Conference Childcare, Part 2: Parent Preparation
Ok folks, let’s talk about childcare. I have a toddler and I love attending and speaking at conferences. This is part two in a short series on conference childcare. Part one focused on issues I thought through related to conference childcare being offered and what information would have been helpful to me as a parent when deciding whether or not to bring Devin (my 1.5 year old) to the conference. You can find that post here. This is part two where I’m focusing on the parents.
So, boy oh boy, deciding to take a child to a conference, especially solo, is quite an undertaking. Be brave! You can do it! I recently brought Devin to Strange Loop in St. Louis and while it was a great conference, there were some things I wish I had been better prepared with as a mom staying at a conference hotel and dropping her child off at temporary care for just a few days. Please learn from what I did well and what I didn’t do so well.
- What do you need to provide for childcare?
One of the things I liked about Strange Loop was that the caregivers were providing age appropriate activities and snacks/lunch but this isn’t always the case and I still had to bring anything and everything else that Devin would need for the three conference days. If you’re a parent traveling and need to bring plate, utensils, sippy cup, snacks, nap mat, etc., it’s really difficult to also have to bring activities that will keep your kid entertained while in a hotel conference room. Make sure to ask exactly what is provided by the childcare folks or conference and what isn’t.
2. Where do kids sleep or nap?
Often childcare providers only get one room to care for a number of children who are a variety of ages. Some kids nap, others don’t. One of my concerns was that I was flying so could only bring a nap mat with me but Devin had never slept on a nap mat before! He’d always only slept in a pack and play or his crib. Fortunately the hotel was able to provide a pack and play for the childcare room and my son ended up being the only kid in childcare but it’s good to know what the situation is and how the providers intend to make the room work for kids of all ages with different schedules.
3. What snacks is the conference providing, if any?
When I inquired, a few conferences weren’t providing any food for children. Strange Loop provided lunch and morning and afternoon snacks… which I thought would be great but it’s worth asking what will be provided. I mentioned this in the organizer post but at Strange Loop, for the first two days, here are some things that were offered: juice, potato chips, chocolate pretzels, carrots, celery, goldfish. In that mix, there were only two healthy snacks… carrots and celery, both things that young children can’t really eat because they’re too hard. For the last day, they were able to provide some cucumbers after they were requested which was helpful and, thankfully, they left out the chocolate pretzels and potato chips. It’s worth knowing what is being offered, if possible, bringing or buying some of your own stuff, and even making some requests or giving feedback if the organizer is ok with it (but, please, don’t expect them to be able to provide everything you desire).
4. What information do the caregivers need?
I went prepared with the basics… Devin’s daily schedule, what he’s allergic to, and the signs he knows/words he says. I figured, what more do they need to know? Well, it turns out, I did need to provide at least a little more information. For example, for nap time, they turned off all the lights and made the room pitch black. When I came to check in and learned he had been sleeping for almost three hours (this is a child who NEVER naps for more than 1.5 hours during the day), I said “yikes! He probably thinks it’s night time. Let’s get some of these lights on.” The other big thing I needed to provide more info on was food-related. When I came back at the end of the day, Devin hadn’t eaten very well (which isn’t surprising for him and was something I was prepared for) but what he had eaten was a bag of potato chips, goldfish, chocolate covered pretzels, etc. and drank a bunch of juice (which he also hadn’t had before). I don’t mind him having a snack or two, but oy with the junk food! I also realized halfway through the day that there are foods I forgot to mention. For example, we are kosher-style and therefore Devin doesn’t eat ham. These were things that I didn’t even think about because I prepare Devin’s food every day and we don’t eat ham or have ham in the house, so I didn’t even think about it! It’s a lot, but try to think through the different things that would bother you or would make caring for your child while traveling more difficult.
You may also need to label things like bowls, cups, etc. if there are more children. Finally, if you’d like a log sheet of some sort, print them out beforehand. There are some great, easy templates if you search for them that provide easy entries for food, diapers, and naps.
6. What do you need from the hotel?
Most hotels are able to provide a crib or pack and play of some sort and a small fridge, but what else do you need? Oftentimes they won’t have crib sheets, they may or may not be able to provide a high chair. I recently also learned that some hotels will even provide you childproofing materials or childproof a room for you, so make sure you’re asking the question. And bring a roll of masking tape. I read this recently this article. You can ignore most of it if you’d like but bringing tape was GENIUS. I was able to tape closed things I didn’t want my son to get into, like the room fridge and you can also cover outlets, tape washcloths to sharp corners, etc. And sometimes in room fridge units come with microwaves, so ask about that as well.
7. Where is the closest well-rated hospital and/or urgent care?
So… it happened. We had our first ER trip ever while we were in St. Louis for a dislocated wrist. This probably sounds terrifying to most parents considering bringing their child to a conference, but it wasn’t. It was actually really ok. I had checked these things out before and I knew there was a highly-rated children’s hospital with an emergency room less than three miles from the hotel. We went Friday morning and were in and out and good as new within 45 minutes. Things happen, so it’s good to be prepared.
Unrelated to the list of questions above, the other main thing I think about when looking at a conference is where do social events take place? One of the bad parts about bringing your child to a conference is that you’re limited by their bedtime. If lots of the conference socializing happens at parties and events away from the hotel, you’re going to miss out on those and might not have such a great conference. One of the things I love about Strange Loop is that lots of evening socializing happens at the hotel. There are evening unsessions, board game rooms, and just chilling in the lobby. When the activities aren’t at the hotel (ie- the opening party at the city museum), there are shuttles constantly running between the party and the hotel. When most of the socializing happens in the hotel, it means I can put my child to sleep and, as long as the baby monitor range reaches, I can still go and be social without being too far from my child. BUT I look forward to the day when there are SO many parents bringing their children to conferences that we can all hang out together in the hotel lobby or outside of a handful of rooms
Hopefully you’ve found this list of things to prepare and consider helpful and not overwhelming. I’m really glad I brought Devin to his first tech conference, and I’m really sad that I totally forgot to get a picture of the two of us by a conference sign. We had a great time and it all went much better than I expected, even with our field trip to the emergency room.
If you’re a parent who has considered bringing your child to childcare, i’d love to hear what’s been holding you back from doing so!
Catch up if you missed Part 1: Helpful Thoughts for Conference Organizers
