Planning Holiday with 7 month old twins and 4 year old- any advice/ tips?

[Janberryxx]

Family are offering to take us away next summer, by which time we will have our twins who will be approximately 7 months old, and our DD will have just turned 4. The thought fills me with horror TBH! How on earth do you pack for such a venture whilst feeding/ changing/ entertaining/ picking up and dropping off from preschool etc?! Then there's the journey- 10 or so breastfeeds, ten or so nappy changes, multiple solid feeds, trying to avoid them all sleeping too much so they will still sleep at night, and trying to keep them all happy? The rest of the party are keen to head to the south coast for better weather, but that would take us about 5/6 hours if we had NO KIDS!! Also catering for everyone's different hopes, expectations and needs; there will be an elderly grandparent plus others keen to do daily daytrips involving long drives..........HELP!!!!

[DrownedGirl]

We went to Egypt for 2w when our twins were 7m and oldest 5. It was fantastic - it's a great time to travel with twins (ours weren't even crawling)

and that was just with me and DP ... you will have family there? Go for it.

Where will you be going? UK so no flying? Really, it sounds lovely.

At 7m they have hardly started solids, you can just offer the occasional bit of fruit while travelling and mostly bf.

Split the journey into 2 days maybe. At 7m they sleep so much a long journey won't affect bed times, IME

[Janberryxx]

Thanks for your positive outlook, Drownedgirl. Not sure why I'm being so negative/ paranoid. Did you stay in a hotel, ie were meals being provided for you or were you self-catering?
We are renting a cottage and will be self-catering. I think as the twins will be starting to wean that presents (in my mind) complications. Wish I could just chill out and look forward to it- the least I can do is to be grateful!!!!
Think I prefer to have full control over my circumstances where looking after my kids is concerned. I'm very unassertive when others are involved and fear poeple taking over/ conflict etc. I need to take a chill pill!!

[DrownedGirl]

Ours was all inclusive
Slightly awkward as all the food was prepared, salted etc and things I would have chosen for them (mashed banana, bit of soft pear) etc were not always on the buffet.

I can see that having family about in bulk might make you nervous, but I think if you make clear requests for what help you need, they will love to help out and you might even get a rest!

[DrownedGirl]

If you go for baby led weaning then they will be able to just join in with family meals, take a long a few pots perhaps as back up and make sure there are plenty of fruit and veg on the menu

[Janberryxx]

I can see how self-catering is a good option when you mention food being salted!
I am keen on the idea of baby-led weaning. i went for the purees option with my first child and found that frozen fruit and veg mush often/ usually tastes dire, especially potato! She was always more excited by what she could see on our plates and soon learned to ask for "Da bit!"
We have a lot of allergies on both sides of the family so I was being cautious. Maybe I'll head for a middle ground this time around.
We will be in the UK so no flying.
But in the past with DD the journey has really upset her routine/ sleep and its taken a couple of months to settle back down afterwards. The thought of that, with twins, is not pleasant!
My gut feeling is to go no further than 2 or 3 hrs away then we can be more adventurous when they are all older perhaps.

[jassinkernow]

We loved long car journeys when our twins were little! They would sleep (without it messing up the night!) and we could listen to music/chat etc. It honestly felt like a bit of a break.
We did our first proper holiday (to France) when the DTs were 7 mths and DD1 just turned two. The daytime logistics weren't that bad - we'd made sure there were cots/highchairs etc when we booked our accomodation. The sleep was awful, but that was also the case at home! We've had better holidays since, but we enjoyed it at the time and were glad we did it.
Obviously holidaying with groups of people with different interests brings its own issues - ime kids a a great excuse to be a bit selfish about your family's needs instead of fitting in for a quite life, but appreciate that's an individual thing!

[DrownedGirl]

Just back from a week in wales (6h drive!) with DS1 8yo, twins 3.5yo and 8m old baby

Baby was easy, really.. we got into routine so he had his morning nap before we went out, then all 3 littlies napped in the car at lunchtime

We split the journey over 2 days, each direction. Very good move! Avoid arriving in the evening as children sure to refuse to go to bed.. nightmare when you are tired after a long drive

[DrownedGirl]

IKEA cheapo highchairs pack down well to travel (antilop)

[LittlePickles23]

Hiya, we've only got hte two little ones so not sure what its like to travel with three or more, but we're just back from 10 days in Cyprus with our 11 month twins and we've also taken them to the states when they were 8 months. Its a challenge but great fun and definitely worth all the effort of packing, etc. luckily 3 of the flights were at or during their bedtime so they slept. so, if you are going overseas then night flights are a good option (if they are an option). If you're in the UK, what about driving after bedtime? we live in the south east and my parents are in Scotland so we usually leave just as the little ones are ready for bed and drive straight up without the need to stop for feeds and changes because they sleep most of the way. As Jassinkernow said, its a good opportunity for music and chat with the other half.
We also went self catering in Cyprus so had complete control over meals (times and what was on offer) and were staying with family in the States which was great for support. As for nappies, wipes, etc,. we took enough for the journey and a couple of days so we had time to get more when we arrived. Sleep and jetlag took a few days to calm down, but generally once it was sorted the babies were fine. We also used the booster high chairs.
Have fun! :)

[Janberryxx]

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences- it really does help me to visualise that it is possible to take the family away AND it be a positive experience! Many many thanks!

[Murtette]

We did self catering with our DD when she was 7mo and it was so easy. She wasn't crawling so I always knew where she was & she was loving her toys so would play with them happily for quite a while at a time. On the first day, I went to the supermarket & got some apples, pears & carrots and spent about 30 mins cooking & pureeing them & then put them in the freezer trays a friend had told me to take and that - together with some Ella's pouches - was DD's catering done for the week. I wish we'd been away more when she was that age!