of the things that need to be bought new, unfortunately, due to safety concerns
We had agreed on extended travel that had the possibility of being at short notice from the very beginning of my position. In fact, it was the main part of the role, to provide consistent childcare/education for the kids wherever we happened to be. They let me know that they were planning on traveling the world for the next couple of years before I signed on, and paid out what that would look like for me.
I was single and childless, with no pet, and they supply housing for me wherever we are-including at our home base- so I wouldn't be paying rent for a house that I would have to leave.
Even though my contract says extended travel( which we defined as over one week) can happen at short notice, they gave me a rough schedule of their travel plans at the beginning of each year, and were happy to shift around days if I wanted more time off in one location to visit friends who lived there, or I wanted to consolidate time off and visit family for a few weeks.
They asked a lot of me but also gave me a lot. I couldn't have friendships, go on dates, join a club, have a gym membership, choose where I lived and worked. I did a number of multi-day proxy parenting stints. But I also received good pay, they treated me with respect and like family, respected my authority with the kids, brought me along on family adventures, always included me in food and dining, would buy me iced coffees and bring them back when they went out to breakfast alone, told me to pick up snacks or coffees with their card, or offered for me to put my cocktail on their hotel tab. It was a good match.
At the end of the day, they were incredibly considerate AND I signed up for it. If a family that I was nannying for without this expectation suddenly decided that I needed to move to another state or country for a couple of months or forgo pay, I would not be happy with it because that's not what I would have signed up for.
No one would expect their office manager to tell them they have to move away for a month or so to a place where they don't know anyone and don't have access to the same stores/locations, leaving their home and friends and pets behind but still paying rent, or else they don't get paid for the month. So unless it's the expectation a nanny employer shouldn't either.
I would put in your contract a range what you consider acceptable travel( i.e. 1-5 days, a specific number of times in a year). It's not common that a family changes to have extended travel however, as it's fairly expensive and children would either have to be young enough to not be in school, or become homeschooled for a bit.
Typically travel in a nanny position is for a week or so at a time, a few times a year. And if you discussed that with her at the beginning of your working together I can understand why she is holding her boundary of not going beyond that.
Extended travel for a nanny is a very different ball game. It means sacrificing not just time at home, but opportunities for friendships, relationships, autonomy, and their own mental downtime. It's definitely something you can ask a nanny to do! But it's something that's best agreed upon before the contract begins.
It seems like you and your partner didn't know that extended travel was a possibility when you hired her, which means that it's unfortunate but no one's fault.
Hello! I'm a travel nanny, and before that I spent four years as the full-time nanny for a family that consistently traveled on extended trips, often spending 2 weeks to 2 months in a place before traveling again.
Before we started, they told me that they were planning on traveling for the next couple of years. We typically planned our travel in advance and I had a document stating the rough dates and locations.
However, on occasion there would be a last minute trip come up and they would give me the option of going or staying back and not getting paid. I almost always chose to go, but I appreciated that they gave me the option.
Your situation is a bit different, because most nanny jobs with extended travel are advertised that way and attract a very specific type of nanny, often ones without partners or many ties to their homes.
It might be that it's not necessarily the right fit, if she doesn't want to travel for longer periods and you want someone to travel for longer periods.
When you hired her, was extended travel discussed? Has she told you that extended travel will not be an option in the future at all? Or is it just for this trip?
To be honest, at that age a tablet is a tablet. Make sure it has a sturdy protective case, preferably one that can fold into a stand.
I would consider downloading Libby and connecting your library card to it. You can download library books from there to read offline, as well as audiobooks for toddlers.
I would also use the Yoto app, which also has stories and songs for toddlers.
A few cosmic kids yoga videos can't hurt either
How much are you wanting to use a babysitting/nursery services? And are you okay with dropping them off or are you looking for someone to do in-room babysitting?
I've stayed at Timbers Kaui with young toddlers. In my opinion, it's beautiful, quiet, and slow. The pool is smaller than many resorts but very lovely. They have kayaks and beach gear for "rent"( it's included) that you just sign up for. There's a cute little kids room with toys in it you can take the baby. It was quite peaceful and lovely.
The villa was a full kitchen and received housekeeping, we cooked most nights( because of the kids) but the snacks that we ordered poolside were good.
Ooh how exciting! Are you guys based in Europe already? Or are you coming from North America?
How much ( as in, how many hours per day) are you wanting to use the nursery?
Ah I see!
Someone who is telling you they could get someone cheaper is also telling you that they don't value quality, they just want someone else to have to deal with stuff.
If I were you, I would come back with "For 600 a week, I can offer you between 15 to 20 hours of work per week. I agree that it would be an awesome experience, so if we're sticking that plan we can outline my guaranteed free hours in our contract beforehand"
Also, they want a nanny to travel with them on the plane, completely valid. But that job isn't easy or fun so it will be an extra cost.
I would beware very wealthy families who try to skimp out on childcare. In my experience they're often the ones who will nickle and dime you, and try to make you feel like you're indebted to them for the privilege of experiencing this life. You are not, you are doing THEM a favor. My favorite family that I worked for made very certain to be clear that they respected what I did and that I was a professional. The least favorite one tried to not pay me for working a nine hour flight because they were "flying me first class, which had a value of 2000 so paying a nanny on top of that is ridiculous". This was with a baby and a 4 year old, mind you.
Where did you post the update?
Ahaha yes it is. I was technically a governess at 23, which was very funny to all of us, considering that I wore a T-shirt and leggings every day and spent most of my day trying to teach phonics to a child while only using leaves and sticks.
I think I know exactly the job that is is, and if I am correct they have posted this job on multiple Facebook pages in multiple states. If that's true, it smells fishy. Dm me and I'll show you the one I'm talking about and you can see if it's the same.
It's definitely weird that they have money to do this but are choosing to find a stranger via FB rather than going through an agency that specifically employs travel nannies. It's also very weird that they are wanting a stranger to share a room with their young children. ( For reference, I have shared a room with my nanny kids only after a year of working with the family closely and providing that I could be trusted) It doesn't necessarily mean anything malicious but it DOES warrant extra questioning. I'm going to answer the rest of this as if I'm 100 percent certain it's a legitimate gig, because it might be.
Considering Is this your first big travel nanny gig? If so, please feel free to send me a dm and I can walk you through it. ( I've been travel nannying for a few years now) However, here are a few quick tips
It is insane how difficult it is to bring up concerns when they happen, when you are traveling with a family. So sit down beforehand and make a list of theoretical scenarios, and what the responses to each will be. Present it to the employers as "you don't expect any of this to be necessary, but just as a preventative measure this will help us strengthen things so that I can focus on caring for the kids". You can refer to this list when they ask you to do things that are vastly out of your job requirements. One I always ask if "what do we do if nanny is asked to work on her day off?".
It's actually not uncommon for families that are very wealthy families to have multiple normal nannies and a couple just for travel. Get in contact with the families normal nanny and ask questions like " how familiar does the family like to be with the nanny?" "What do we do when the child is doing something against the rules but the parent is in the room?"
Turn on life360 or another location tracking app for your parents.
Do NOT go for a flat fee per day or week, that's a recipe for getting taken advantage of. The typical rate for a travel nanny ( not your normal nanny who is traveling with you) is hourly, and then overnights where we are on call we either do half hourly rate or a flat overnight fee. This does NOT apply to sleeping in a room with the child. When you share a room with a child you are selling your privacy and your time off, you need to charge hourly for overnight or a much larger flat rate. Feel free to dm me for what rate I would personally recommend you charge. ( It depends on responsibilities, hours, benefits, and experience)
You are going to feel uncomfortable about how much you are charging. Remember that bringing a nanny on vacation is the ultimate luxury, and that you are providing top notch care and peace of mind for the parents( especially on the boat). Remind yourself that they have European trip money, multiple nanny money, and yacht money. They can pay you what you deserve.
Oooh I wish you guys had time to spend down in Ireland, Cork is fantastic for kids and so beautiful.
As for London, I don't know exactly what you're looking for in terms of hotel rooms but I would definitely stay on the Strand for a few days if you can. The Waldorf was super nice to kids when we went.
Frozen on West end is the most "toddler friendly" of the shows, it follows the story of the movie almost exactly and is absolutely gorgeous.( plus it snows in the theatre!) I would see it if I were you.
The Princess Diana playground is absolutely fantastic for kids, I used to take my nanny kids there multiple times a week.
She also loves a good nose kiss. In fact she requires them.
Fearsome beast
greatpyrenees