My DH is standing up in a wedding in Florida on Dec 28 (kind of rude to have a wedding around the holidays and a destination wedding at that). Our son will almost be 1 yrs old and we are thinking of taking him along.
What do you do to find childcare for the evenings only when you are on vacation? I've already called the hotel and they to not have baby sitting services. The wedding is an adults only reception.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Unless you have family or someone to watch him... it seems like your only option might be for you to skip the reception and stay in the hotel with your son... not sure what else you can do... 
persimmon / 1165 posts
For the adults-only weddings I've been to, they normally line up a babysitter who can watch your kids at the hotel. Maybe you can ask the couple if they know of any babysitters in the area on recommendations so you could have someone lined up?
grapefruit / 4649 posts
Do you know anyone in the area you will be going to? That would be my first thing to try. After that, I would put an ad on Care.com, I see them there for people coming to my area for weddings etc from time to time. I would also check to see if there are any colleges nearby, sometimes they have job boards and a college kid would probably be perfect (community college might be your best bet for someone still in town.) One last idea is to call other hotels in the area and see if they use a service. Sometimes they contract with a babysitting company instead of hiring people themselves and they might be able to give you some info.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
I would probably bring my mom along and have her stay with LO. If that wouldn't work I guess I'd have to skip the reception and just let DH go alone. I don't think I'd be comfortable hiring someone I'd never met to watch my 1-year-old in an unfamiliar setting (but I tend to be paranoid about this sort of thing).
pomelo / 5129 posts
Do you know other people going to the wedding who might have a teenager you could trust?
My aunt used to have my sister or I watch her kids for occasions like this.
GOLD / pomegranate / 3688 posts
I find it odd that the hotel can't recommend a babysitting service. Perhaps the bride can help you out on that front?
We went to destination wedding in Puerto Rico last summer and hired a babysitter through the hotel. I was totally paranoid about it, the service came with excellent reviews and the wedding was on-site. As soon as I met the woman who came to babysit, however, all my fears melted away. She was wonderful and we were able to have a great time at the wedding.
kiwi / 548 posts
If it is near where the bride is from, I would check with her. I had a similar experience and was able to get in touch with the bride's cousin who was a high school teacher and we used one of the cousin's students. It was a little awkward (the girl's mom came with her to the hotel to make sure we were legit), but it worked out great. She was super sweet and we used her 3 nights in a row. I paid her 3x what she asked for (the girl literally said she made $5 an hour normally), so I think she was happy too and we were able to have a great time!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
The only option that I would be comfortable with is either sending my husband alone, or just staying back for the reception at the hotel, if it were not possible to have another trusted adult come along.
At a year of age, my son would not have been able to stay with a stranger, no matter who recommended them. His stranger anxiety was at an all time high.
pomelo / 5524 posts
@looch: I'm with you. I would either have sent DH alone or have LO stay behind with a family member and go to the wedding ourselves.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
I would first check with the couple. Are they from the area or do they have family in the area? Hopefully they know someone they could recommend or know someone who knows someone.
If not that, I'm afraid I'd be too paranoid to trust someone I found on care.com or similar, in a hotel. I'd either have DH go on the whole trip alone, or all go, but I'd skip the reception and stay with the baby.
For my sister's wedding a few months ago she arranged for her friend's parents to watch my LO and one other toddler while we were at the reception and it worked great. I was so nervous but as soon as C met them she was laughing and playing with them and I felt way better.
papaya / 10473 posts
We are in a destination wedding in September, and we're bringing another couple along. They're not going to the wedding, they're just treating it as a vacation and we're going to swap babysitting nights. Our first choice was to bring my mom along. Do you have a family member who can come?
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
Wow. Having an adults only destination wedding at Christmas time when their bridal party member(s) have kids sounds kind of crappy. Honestly I would probably just not even travel to the wedding. What's the point if you are just going to have to sit in the hotel room with the baby anyway.
grapefruit / 4066 posts
My first choice would to bring my mom or one of my sisters to watch LO. Next choice would be ask the bride for a recommendation on a sitter since the hotel cannot give you one. Third choice would be to not go at all- if I am paying all that money to go to a wedding there is no way in hell I would have me or my DH skip the reception to stay in the room with LO.
pomegranate / 3401 posts
@MamaMoose: this!
But if you must go...I would probably stay in the room with LO.
pineapple / 12793 posts
Personally I'd skip it. I use my vacation time to be with my family not to have a stranger watch LO while I attend a wedding that excludes my children.
nectarine / 2220 posts
@MamaMoose: I have to agree. While I believe everyone should get the wedding they want, this certainly isn't the most considerate way to treat people who are presumably your nearest and dearest.
I'd also probably just send my husband for as short a stay as possible depending how far away you are from Florida, and if it really wasn't an option for him to go alone I'd skip the wedding myself and stay at the hotel with the baby.
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