Nanny in the Clouds was launched back in November 2011 by Julie Melnick in hopes of changing the way families fly.
The company aims to connect registered babysitters who happen to be flying between A and B (and want to earn some extra cash), with passengers on the same flight wanting some child-minding help.
The concept is simple. The babysitter inputs details of flights they will be taking on the website, along with providing two references. The child-toting passenger inputs details of flights where they need help. If there’s a match, the child-toter pays $10 to the website – and then makes whatever deal is convenient with the baby-sitter: where to meet, how much help is wanted and at what price. The website currently requires a specific date for a flight but will soon allow parents and nannies to enter a range of dates to boost the chances of a match.
Making the concept work – With approximately 30,000 commercial flights in the U.S. each day, the company will have to have a LOT of nanny sign-ups to make this service work effectively matching parents and nanny’s.
Parents who have traveled by air with infants and small children know far too well the stress involved with handling tickets, bags and kids in tow . . .
I remember when my son was 6 months old, and I had to fly to my sisters wedding. My husband was overseas, and all family members were planning on being in attendance at the wedding. As a fairly new mother I felt uncomfortable leaving my son with a babysitter.
So I packed our bags, and with son in hand headed out to the airport. Being this was my first flight with a baby, I had no idea how hard it would be to handle him, purse, diaper bag and luggage. Needless to say he cried through most of the flight. It’s no fun being on the other end of trying to quiet a fussy baby, and having passengers give you the evil eye. We finally arrived with my nerves at their limit. I was better prepared on the return trip, and he was too – slept through the entire return trip like the angel he normally was 
I wish Nanny in the Clouds well because parents could use an extra hand when traveling. But let me add my two cents on air travel in today’s world. Two weeks ago the hubby and I took an 8 day Caribbean cruise, and we traveled with several families by air who were taking the same cruise.
The aisles were so tight, it was extremely difficult to safely carry a child along with carry on luggage. As we were stopped in the aisle waiting on passengers to put their bags in the overhead compartment, I was actually scared one man would drop his heavy luggage back onto an infant being carried by a father. Obviously the airlines somehow forgot to board parents with small children and babies first!
We ran into both families once onboard the ship, and I asked them if Nanny in the Cloud service could have been beneficial to them. Both families agreed they could have used an extra hand with the kids, however after paying the airlines hundreds of dollars for baggage fees, along with the cost of the cruise vacation, paying extra for this service was not in the vacation budget. I could definitely relate after paying checked bag fees to two different airlines (American on flight to Miami, and Delta on the return flight). One family paid $200 in baggage fees, and the other paid $400.
On the return flight the overhead luggage compartment was full prior to us getting on the plane. While on the gang way, the flight attendants told us our bags could be checked free of charge. I noticed many of the carry on bags other passengers were carrying on did not fit the specifications, and should have been checked. However these bags were tagged and flown free of charge. Is there something wrong with this picture? Yes!
Ok, sorry for the rant on baggage fees – and back to Nanny in the Clouds. As a parent, is this a service you would sign up for? Or, would you sign up to be one of the Nanny’s?
http://www.nannyintheclouds.com/
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