A Review of Our Experience Hiring a Babysitter in Queenstown, New Zealand
Traveling to New Zealand with our infant was an incredible adventure, and having him with us made the trip even more memorable. But as much as we loved exploring as a family, we knew we’d also appreciate some kid-free time to reconnect as a couple and indulge in activities that weren’t exactly baby-friendly.
During our recent stay in Queenstown, we decided to hire a babysitter for a few hours each day. In this post, we’ll share our experience—from making the decision to find a babysitter to ensuring a smooth and enjoyable time for everyone involved.
Do I Need to Hire a Babysitter in New Zealand? Why Should I Even Consider It?
The idea of hiring a babysitter while on a family vacation might seem counterintuitive to some. After all, isn’t the whole point of traveling as a family to spend time together? While that is certainly true, there are several reasons why hiring a babysitter can be a valuable addition to your travel plans.
Adult Time to Recharge
Traveling with a baby means constantly being on the go, and attending to your little one’s needs. By hiring a babysitter in Queenstown, parents can carve out some adult time to rest and recharge. Whether for a romantic dinner, spa session, jet boating in the Kawarau River, or simply a few quiet hours, having a babysitter can help you return to your baby refreshed and more balanced, ready to provide the best care!
Activities That Don’t Allow Your Little Ones
Queenstown is known as being an adventure junkies playground and offers a range of awesome activities that aren’t suitable for babies, such as skydiving, and glacier tours. If you’re an adventure junkie yourself, like my husband and I, then rather than missing out, hiring a babysitter allows you to enjoy these experiences guilt-free, knowing your baby is in good hands.
How We Found Babysitter in Queenstown
Finding a reliable babysitter in a new city, (and especially a different country!), can be daunting, but with the right approach, it was entirely doable. Here’s how we went about it:
Search Google and Online Reviews
We started with a simple Google search for babysitting services in Queenstown. This provided us with a list of agencies and independent sitters. We read through online reviews on various platforms to get a sense of other parents’ experiences. These reviews were incredibly helpful in narrowing down our options.
Check for Social Media Presence
Next, and maybe a bit of overkill, we checked the social media presence of the potential babysitters. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offered additional insights into the sitter’s interaction with clients. We looked at their posts, comments, and engagement to see if they had positive feedback and a reassuring online presence.
Vetting the Babysitter
Once we had a shortlist of potential babysitters, we began the vetting process to ensure the sitter we selected was trustworthy and experienced.
Experience and Qualifications
We prioritized sitters with strong qualifications, such as current first aid training and CPR certification. Experience in daycare or a full-time job working with children was also a significant plus. These credentials gave us peace of mind that the sitter could handle any situation that might arise.
Scheduling an Introductory Call
A week before our trip, we scheduled a video call with the babysitter that we selected, to make sure one final time before meeting in person that we were comfortable. This allowed us to get to know her better, discuss our needs, and gauge her comfort level with our baby’s routine. It also provided an opportunity for her to ask questions about our expectations.
Babysitting Queenstown Review
The babysitting experience itself was smooth and enjoyable, thanks to careful planning, open communication, and finding a great babysitting service:
Hiring Babysitting Queenstown
The company we chose to go with for our babysitter while in New Zealand is Babysitting Queenstown. We chose this company because we had a great experience with them throughout the entire process.
The managing director, Viviana, who coordinated our babysitter and booking was a breeze to communicate with and was very understanding of our many requests for information about our sitter and our request to schedule a call with her beforehand.
The sitter we were matched with, Mora, was truly wonderful, she has a ton of years of experience working as both a daycare and kindergarten teacher and was super knowledgeable about baby care (even more so than us we felt, to be honest). Our baby boy had a great time with her, and we were able to enjoy our time worry-free thanks to these thoughtful preparations:
Schedule a ‘Trial Session’
To ease into the process, we scheduled a shorter babysitting session with the babysitter where we only left the hotel for a couple of hours, and went to a destination only a 5-minute walk away from our hotel. This allowed us to settle our nerves by knowing we were close by, and also build our confidence in her, coming home to a very happy baby at the end of the 2 hours.
Alternatively, you could even stay with the sitter for some of this time, for instance, bringing the sitter with you while at the park or beach to observe their interaction with your baby and ensure everything goes well.
Communicating About Gear and Preferences
Before we left for the night, made sure our sitter knew what baby gear we had and how to use it!
This is self-explanatory for most things, but for certain specific gear that we thought may be unfamiliar products in New Zealand, such as our Ollie Swaddle, making time to talk through all gear allowed us to be rest assured we were all on the same page.
We also communicated our comfort levels with various activities, such as taking the baby for a walk in the stroller to the park. Clear instructions helped prevent any misunderstandings and allowed baby and sitter to have fun and enjoy activities themselves.
For an added bonus, our awesome sitter, Mora, from Babysitting Queenstown even brought her own big bags of toys and activities for our baby to play with, which was great as we were not able to bring many toys with us while traveling.
Our Overall Recommendation and Review for Hiring a Babysitter in Queenstown, New Zealand:
Our overall review of Babysitting Queenstown: Hiring a babysitter in Queenstown was a decision we were initially hesitant about, but it turned out to be an amazing choice for our family and I highly recommend it for a balanced and enjoyable trip!
Would you consider hiring a babysitter for your international travel? Let me know in the comments below!
