Paradise by the Portable Crib

Planning ahead is the only way to avoid family-vacation meltdowns, says Cockrell, who suggest booking your trip to an all-inclusive resort that has childcare on-site or checking to see if the hotel you choose offers babysitting services.

A girlfriend of mine recently went on a three-week trip to Chicago, Telluride and Boulder, Colo., with her 3-year-old daughter and 8-month-old son. Before she ever left town, she called nanny agencies and friends in each location and secured well-qualified childcare so she and her husband could have some couple time.

“I have babysitters lined up in every city,” she said (and rather smugly, I might add).

I know, genius, right? But how, you might ask, do you find a babysitter in a strange city when you can’t even get the 16-year-old down the block to come over for three hours on a Friday night?

Learn how to find reputable babysitting services, anywhere

Nanny agencies and similar childcare-provider services will often have a list of sitters willing to work on an on-call basis—I know this for a fact because I used to work for just such an agency right after I graduated from college.

Yeah, my parents were thrilled.

But I digress.

Professional childcare services can be found online or in the Yellow Pages for the city you’ll be visiting.

One benefit of using an agency is that most employ only sitters who have undergone a background check. Be sure to ask if that is the case, and, if not, you may want to look for an alternative organization.

I’m also not above poaching: If your travels take you near friends and family, don’t be shy about asking for phone numbers. A trusted sitter used by a friend can be your new best pal.

Cockrell is a firm believer that a night off from parenting will make your vacation one to remember—and not because you spent a hot, sweaty day in the beating sun looking for a small shoe in a huge, overwhelming theme park.

She advises getting sweaty in a whole different way, and says that, uh, getting your groove on is part of every healthy marriage—and that need doesn’t go on hiatus just because there is a portable crib at the end of your hotel bed.

“I know with my husband, if we go the whole [vacation] without any alone time, he will get more and more detached as the week goes on,” Cockrell says. “I learned that the hard way.”

So there you have it, permission to be grown-ups. Just remember to use a real live human being to watch your kids—and leave the baby monitor at home.