Toddlers and babies

 

Toddlers and babies are very trendy on a ski holiday, but don’t really gain much from it themselves. Most of them never leave the chalet. Those that do wish they hadn’t. Some nearly-three year-olds manage a little skiing, but normally it will involve being carried up the nursery slopes and released to schuss and crash.

 

In our experience, tobogganing with under-fives usually ends in tears and can be seriously dangerous!

 

Small children are much more likely to end up at the doctor’s. The dry air, central heating, cold and ultra-violet can all affect them. Chalets have fireplaces, staircases and stone floors they may not be accustomed to. And it is a long journey for the baby, its parents, and anyone near them on the aircraft or coach…

 

Looking after children is always risky. Most children who get injured do so in their home, with their parents. Nannies are probably less likely to be distracted than parents, but chalets were never intended to be nurseries, are normally less child-friendly than one’s own home, and are difficult to make entirely safe.

 

For under-threes we think the best for the child and you is someone the child knows, who travels and stays with you. It’s what grandparents were made for.

 

Alternatively, there is a nanny company called Jelly and Ice-Cream (which used to be known as Valtina), which our guests have found excellent. You pay per nanny, not per child, and one nanny can look after up to 3 children if all are aged over 2, or two children of any age. One half day (morning 9am-1pm, or afternoon 1-5pm) costs €84 per nanny (€93 peak rate), six half days are €458 (€515). A full eight-hour day is €138 (€158) and one week of these costs €791 (€910). They also offer babysitting from €15.50 per hour. The website is www.jellyandice-cream.com, email tina@jellyandice-cream.com, or phone 0033 679 76 95 95. Some of their people are just mums – not trained nannies – but the consensus is that they are very good.

 

Another good company providing nannies in Val d’Isère is T4 Nannies, who charge per nanny, in sterling. Their 2011-12 prices are unchanged from last season: six half days £375, six full days £700 (£800 for peak weeks). Their website is www.t4nanny.com, email mail@t4nanny.com or phone their UK number: +44 (0)20 8144 1054.

 

There is now a third nanny company, based in Tignes, and working in Val d'Isère for the first time this year, called Snowbabies, whose website is www.snowbabies.co.uk, email donna@snowbabies.co.uk, UK phone +44 (0)20 8144 4912 or French mobile 0033 618 31 49 85. Six half days £350/400, six full days £600/700 (off peak/peak). They also offer pushchair hire and a 'consumables' service, so that you order nappies and baby food in advance of your holiday and have them delivered to your chalet on arrival.

 

A new venture is mytravellingnanny.co.uk, matching you up with a temporary nanny who travels with you on your holiday. My Travelling Nanny prices start at £325 per week for a standard/student nanny, while a qualified nanny is £420. On top of this is cost of the nanny's holiday payable to YSE. For more information email info@mytravellingnanny.co.uk or ring their UK office: +44 (0)20 8133 3126.

 

The Village d’Enfants, Val d’Isère’s skiing kindergarten (0033 479 40 09 81), is right on the nursery slopes by the Rond Point, where the buses turn. The lower age limit has been reduced to 18 months instead of 3 years old, though many of the brilliant facilities such as the lovely play area in the snow would be wasted on infants. The staff are all French and it is popular with outgoing children.

 

The Tourist Office has a list of baby-sitters, though they are not vetted.

 

It is your responsibility to talk to whoever may be arranging your childcare, meet the carer and go around the chalet with them to satisfy yourself that they can keep your children safe in it.

 

Our chalet girls are always impecunious and sensible, and can often be persuaded to help, but they have their own work and are rarely experienced with small children. Again, any such arrangement is entirely the parents’ responsibility.

 

If you bring a buggy, it needs to have big wheels to get across snow (pushchairs are carried free of charge on our flight). But children are better off indoors: a walk with a buggy along the valley floor inevitably involves half with the child facing into the blinding sun and half with it looking the other way, normally north, into the wind. It is uncomfortable and dangerous. The locals never expose small children for long to freezing air or neat UV. Only we Brits do that! Backpacks and papooses are great until you slip on the ice. And if you were thinking of carrying them on your back while you ski, DON’T! Small children are happiest riding on the bus…

 

To be brutally honest, we find that parents who can leave their under-3s with Granny in Britain not only keep the children and Granny happy, they also enjoy their own ski holiday.

 

However, if you do want to bring your baby or toddler please note the following:

Babies under 2: we charge a £100 administration fee which entitles the baby to a coach seat but no plane seat (the baby sits on an adult’s lap), and the use of a high chair, travel cot and quilt in the chalet, but no proper bed, baby-sitting or food.

Children 2-16: £25 off per week in standard beds.