[WinterIsComing]

We will be travelling to Japan and are staying at 5 star hotel at some stage.

I really wanted to visit a particular restaurant in the vicinity but it doesn't allow children.

Would you consider getting a hotel-arranged babysitter for a couple of hours? DH says no, "it could be one of those stories". What stories?

The hotel doesn't have a childare, they arrange a child care service.

To be honest, I am a bit of a chicken too, DS will be 8 months.

(Perhaps solution is me going for a solitary dinner )

[Faradaye]

DH and I stayed at a the Sanctuary Cove resort in QLD a few years ago, and arranged a babysitter for our DD who was under 12 months at the time.

We were attending a function held at the actual resort though, so I know I felt okay knowing how close I was going to be.

When the hotel reception phoned us to let us know our sitter 'Beryl' was on her way I completely relaxed. I mean - someone named Beryl could only be great, right? An absolutely delightful, older lady turned up and I immediately warmed to her and had no issue with leaving my DD with her.

Japan is a wonderful country to visit, and I am going to make a very sweeping statement which is that in general the population is incredibly law abiding. It's the kind of place that people leave very expensive shoes and umbrellas lined up outside public places without a qualm, knowing they are safe.

Is your DS going to (in theory) be asleep while you go out for dinner? Are you going to be contactable while you are out? I'm presuming the restaurant you are attending has a phone number you can leave with a sitter? I think I would be comfortable doing it.

Just as an aside - the food in Japan is AMAZING! I am jealous. Enjoy your trip!

[Azadel]

Hmm a tough one. I don't want to be over anxious and I know to protect their reputation a good hotel would have vigorous screening in place.

On the other hand I'm wary of leaving DS with a stranger before he's old enough to tell us if anything bad happened.

I...don't know. (Not helpful huh?)

[lsolaBella]

In Berlin we had hotel organised sitter for our then 20mo and 3.5yo DSs. We were in the hotel though still at a party in one of their ball rooms.

[niggles]

No. Not unless a friend could recommend someone specifically that you could arrange ahead of time.

[The Old Bag]

No.

I have one of those stories! Nothing terrible happened - she was just hopeless - and we realised later we didn't even know who the girl was, or what we could have done if things had turned pear shaped.

This was a 5 star hotel.

I would do it in Australia where I know there are controls in place and I understand the system. But overseas? Never again.

[Bellefin]

I have thought about this. It would depend on the country I suppose, which is just based on stereotypes and means essentially nothing anyway. Is there some way you can get references, like on trip advisor or from the hotel about the service? I would think it would be OK in Japan, but that's just based on a stereotype, having known a lot of Japanese people.
I don't know if I could do it. I just don't think I could enjoy my dinner. I think I'd rather have the baby asleep in the pram at a place that does allow children.

[lovealpacas]

We are going to Thailand next year when DD1 will be 3yo and DD2 will be 6mo and we will leave them with a babysitter to go to dinner once or twice. We will stay where we usually do (5 star hotel in Patong Beach). The staff at this place are great and I have faith that they would provide good babysitters.

[Allymeg69]

We used a hotel-arranged baby sitter at a 5 star establishment in Singapore last year when DS was nearly 1, the hotel did not employ the sitters, just sourced them from an agency but obviously they would have an interest in making sure the people doing the job were competent and trustworthy.

We were going to a dinner/dance about 1 block away from the hotel, so I was not concerned if DS for some reason got upset and wanted one of us back, but he was fine, was having his milk and getting ready for bed when the sitter arrived, hubby rang part way through the evening just to check and all was fine, DS had gone off to sleep almost immediately, and we had a lovely night out as a result!

I think all you can do is talk to the hotel staff and see if you can talk to the service provider and ask a few questions if you have any concerns then make a decision. A lot depends on how well your child takes to strangers, how well he sleeps, eats etc - our DS was a complete no-worries child with all those things which probably made it a bit easier.

[ausmumof2]

Not me, but I am overprotective I know... I wouldn't enjoy the dinner at all for worrying. Friends have done it, but with older kids (5, 4 & 2) so more likely to be able to say if something was wrong. That said it doesn't help much if you know after the fact anyway.