We had the opportunity to stay overnight and see Wicked in Chicago, but couldn't figure out how we were going to pull that off with a 2 year old and a 9 month old.  Then I remembered what my aunts and uncles did when their kids were small - they took ME with them to babysit in the hotel room while they went and had fun.  So, I grabbed a high school aged cousin, and away we went.

We had a blast.  She did a great job.  It was WELL worth it.

I can't honestly say, because I've never been in the position to use hotel childcare, but why would this case make parent's LESS likely to use it? Madeline went missing when there were NO adults present. Her parents chose not to use hotel childcare. If anything, wouldn't it make you more afraid to not use the care that is available?

Angela, I think parents are likely more nervous about leaving their kids in hotels AT ALL.  

AAustin, great idea!

Ditto Angela's question... I thought the McCann kids were left alone, not in the care of an official childcare provider.  Is that correct?  Or were hotel childcare services engaged for the children while the parents went to dinner?  If childcare services WERE secured, aren't the parents suing the hotel for billions?

I thought they had left the kids alone and NOT with a care taker.  Maybe if they had, they wouldn't have lost her has always been my assumption.  Is that not correct?

Yes, you all are right.  The McCann children were left alone in the hotel room and checked on by the parents periodically during the evening.  They were not in the care of the hotel.

I really don't get why this should make a difference to me one way or another.  Why would a single isolated incident in Portugal make me feel better or worse either way about leaving my children with a hotel babysitter in the US?  I've left my child once with a babysitter at a hotel (the sitter was referred to us by our in-laws).  Whether or not I do it again won't have a thing to do with the McCann tragedy, especially since they didn't even *have* a sitter.

I think this is the media's fault - they make us feel like every bad thing that happens, happens in our own back yards and should be treated like a clear and present danger to our own lives.  It's not.

I agree with a number of you. The McCanns didn't use any childcare at all - it's not like the hotel babysitter walked off with their child. Instead, it seems more likely to me that their daughter would be safely with her family had they used childcare or stayed home with them.

I know standards are different in Europe but times have changed.

Yeah, I remember being appalled when I first read the McCann story, because there were child care services available at the hotel and the parents chose NOT to use them. Not that they deserved to have their child kidnapped (if that is indeed what happened to her) but leaving children that young alone was stupid, stupid, stupid.

I would never leave my daughter alone in a hotel room, but it didn't take the McCann's tragedy to make that decision. But their story has nothing to do with hotel childcare.