Babysitting in Negril?

Hi,
Does anyone know a trustworthy babysitter in Negril that they have personally used to watch their young kids?
We have never left our kids before with anyone besides family or sitters that we have known very well. I am still not 100% on board with this whole idea, but at this point, I am willing to at least explore our options, and to see if any of you might have any good recommendations.
We are looking for someone to watch 2 kids in the evening for a few hours, on a few different nights over a 3 week span in Dec/Jan. The kids would already be in bed for the night, so the sitter wouldn't have to do anything for them, but keep an eye on them. And, because the kids would already be asleep, I'm thinking it would probably be best for the sitter to come and spend a few hours getting to know them when they are awake with us there too, maybe on the day before the actual babysitting? I just wouldn't want the kids to be scared, if for some odd reason they happened to wake up, and then saw an unfamiliar person instead of mommy and daddy. We would of course pay the sitter well for all their time, including the few hours of getting to know the kids. Like I said, I don't even know if I can actually go through with this idea yet.
We did think about bringing one of our sitters with us on vacation, but unfortunately none of our regular sitters are available to travel during that time period.
Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations from those that have actually experienced this before.:-)
~Eden

Eden, although not recent, we have been visiting negril on a regular basis since our son was in diapers. We always used our house keeper from the hotel we were staying at. Back then when lil jamb was that age it was either Rondel Village or twice it was Beachcomber.

We would not even consider someone that wasn't employed by our "home base" hotel and some visits if we did not feel comfortable for whatever reason with the staff that we interacted with daily then we just bit the bullet and didn't venture out.

That we can remember only one time did our house keeper (with enough notice) not jump at the opportunity to make extra and good money. We totally planned our escape, hmmmm... evening out around what was best for our house keeper. When lil jamb was that age we were the type of parents that literally growing up his grandmother or for a couple years a chain daycare (kindercare / la petite ) watched him, literally no one else, we just considered that period in his life and for our mental comfort the only options. The single time our housekeeper was not available she introduced us to a co-worker that was working another section of our home base hotel that we met beforehand and all involved felt very comfortable. Even then we just could not stay out for more than a few hours without worrying getting the best of us. Your question is extremely valid and any parent would have similar concerns.

So in short depending upon what hotel you are staying at my (opinion only) advice would be only considering a staff member you see daily at your homebase that you really hit it off with and making a worthwhile offer. Personally our son is now 16 and back when he was a toddler, youngster, if we went out for a few hours we paid our house keeper $40 or $50 and considered it well worth the peace of mind. I am sure there will be many that will say that's way too much, but during a 2 week trip on only a couple of occassions to us money well and wisely spent. You can not put a price on peace of mind with your children.

Hope this helps and hope your vacation rocks!!

Jamb

I have been lucky when mine were a lot younger to have family in Jamaica,
so a family member or 2 would come to the hotel for the weekend to babysit for us when we wanted to go out.
As they got older I used a babysitter from the resort who was recommended by other mothers, tourists and workers.This past trip my eldest were old enough to babysit my youngest for a few hrs if I needed it if my partner did not stay in with them but next trip, the eldest are not coming so it is back to needing a sitter if we go out.
We have discussed this between us (me and partner) and we do not feel comfortable leaving our youngest alone with a sitter.We would not do it in this country and so we will not do it there unless it is someone we know and trust with our life, or our sons life he is our world!But I had twin children first so leaving one child alone feels very different to me anyway as I have always left them TOGETHER.People with just one child must do this all the time!
I think previously when I left them with sitters I was happy in the knowledge his big sisters were there if he needed a drink or woke up and obviously the baby sitter would have seen to him but just incase "she didn't"
We will be asking family to come down to Negril to take care of our son next trip if his big sisters are not coming.
Some hotels and villas come with your own private nanny.Check credentials get recommendations.
My kids are my world and it is a big worry wherever you go ~ childcare. I have had very few people around my children but then I am a bit of an overprotective mum!
There are lovely ladies out there who will look after your children great.Depends if they are off work or available.What hotel will you be at?

Thanks Jambarney and TicToc for your kind replies and helpful advice.
It sounds like both of you share similar parenting concerns and styles with us. I agree with you, Jambarney, that it is likely a better idea to choose someone that works regularly at your home base hotel, however, the more I think about it, the more I am probably not going to do it. We have six friends (3 couples) who will be joining us on vacation for part of our 3 week stay. None of them plan on bringing their kids along, so we were thinking it would be fun to enjoy some kid free evenings with them. But, instead we will just bring our kids along out to dinner, and just go out a bit earlier in the eves. It began as a family vacation for us, until our friends decided to join us, so we will just keep it that way for us.
Call me overprotective or what, but my kids are my life, and I just don't feel comfortable at this point leaving them alone with a stranger. Despite staying at the same hotel for many stays, and getting to know their wonderful staff, the fact is they are still not known on the level of trusting them alone with my kids. I think it's quite easy to fall into a false sense of security and trust with people you only see once or twice a year, especially when you are on a relaxing vacation where your guard is way down. I totally related to what you shared Tic Toc, and it seems like we are very similar mommies when it comes to the safety of our kids. We will be staying at Idle Awhile. I agree that childcare is a huge worry, anywhere you are, and not something you can ever take lightly.
Thanks again for your input. It was much appreciated!
~Eden

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Originally Posted by Eden

Thanks Jambarney and TicToc for your kind replies and helpful advice.
It sounds like both of you share similar parenting concerns and styles with us. I agree with you, Jambarney, that it is likely a better idea to choose someone that works regularly at your home base hotel, however, the more I think about it, the more I am probably not going to do it. We have six friends (3 couples) who will be joining us on vacation for part of our 3 week stay. None of them plan on bringing their kids along, so we were thinking it would be fun to enjoy some kid free evenings with them. But, instead we will just bring our kids along out to dinner, and just go out a bit earlier in the eves. It began as a family vacation for us, until our friends decided to join us, so we will just keep it that way for us.
Call me overprotective or what, but my kids are my life, and I just don't feel comfortable at this point leaving them alone with a stranger. Despite staying at the same hotel for many stays, and getting to know their wonderful staff, the fact is they are still not known on the level of trusting them alone with my kids. I think it's quite easy to fall into a false sense of security and trust with people you only see once or twice a year, especially when you are on a relaxing vacation where your guard is way down. I totally related to what you shared Tic Toc, and it seems like we are very similar mommies when it comes to the safety of our kids. We will be staying at Idle Awhile. I agree that childcare is a huge worry, anywhere you are, and not something you can ever take lightly.
Thanks again for your input. It was much appreciated!
~Eden

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Maann You are going to Jamaica with 6 people that have zero kids and you telling me you haven't drawn them up a rota yet LOL
True friends would surely give up 3 hrs of their holiday to let you go have fun.Get the rota done girl! that's 6 nights out you could have if you play your cards right or if they babysit with their other half then 3 nights out.
Most good friends and couples will not mind staying in just to give their friend a break.
Make it worth it for them with simple to arrange things, candlelit dinner for two or breakfast in bed or movie and pizza and whatever.Perfect opportunity for the great escape with careful expert planning and kids left with trusted friends.You are halfway there , let me know when the rota is complete! Honestly I do not think your friends will mind one single bit.They will probably enjoy one quiet night in out of all the party nights out!

Haha! TicToc! Great ideas, but we actually had planned the 3 week stay as a family vacation so we are totally fine with leaving it at that. Anthony and I were initially going for 2 weeks and leaving the kids with the grandparents, but I wimped out and didn't want to leave my babies home. So we decided to bring them along, and extend it for 3 weeks! The other couples are coming down for only one of those weeks, and they deserve to enjoy their first kid free vacation. We will still hang out with them, and I know it will be a wonderful time. When are you going?

I have an old trusted friend that watched our crew of 2 yr olds last year. She is a family friend from long ago. send me a PM and I can get you her #

Eden, I'm not sure if you've taken your vacation yet but I just joined this forum and came across your thread. This will be our 5th stay at Idle Awhile and our 4th time bringing our daughter. She was 18 months when we first brought her. We were very hesitant to leave her with a sitter the first time that we did it. We met a family at IA that have been going there since they opened I think and they had a lot of confidence in leaving their children with the sitters there. Vernoa is one if the housekeepers there and she babysits at night for the hotel. Sonja, one of the bar managers also does sitting. I know that Verona has grown children of her own and she has watched our daughter every year that we have been there with her. We usually pick a night or 2 to have an adults dinner out. We took our daughter to Mexico for 2 weeks a couple of years ago and the woman that we rented to condo from had a trustworthy sitter, but we weren't comfortable with the idea. We really love the staff at Idle Awhile and it's such a small property. There are also security cameras throughout the hotel. Anyways, just wanted to let you know about our experience to maybe set your mind at ease. (just read your post again) we will be at Idle Awhile Jan 5 thru 19th.

I would start with Francine or Barbara or Rochelle or Clarol from Seastar Inn -- they're all super trustworthy .....