Advice on booking holiday - when taking a 5 month old

[veggie77]

Hi. I'm pregnant at the moment, but already planning holidays for next year pretty early to take advantage of early booking discounts! I'm thinking that a UK break is going to be a lot easier than attempting to fly and go abroad. My husband and I were thinking of having a week in the UK when the baby is 5 months old. My logic is, the prices will be a bit cheaper and the baby will have had all their 2,3 & 4 month immunisations by then so I don't need to book holidays around those dates. Taking a baby away (probably a 2 hour drive away by car) at 5 months old, what sort of things do I need to consider with accommodation etc.?

It'll be late Summer / early Autumn (so not too hot) and I'm looking at self catering holiday cottages / lodges, and they seem to let you hire travel cots and high chairs for £10 a week. So that would mean not having to take them ourselves. Accommodation is on one level (no stairs to carry baby up and down to) and seem to have fully equipped kitchens. Also no front door steps to drag the pram / puschair up to the front door.

Are there any other things I need to think about? Thanks for any tips!

[QTPie]

Hi

Always easier if you cottage has a washer and dryer.

Babies are pretty easy at that age... They fit in with you more than other way round.

Somewhere with access to a pool maybe (depends what you do with your child - we did Waterbabies from 14 weeks and spent quite a lot of time in the pool when we went on holiday at 5.5 months).

QT

[WhoahThereCrazyHorse]

I'd go abroad. 5mo is actually quite a good time to do it, and lovely to hey some sun...

[WhoahThereCrazyHorse]

Get not hey!

[WillowB]

We went to Devon this year fr a week when DS was 5 months. You seem to have considered most things. We found space in the car tight once we had the pram in the boot. We put the suitcase & most stuff on the backseat. I suppose it depends on what sort of car you have. I would second the suggestion about a washer. It means you have to take less stuff!

[WillowB]

Oh, I've just thought. Check how close you can park. Our parking space was 300m down a steep hill which was a pain at times!

[mamij]

I'd go abroad too as it's easier when they are younger (and not yet weaning).

Somewhere by the sea/water so your baby has somewhere to play.

[teacher123]

We went to France when DS was 4 1/2 months old... I can honestly say that we have never been so tired...! We had a great time though, but were exhausted. This was at the point when DS refused to nap unless on the move, so we couldn't relax and enjoy the cottage we were staying in, as we had to time all our activities with getting him to go to sleep...
Things I would recommend:

1. washer/dryer/dishwasher essential. Upstairs bathroom essential, proper bath essential (we only had a downstairs shower room, proper pain in the arse)
   
   
2. take your own travel cot if you have space and make them practice sleeping in it before you go... I naively thought when we booked our holiday (at 5 months pregnant) that DS would still be in his moses basket, blah blah blah... He grew out of that by 8 weeks! And then spent 2 months sleeping in a travel cot in our bedroom. The plus side of that is that he is happy to sleep in travel cots anywhere now. My friends baby, normally a brilliant sleeper, screamed the house down the first few nights in a travel cot. You don't want that on holiday!
   
   
3. parking outside the house. You will have more stuff than you ever believed possible. And everything for you will be in a tiny hand luggage sized bag.
   
   
4. self catering-you MAY have a baby that will sleep beautifully in the pushchair when you go out for 3 course meals in the evening. Or you may have my DS. If he's not in his cot by 6pm on the dot, IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD MUMMY. Luckily by the time we went away although DS was still waking a million times in the night but he was settling ok at bedtime so at least we could have dinner together every night before crawling to bed at 8.30pm...!
   
   
5. I would be very wary about booking a sunshine holiday with a 5 month old. DS hated the heat. You may have one who doesn't mind. Or again may you have have one like DS. (IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD MUMMY)
   
   
6. if going in uk see if you can persuade your parents or inlaws (if around and you like them obviously) to come and meet you for a couple of days (at your convenience) then you can have a bit of a break.
   
   I hope I don't sound really doom and gloom-we had a wicked time, but it was so much more tiring than I expected and those were the things that made it a bit easier. There's so much you don't know before you meet your baby! Best of luck!

[Marmiteisyummy]

I'd go abroad too. DS was incredibly difficult, non-sleeper and very clingy but had already booked and paid for trip Pre birth. So we went to Australia when DS was 5 months. So easy. Breast fed on demand on the flight and he didn't cry at ll, you'd think he'd done it for years. Really great to get away and last chance tbh. It's honestly no harder than holidays in the uk and weather much better.

DS is now 2.5 and we haven't been further than Europe since.

Choose somewhere you can speak the language, with good medical care, not too hot and safe tap water.

Whether here or abroad my tip would be to get good travel insurance. We had 5* trip booked when DS 18 months to near Dubai. He vomited on the flight to London and we had to abandon, then had 5 days of norovirus. Would have lost a huge amount of money.

Wherever you go self catering is much easier. Unless money not an issue in which case the are some lovely hotels about that have cottages attached, so you get the benefits of self catering with a fab meal delivered to your cottage nd served like being in a restaurant.

Good luck! 5 months is a great time to go away, just don't start weaning beforehand!

[oscarwilde]

Definitely self catering at home or abroad. Abroad is pretty straightforward just stick to places with decent healthcare
Not too hot - sun lotion not recommended under 6 months so frankly it's just tedious when they are hot and sweaty and you have to stay indoors with them or wheel them everywhere with an umbrella/sunshade constantly needing adjusting.
If your dates slip you may be just starting to wean - def self catering. Think asking a hotel to prepare you some puree'd pear!
If you go abroad, watch out for the special labelling for low sodium water suitable for babies.