In Reply to: as much as you luv your baby surely posted by Bogden on Friday, 18. November 2011 at 04:03 Bali Time:
And one is disabled, to add another layer of difficulty!!!
My advice with small children is to find a nanny you really like/trust so you can leave the children at the hotel and in their routine for part of the day and have some time out yourselves. I don't think it's fair to drag small children around the hot, busy streets of Bali for hours at a time. The odd meal by the sea or splash at the beach is a different story, obviously.
I tend to play with the kids all morning and then leave them with a nanny in the afternoon to play in the pool or nap (if you are doing this, you need nannies who can definitely swim and you need a nanny per child who cannot swim). I then come back, do the dinner and bed routine while the nanny has a dinner break, and then go out and have the nanny babysit at night. This routine seems to keep everyone happy.
Nanny rates vary from Rp30,000 to Rp50,000 for casual nannies (although some are cheaper, I believe). I usually pay Rp35,000 per hour plus some petrol money, so we're talking about $30 - $40 per day for my arrangement.
If you haven't used a nanny before it might sound a bit scary, but there are some very experienced and well regarded nannies in Bali and once you get to know them you may have no qualms about leaving a small child with the. Search the forum for some recommendations. Casey is very good, for example. I can also recommend some (have left my email open).
People on here go nuts every time a nanny is mentioned, but for some of us nannies make Bali a really awesome holiday. In my situation it's the only real break I get as family members won't look after my disabled child. Also, it's provided an opportunity to get to know some Balinese women that much better and learn a lot about Bali. They have become friends and I really look forward to catching up with them each year. They appreciate the money too - over two or three weeks I usually end up paying them (with generous tips!) about twice what their husbands earn in a month, so everyone's happy.
Hope that helps!