The Babysitting Service Abroad Is No Different From What The Mccanns Did.?
I worked in Spain a few years back, one of my jobs was to go to a complex on excursion night. I would pick up the keys from reception, sometimes 40 odd keys and my job was to walk around the complex listening at the chalet door to hear crying etc. If I heard crying I unlocked the door comforted the child then went on my rounds. Sometimes taking an hour to complete the round.
This service was offered to the McCanns, they chose to check on their own children. That night, you can bet there were many children left alone, tell me how the babysitting service differed from the McCanns going to check on their children?
I was not given any checks to work with children out there, lucky enough they got me, not some paedophile. My advice abroad is stick with your children at all times, forget the babysitting, its just as risky as leaving them alone.
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January 3rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
thanks for the info, often heard of this babysitting service abroad, wont be trying it out now. i’ll stick to paying to bring my own babysitter.
January 3rd, 2010 at 5:18 pm
it dosent differ really, but i dont htink that should be allowed either.
the McCanns have said that they or when of their party of friends went to check on the children every half hour.
but the waiters have said no one left the table. !
January 3rd, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Couple of differences:
- you went INTO THE COMPLEX - the McCann apartment was outside the walled complex containing the bar, tennis courts and pool:http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42…
- you had to unlock the apartment to get to the children, the McCann’s didn’t lock the patio doors. BIG difference.
- the resort offered two choices of childcare, and the patrol type was NOT on offer that night- the two choices were the creche, which offered parents the chance to drop the children in ready for bed, and collect them on their way home, OR a regular babysitter who would sit in the apartment at an additional fee.
So, fair point, there are many places that offer the type of service you describe, but most are well-contained complexes. I think it’s apples and oranges in this case.
Edit: would someone like to point out the inaccuracies in my answer that merit the thumbs down?
January 3rd, 2010 at 6:35 pm
It’s good to get that information. I’ve wondered what babysitting services abroad actually do as I’ve doubted it is full care. The McCanns probably felt they could do a better job of looking in on thier own children than some stranger. Madelaine went missing at the end of thier holiday by which time they probably felt pretty comfortable in the complex and felt there was no threat to thier children.
It’s tragic that they were wrong, but what if they’d used the service and Madelaine had still gone missing? Would they still be hounded like this?
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Not to insult you because you did this line of work but I think that type of babysitter service is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. I would not use that type of service because the children are still being left alone for long periods of time. I just think when you take your children on a vacation with you then it should be a family vacation and all time spent together. The creche employees said that the children were dropped there often during the day. Or bring a babysitter with you. We are planning a vaction next year to Cape Hatteras. My parents are going with us so that if my husband and I would like to take a walk on the beach after the kids go to bed or sit out on the beach after dark then someone is with the kids but it is a family vacation so we will be with the children all other times of our vacation. I will not leave my kids during the day with my parents so hubby and I can go do whatever. If I want a hubby and me vacation I will have to wait till the kids are all grown up. Anyway the service was no different in my eyes. They would have still been left alone long enough for God knows what to happen.
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:22 pm
BUT, thats not an excuse, they didn’t actually use any of the services provided, they also refused a monitor, and, they eventually admitted not checking the babies as regularly as they did, and, an inefficient baby minding service, does not change their responsibilities as parents, DOES IT ??
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:24 pm
No once again thats wrong. What you are decribing is the room listening service - the babysitting service on offer was just that - a proper babysitter in the room with the child.
Personally I wouldn’t opt for room listening and at a push I think it should only be used on babies that are in a crib and not able to get out as silent toddlers can do a lot of damage!
No holiday company worth its salt based from the UK would employ staff to work with children without police checking them and this would be a major consideration of most thinking adults before even considering leaving their kids with anyone. It is law now that anyone working with children or vunerable adults needs to pass a police check first of all.
IF they had used the room listening service and the same thing happened who do you think the McCanns would be blaming and suing now?
I agree with your last sentiment thought - you don’t go on a family holiday and expect free time! Kids sleep in buggies or go home with them and have a drink on the balcony.
Rosie - LOL ! Why not stick to looking after your own kids?
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Well said Lexy
I think you make some good points as always.
Edit
Ooooo 3 thumbs down from the Hate campaigners…
and all for thinking Lexy made some good points, wow you lot are so so smart lol
January 3rd, 2010 at 8:33 pm
True, true
January 3rd, 2010 at 8:35 pm
They should have had their kids with them, end of story. They left them in their rooms because they would have put a dampener on their evening p!ss ups. Selfish in the extreme.
January 3rd, 2010 at 8:54 pm
This is how the situation differs:
Children are the responsibility of their parents and not an ad hoc babysitting service. If the parents were made aware that this is what the babysitting service consisted of [sporadic checks on their children] then they should not have gone out.
You are surely not suggesting that a parent should check on their children as irregularly as a babysitter does and that by them doing the same thing they have the same level of responsibility towards their kids as a babysitter does??
January 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 pm
the thing is lexy that the babysitting service offered by the resort is understandable cause the resort had say 50 kids….for 3 persons to make rounds every hour or so would take a while and they are being paid to do so and more than likely the doors would be locked.
in case of the mccann’s, these are their own kids and they not were being paid to look after someone else’s children in addition, the french doors were open …now tell me is this logical thinking?.
January 3rd, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I agree that this type of listening service is not useful for children under a certain age. however, I would ask that if the mccanns had used that service and M had ‘disappeared’ what do you think would have happened? who would have got the blame an been dragged through the British press. Who would have to answer questions about how they looked after the children?
In any case, as parents, the children are their responsibility and a baby sitting service should have been used or eat somewhere else. Im sure there’s more than one place to eat in the area IF the tapas bar did not have children in there, something I find very hard to believe as in countries on the continent, they are very children friendly and children often go to bed much later than here because they eat with their parents.
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:35 pm
I agree with what you’re saying - but - the fact that the baby sitting service you mention seems to be no better than what the family did themselves, doesn’t really excuse the fact that this family chose to:
a) go to a resort that ‘discouraged’ children to be with their families during the evening
b) leave three very small children alone, in an unlocked apartment while they go out and enjoy themselves.
I’ve been a single parent since I was 17 and I have never left my children alone while on holiday, my opinion has always been that they are there to enjoy themselves as much as I was - and I would never have dreamed of going somewhere they would not be welcome with me at all times, including evening meals.
Just the thought of one of them waking up in a strange room, in the dark, with no familiar person around and crying for up to half an hour before someone returned to check on them, upsets me too much for words - I could never have done it, and I can’t understand why any loving family could care so little about their little ones fear at waking up in such circumstances to leave them like that.
Sorry for going on, it just upsets me
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Thanks Lexy, I have been trying to make the same point for sometime. I agree 100% with your analogy. If it is okay for a babysitting service then it was not wrong for the parents. Neither are desirable though
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Well said Lexy, thanks for that.
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:17 pm
Yep agreed you would have to be as daft as a brush to leave young children alone and unsupervised nowadays.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:12 am
I’d just like to add that you had the keys when performing your babyminding duties and you unlocked the doors if you heard crying.
The McCanns left all doors unlocked and open. They weren’t using keys that night.
That’s how their babysitting service of sorts differs from yours.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:46 am
Yes I agreed with you fully. You would have to be as daft as a brush to leave young children alone and unsupervised nowadays. I never let children in my family out of my sight for 2 seconds. I have to know they are safe at all times.
January 4th, 2010 at 1:13 am
yes lexy i did read that somewhere, seems they were told that checks would be made every half hour or so but decided to do it themselves, but also lexy they left the door unlocked
January 4th, 2010 at 2:05 am
Hmm never thought of that.
January 4th, 2010 at 2:21 am
One big difference is that I’ll bet the childminders weren’t drunk and the knowledge the family was using them would have deterred an abductor.
But the childminding thing is a red herring. It was the parents’ responsibility. And there is no evidence to show that either Gerry or Kate McCann went back to check at all that evening. Nothing.
This is from Sol. “The conversation always comes back to the same issue: the night of the disappearance. The account of that last dinner has disparate versions among the group’s members. Some swear that someone left the table every half hour to check on the kids; other reduce that time to half of it. Some say checks are made window by window; others say the adults entered each other’s apartments.
One of the employees that was on duty that evening does not remember a lot of movement: “I only remember a tall, grey-haired man getting up once from the table”.’
And Lexy, it’s not risky leaving kids alone when abroad.
Read Gerry’s blog! It’s actually well within the bounds of responsible parenting.
January 4th, 2010 at 2:27 am
Hi there Lexy, I am not disputing your point.
However what about the Creche that was available? This could have been used. The children can be dropped off in PJs and collected later to be put into bed. I know its impossible for two parents to carry three, but another friend could have assisted to carry one into the McCanns room, before going to their own room.
January 4th, 2010 at 2:40 am
Yes your right,I also read on here from a lady who had stayed at the complex Maddie was taken from,she said the complex actively discourage people from taking the children into the restaurants at night.
This lady said she wouldn’t leave her baby alone and took it to the restaurant and the customers tutted and dissaproved and wouldnt sit near her.
Perhaps rich people dont like taking kiddies out with them…
January 4th, 2010 at 3:07 am
Yeah your right, only when the McCanns checked on the kids they were going in the room, and the kids new them.
I personally think if you go on holiday with your kids then its a family holiday. When we go on holiday we stay out till about 11pm or sometimes later, by this point the kids are usually knackered but it’s not like it’s 2 in the morning, then we ALL go back to our accommodation.
I wouldnt leave my kids alone on holiday but thats because if I wanted a holiday without the kids I would have got someone to look after them and went on holiday myself.
I dont condemn the McCanns they made a mistake, a mistake that THEY will have to live with for the rest of their lives. How many people have done the same thing? as your question points out, everyone who has used a hotel babysitting service has done the same thing.
January 4th, 2010 at 3:17 am
Well done .
January 4th, 2010 at 3:17 am
Thanks Lexy for your insight.
I’d like to add that the Tapas bar does not allow children in at night.
So the majority of the families used either this baby service patrol, or they have done the babysitting patrol themselves.
January 4th, 2010 at 3:20 am
Years ago when I enquired with the holiday reps about the babysitting service I was told the child gets checked on every hour - what happens the rest of the time?
January 4th, 2010 at 3:26 am
Sorry, but how is this a question?
Now continuing to play devils advocate - may I ask anohter question?
With or without the baby sitting service that the did or didn’t use. Do we now know why they lied about how often they checked on their children? Initially saying every 30 minutes, but then changing to other time periods?
Do we also know who Kate was referring to when she came back to the restaurant and screamed “They have taken her”? Who were “they” and who was “her”? Didnt they have two daughters?
Just some things to ponder.
January 4th, 2010 at 3:48 am
Surely you find out what the babysitting service entails BEFORE you book. Someone was telling me where she went, someone either sat inside the chalet or outside the door.
January 4th, 2010 at 4:32 am
I am surprised anyone would use a babysitting service like you describe, the trouble in this case is the McCanns were used to going out whenever they wanted to as they employed a nanny back home and were not used to having children tagging along with them like the rest of us.