What Does a Travel Nanny Do?

A professional who keeps a child's world steady no matter where in the world the family is.

A travel nanny is a career nanny whose role includes accompanying a family as they move, across the country or around the globe, providing consistent, expert childcare wherever the family happens to be. For families who travel frequently, whether for business, between homes, or for extended trips, a travel nanny is what allows that mobile life to remain stable for the children.

The heart of the role is continuity amid change. Children thrive on routine, and travel disrupts it, new places, new beds, new time zones, long days in transit. A skilled travel nanny carries the child's routine with them, maintaining sleep schedules, meals, activities, and the familiar rhythms that keep a child secure even in unfamiliar surroundings. They anticipate the disruptions of travel and smooth them, so that a trip feels to the child like an adventure rather than an upheaval.

In practice, the work spans the ordinary duties of a career nanny plus the particular demands of life on the move: managing the children through airports, flights, and transfers; handling the logistics of packing, gear, and documentation for the little ones; adjusting to time-zone changes; keeping children occupied and calm during long journeys; and establishing a functioning routine quickly in each new location. A travel nanny is organized, adaptable, unflappable, and comfortable being effectively on duty across the long, irregular days that travel entails.

The arrangements vary. Some travel nannies are full-time members of a household who travel as part of the role; others are engaged for a specific trip or season. Either way, travel, lodging, and meals are covered while away, and the demands of travel, long days, overnights, time away from the nanny's own home, are typically reflected in higher compensation or travel stipends. Travel needs also sometimes arise suddenly, and we have placed travel nannies on very short notice, including same day, for families who realize they need a professional to leave with them immediately.

What a travel nanny ultimately provides is freedom: the ability for a family to move through the world without sacrificing the consistency and quality of their children's care. We place experienced travel nannies, vetted to the same rigorous standard as every professional we represent, for families whose lives are lived in more than one place. This is the standard Nannies + more…® brings to every family we serve.