Your options
Families in Bali find babysitters in four main ways. Hotels and resorts offer in-house babysitting, usually a staff member at an hourly rate, convenient but not always experienced with your child's age. Villa managers often "know someone", typically a housekeeper's relative, which can be wonderful or can be an untrained teenager. Expat Facebook groups are full of recommendations and self-advertising sitters, with no vetting. And specialist babysitting and nanny agencies vet, match and manage carers for you.
An agency costs a little more per hour than hiring directly, and in return you get checked carers, a replacement if someone is sick, a point of contact if anything goes wrong, and someone who has matched the carer to your children rather than sent whoever was free.
What to check before you book
- Identity: the carer's name and ID (KTP) should be known to the agency, and the person who arrives should be the person you were introduced to.
- Experience with your child's age, especially for babies under one and for children with additional needs.
- First aid and CPR training that is current, not "did a course once".
- References from other families, ideally ones you can message.
- English good enough to understand your routine and to call you if something happens.
- How the carer gets to you, and who pays for transport late at night.
- What happens if the carer is sick or late, and who you call.
How pricing works in Bali
Babysitting in Bali is priced by the hour with a minimum booking, usually four or five hours. Full days of eight to ten hours are charged at a day rate, and live-in nannies by the day or week with meals and a room provided by you. Expect supplements for late nights after midnight, for public holidays such as Nyepi and Galungan, for more than two or three children, and for outings where the carer's meals and entry fees are at cost. Transport for the sitter is sometimes included and sometimes extra; ask.
Rates are far lower than in Australia, Europe or Singapore, which is the point, but the cheapest option is rarely the best one. A fair rate keeps experienced carers in the job, and a carer who is paid properly is a carer who turns up tomorrow.
Questions to ask at the handover
- Where is the nearest clinic or hospital, and does the carer know the way?
- Who will the carer call first, and how (WhatsApp works best in Bali)?
- What will the children eat and drink, and where is the bottled water?
- What are the pool rules, and will the carer be in the water with them?
- What is the nap and bedtime routine, and where do the children sleep?
- Any allergies, medicines or fears, and where the medicine is kept.
A good handover takes ten minutes
Book the sitter to arrive 15 minutes before you need to leave. Walk through the villa or room, show them the kitchen, the medicine, the water, the pool and the children's beds, and write the essentials (your numbers, the villa address, allergies, routines) on a note on the fridge. Introduce the children properly and, if you can, leave while they are busy rather than at the door. Ask for a message once they are settled.
For live-in nannies and long-term roles, add a written agreement covering hours, days off, pay, duties, public holidays and notice. It protects both of you and avoids the misunderstandings that end most arrangements.
Red flags
- A different person turns up from the one you were introduced to.
- No first aid training, or vague answers about it.
- Pressure to pay the full amount in cash up front with nothing in writing.
- A carer who is on their phone or asleep when you come home, or who cannot tell you what the children did.
- An "agency" with no address, no named people and no way to raise a problem.
Entry rules, prices and opening hours change. We check these guides regularly, but confirm the details that matter for your trip with the official source before you travel.
