Tips for Traveling with Nanny

Traveling with young children can be exciting, but it can also be exhausting. Bringing your nanny along can make the experience far more enjoyable by providing familiar, consistent childcare and an extra set of capable hands.

However, traveling with a nanny requires thoughtful planning. A family vacation changes the nanny’s normal work environment, schedule, meals, sleeping arrangements, and personal routine. Clear expectations before departure can help prevent misunderstandings and create a positive experience for everyone.

Most importantly, remember this:

Your family is on vacation. Your nanny is traveling for work.

Discuss the Trip Well in Advance

Before making final travel arrangements, speak with your nanny about the trip.

Share the destination, dates, anticipated schedule, accommodations, travel arrangements, and the type of childcare support you expect.

Discuss important details such as:

• Travel dates and destination
• Expected working hours
• Morning and evening coverage
• Overnight responsibilities, if any
• Planned activities
• Scheduled time off
• Sleeping arrangements
• Compensation
• Meals and travel expenses

Travel should be discussed rather than assumed. Your nanny may also need time to make arrangements at home before leaving.

Remember That This Is a Work Trip for Your Nanny

Even when the destination is beautiful, traveling with an employer is not the same as taking a vacation.

Your nanny is leaving the comfort of their own home, sleeping somewhere unfamiliar, adjusting to a different schedule, and spending time away from their normal personal life.

They may also need to arrange pet care, a house sitter, transportation, or other services while they are away.

The nanny should not incur additional personal expenses because the family needs them to travel.

Put Travel Expectations in Writing

Even families with an established nanny agreement should consider preparing a simple travel addendum before the trip.

Include:

• Travel dates
• General work schedule
• Compensation
• Expected responsibilities
• Sleeping accommodations
• Time off
• Meal arrangements
• Expense procedures
• Overnight expectations

The goal is not to make the vacation overly formal. It simply ensures that everyone understands the arrangement before leaving home.

Establish Working and Off-Duty Hours

One of the most important things to establish before traveling is when the nanny is working and when they are truly off duty.

Being physically present on the vacation does not mean the nanny is available around the clock.

Discuss the anticipated daily schedule, including morning coverage, daytime activities, dinners, bedtime assistance, evening babysitting, and overnight responsibilities.

Vacations rarely go exactly according to schedule, so some flexibility may be necessary. However, changes in the family’s plans should not automatically become extensions of the nanny’s workday.

Give Your Nanny Real Rest Time

This deserves special attention.

Traveling with children can mean long days, disrupted schedules, airport delays, early mornings, late dinners, and overstimulated children. Your nanny needs adequate rest to safely and effectively care for your children.

Make sure your nanny receives genuine off-duty time.

Watching a sleeping child is not time off.

Sitting beside the pool while supervising children is not time off.

Returning to the hotel with the children while the parents go to dinner is not time off.

If the nanny remains responsible for the children, they are still working.

When your nanny is off duty, parents should fully assume responsibility. The nanny should be able to leave, rest in their room, explore the destination, enjoy a meal, call home, or simply relax without remaining responsible for the children.

Cover the Nanny’s Travel and Accommodations

If the nanny is traveling because the family needs childcare during the trip, the family should cover all required travel and accommodations.

This typically includes:

• Airfare or other transportation
• Private sleeping accommodations
• Necessary ground transportation
• Meals or a daily meal stipend
• Admission or transportation required when accompanying the children

The nanny should not be expected to personally absorb expenses created by the family’s decision to travel.

Clarify Luggage Before Departure

Tell your nanny in advance how much luggage they may bring.

For example, let them know whether their arrangements include one checked suitcase and one carry-on.

If the family expects the nanny to transport children’s belongings, equipment, car seats, or other family items, those arrangements should be made separately. The nanny should not unexpectedly have to sacrifice their own luggage allowance to transport the family’s belongings.

Provide a Daily Meal Stipend

Families should provide their nanny with a daily meal stipend for each travel day.

At home, the nanny normally has access to their kitchen, groceries, and regular eating routine. While traveling, they may have little choice but to purchase meals at restaurants, hotels, airports, resorts, or other establishments where food is considerably more expensive.

That additional expense exists because the nanny is traveling for work.

Even if the nanny joins the family for some meals, a daily stipend gives them the flexibility to purchase their own breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, coffee, or other reasonable food when needed.

The amount and method of providing the stipend should be discussed before departure.

Provide Walking-Around Money for the Children

In addition to the nanny’s personal meal stipend, provide money for expenses they may incur while caring for the children.

This may be cash, a prepaid card, or another agreed-upon payment method.

It can be used for preapproved expenses such as:

• Children’s meals and snacks
• Transportation
• Admission to activities
• Parking
• Small purchases for the children
• Other approved childcare expenses

Whenever possible, provide these funds in advance rather than expecting the nanny to routinely pay out of pocket and wait to be reimbursed.

Set reasonable spending guidelines before the trip. The nanny should save receipts for purchases, and any unused family funds can be returned afterward.

The nanny’s personal meal stipend should remain separate from money provided for the children’s expenses.

Provide Appropriate Sleeping Accommodations

Your nanny needs an appropriate place to sleep, relax, change clothes, and enjoy personal time away from the family.

Whenever possible, provide a private hotel room or private bedroom.

Do not automatically assume that your nanny will share a room with the children.

If overnight childcare is required or you expect the nanny to sleep in the same room as a child, discuss this before the trip. Overnight responsibility changes the nature of the nanny’s working time and should be addressed when discussing the schedule and compensation.

A nanny who remains responsible for waking children overnight is not truly off duty.

Clarify the Nanny’s Responsibilities

Travel can easily blur the lines between childcare and general family assistance.

Before departure, discuss exactly what you expect your nanny to handle.

Responsibilities may include:

• Getting children ready
• Supervising children during activities
• Preparing children’s meals
• Managing naps
• Helping with bedtime
• Packing the children’s day bags
• Organizing strollers or children’s gear
• Assisting during flights
• Caring for children while parents enjoy activities or dinners

Also discuss what is not expected.

Traveling with the family should not unexpectedly transform a childcare position into a housekeeper, personal assistant, luggage handler, or round-the-clock caregiver.

Plan for Travel Days

Airports and transportation days can be some of the most demanding parts of traveling with children.

Before leaving, determine which adults will be responsible for:

• Children
• Luggage
• Strollers
• Car seats
• Passports
• Boarding passes
• Diaper bags
• Children’s entertainment
• Transportation arrangements

Parents should remain actively involved, particularly during airport security, boarding, baggage collection, and transportation.

Assigning responsibilities beforehand can prevent confusion in crowded or stressful situations.

Prepare for International Travel

International travel may require additional preparation.

Confirm that the nanny has a valid passport and determine whether visas or other documentation are required for the destination.

Provide access to important information such as:

• Flight details
• Hotel or rental information
• Family contact information
• Local emergency numbers
• Children’s medical information

Address travel documentation well in advance rather than discovering an issue shortly before departure.

Prepare for Medical Emergencies

Make sure your nanny has the information needed to respond appropriately if caring for the children without a parent present.

Provide information regarding:

• Allergies
• Medications
• Medical conditions
• Pediatrician contact information
• Health insurance information
• Emergency contacts
• Medical authorization when appropriate

When traveling internationally, families should also familiarize themselves with local emergency and medical resources.

Maintain Children’s Routines When Possible

One of the greatest benefits of bringing a familiar nanny is having someone who already understands your children’s routines, personalities, and preferences.

Vacations naturally disrupt schedules, but maintaining some consistency can help young children adjust.

Try to preserve important routines involving:

• Meals
• Snacks
• Naps
• Bedtime
• Medications
• Comfort items
• Quiet time

Your nanny can help balance exciting vacation activities with the structure young children often still need.

Communicate Throughout the Trip

Even the best-planned vacation will change.

Flights are delayed. Children skip naps. Dinner runs late. Activities get canceled.

Communicate changes with your nanny as early as possible and check in periodically throughout the trip.

A quick conversation can prevent minor misunderstandings from becoming larger frustrations.

Respect Professional Boundaries

Traveling together means families and nannies often spend significantly more time together than during a normal workweek.

You may eat meals together, travel together, and participate in family activities together.

Maintaining professional boundaries still matters.

Your nanny can be an important and trusted part of your family’s support system while also being an employee who needs privacy, rest, and personal space.

Show Appreciation

Traveling with children is demanding work, especially during long travel days and unfamiliar routines.

Acknowledge your nanny’s contribution throughout the trip.

A sincere thank-you, thoughtful gesture, or additional expression of appreciation after a particularly demanding trip can go a long way toward maintaining a positive working relationship.

A Simple Rule to Remember

When deciding whether the family should cover an expense, ask:

Would the nanny have this expense if they were at home working their normal schedule?

If the answer is no, and the expense exists because the nanny is traveling at the family’s request, it should generally be considered part of the family’s travel planning.

The Bottom Line

Traveling with a nanny can make a family vacation dramatically easier. Children receive familiar care, parents gain additional flexibility, and the entire family can enjoy the destination with more support.

The key is remembering that while your nanny may enjoy aspects of the destination, this is not their vacation. They are there because they are working.

Plan ahead, cover their travel needs, provide appropriate meals and spending money, establish clear working hours, respect their privacy, and above all, make sure they receive adequate rest.

When everyone understands the expectations before departure, traveling with a nanny can be a wonderful experience for the family, the children, and the nanny.