Bali field guide
Bali with Children: Nannies, Schools and a Medical Plan
A practical family setup for Bali: how to screen a nanny, verify a school, test the commute, organise medical records and choose an emergency route before a child needs it.
Published 2026-10-06
The useful part, first
Build the child's daily route and emergency plan before choosing a villa or committing to childcare.
In this guide
01
Choose the daily triangle before the villa
Put school, home and the clinic you would actually use on one map. Test the school run at its real weekday time in both directions. A villa that looks close in kilometres can create hours of daily traffic and leave the family crossing the island for every appointment.
Ask the school which gate and pickup system your child will use, whether a bus serves your exact street, and who can collect the child. Then choose housing inside that routine rather than signing a villa first and trying to solve transport later.
02
Verify the school and the place in the class
Search the Indonesian education database for the school's NPSN, operating status, education level and accreditation information. A brand name can cover separate preschool, primary and secondary entities, so verify the campus and stage your child will attend.
An application is not a seat. Ask for written confirmation of the grade, start date, total compulsory fees, refund policy, curriculum, language support and support for the child's specific needs. Published admissions policies show that records, assessments and wait pools can affect an offer.
03
Run a paid nanny trial while a parent is present
Interview around real scenarios: choking, fever, pool access, scooter transport, food allergies and who may enter the villa. Check identity, two recent references and first-aid training directly; do not accept screenshots as the entire reference check.
Start with a paid session while a parent stays nearby. Watch handwashing, supervision near water, phone use, discipline and how the nanny reports a small incident. Write the hours, duties, transport rules, photos and social-media boundaries, emergency contacts, pay and cancellation terms.
04
Make water and road rules explicit
A pool fence, locked gate and active adult supervision solve different failures; use them together. Decide who is responsible whenever the child is near water. Remove climbable furniture from the boundary and check that doors cannot be opened unnoticed.
Do not allow a child to ride without the correct helmet and lawful, insured transport setup. For cars, confirm the child restraint before pickup: a message saying 'child seat available' does not establish the seat type, installation or fit for the child's size.
05
Create the medical folder before arrival
Carry vaccination records, allergies, diagnoses, generic medicine names, prescriptions, insurance details and parental contacts in paper and offline digital form. Ask a paediatric clinician to reconcile the child's existing vaccination record with the current Indonesian schedule rather than guessing equivalence between countries.
Indonesia's routine schedule includes age-specific infant, toddler and school vaccines. Availability and private-clinic brands can differ, so agree on a catch-up plan with a clinician and keep every new dose documented.
06
Choose a clinic and an emergency route
Visit the routine clinic once before anyone is ill. Confirm paediatric appointment access, language, payment method, after-hours instructions and whether your insurer can arrange direct billing. Save the pin and telephone number offline and tell the nanny where the medical folder is kept.
For emergencies, identify the nearest suitable 24-hour department and a backup that can treat children; traffic can matter more than brand preference. The Ministry of Health hospital directory lists services, while Prof. Ngoerah Hospital publishes a continuous 24-hour paediatric emergency service. In Denpasar and Badung, official local pages list 112; verify coverage for your exact location.
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