When did you start enjoying holidays with the kids?

We are booked to go away with oldest ds his wife and our 2 year old grandson soon. I wonder why?

We went all inclusive with our 6 kids a while back. Oldest 3 lads were 16/15/13.,, they had a room on another floor.

They were really popular around the pool and beach and I was fondly proud of their obvious charm and sociability.

After week one the manager sheepishly approached us to say ‘your boys when you sleep they party’

He presented us with a bar bill for £430....... the lads had been buying drinks for many many random girls in the hotel bar, not the inclusive drinks but Malibu brandy etc putting it onto our room as we and the dds innocently slept!!

We laugh about it now 10 years later but beware

We just had our first family holiday abroad with our 3-year-old son in a self-catering apartment in a city full of culture. Not that we got to experience any of that culture with all the whining and asking to go home/watch TV, and manic behaviour during meals and while trying to get ready in the morning

Also, having to buy groceries and plan meals did not make it feel like much of a holiday sometimes. Next time we'll go all inclusive or half board.

Our best day was when our son fell asleep at lunchtime, meaning my husband and I could eat at a restaurant in peace without having to constantly wrangle a small child who refused to eat anything.

So, you're not alone!

This is of no help whatsoever, but when the DC were really tiny we holidayed in the UK, so we could load the car with stuff like a stairgate and and some familiar toys. We'd then do lots of day trips locally to wherever we were staying.

First foreign holiday was when they were 7 and 3.5, so the youngest no longer needed buggy, potty, travel cot etc, and had just enough sense for a trip to the beach to be more manageable - obviously they still needed close supervision in the sea, but far easier than supervising babies.

We've also learnt that even now at 11 and 7 our upper limit for sharing a family room in a hotel is 3 nights - any longer and we go self-catering for the extra space.

Mine were 4 and 2 last summer and it wasn't too bad. There were definitely periods of sitting at the edge of the baby pool watching them play nicely and not being too worried. Elder boy made some French friends too despite not being able to communicate with them. However we could definitely imagine the day where we might sit on the sun loungers and not worry about them too much at all.

Mine (twins) are 7 now and I’ve enjoyed holidays with them since they were around 3 or 4, BUT these are not the same holidays I would have enjoyed before kids. We don’t go abroad (apart from a fab trip to Disneyland Paris last Easter), we do caravan parks or AirBnB in the U.K., near a beach and/or theme parks. It’s not very relaxing but it is lots of fun and I figure we’ve plenty of time for other types of holiday when they are older...
The other thing which works well for us (am single parent) is to do holidays with other mums and kids - we went camping last year and had a blast and are doing it again this year - the kids all go off together and have fun and we sit and drink wine in the sunshine :-)

DC are 9 and we have got to the point where they can swim in the pool for a couple of hours without me watching them like a hawk. They still wake us up at 6am. So early animal watching, zip lining and such play a much bigger role than they used to in my holidays!

It’s better to do city breaks when they’re 12 months. Put them in the pram and potter about going to museums, parks, enjoying cafe culture or rent a cottage so you can do days out to seaside, farm parks etc and open a bottle of wine when they go to bed. If you’re stuck on an island with not much to do other than the resort it’s going to be hard

Seriously. DS was the same. Hated the mild heat so we spent the whole time in the air conditioned hotel room. Stick to the nice cool UK with the NHS round the corner till she's 6 or 7! From 3ish she might like being a princess in a Welsh castle or building castles in nice damp British sand which sticks together! Or having a walk in fairy woods.

I've always loved my holidays with my children, at all ages!!

It's just about planning the right sorry of holidays and changing your views of what you'll be doing.

Holidays are not about lying on a sun lounger or getting drunk or having lie one with my kids, they're about adventure and having fun and trying new things, getting then to experience new things... But also just a nice change from the pressure and stress of normal life working full time and juggling everything.

I was like this a week into a holiday with my two year old. We then met another family and DS was suddenly amused with another child and I had another mum who got it. Made all the difference! You're not a terrible mum, just a tired one who deserves to enjoy her holiday.

After 3 years old.

Mind you brilliant now as we do sandles so not only not ours anymore as all grown up but no other brats either

I did not find holidays with young children enjoyable at all. A total waste of money. With each child we waited until they were 3 so they could eat proper food/ drink from cup/ not wear nappies and even that was .. shall we say ... challenging.

The things i liked doing on holiday - daytime drinking, sunbathing with a book, cultural sightseeing just didn't work with children. Mine were both bolters so you couldn't sit down for a minute and they got bored very quickly in one place. Plus we'd end up spending a couple of hours in the apartment watching Disney films to keep them out of the sun during the hottest part of the day.
Forget having a lovely relaxing dinner either..
We started going on all inclusive holidays because of kids club and mini disco which gave us a break and kept them amused. Very different to the sort of holidays we enjoyed before!
I think around age 6 was when it gets enjoyable again.
Then they turn into teenagers... omg that's another kettle of fish!

We have always loved holidays with our DS (he's 3.5 now) BUT that is because we have drastically adjusted our expectations of what a holiday should be. We also tend to do v gentle and short outings, to the beach, pool, ice cream shop etc, with regular returns to 'base camp' where we can relax and know DS is safe. The more ambitious we get, the more stressful it gets!

I remember it well! Two years in a row just chased dd around and rescued her from the edge of the pool around a thousand times a day!

The first great one was when they were 3 and we went to a eurocamp, flew and hired a car. We could walk around a bit, I discovered the French loved small people, there were some classes on camp they loved and a beach nearby. It was fantastic. Before then I went with a siblings family which meant we could catch up with them which was great but dc did mean as much if not more work than normal.

Last year we stayed in a large all inclusive in Greece and it was really relaxing, had a brilliant kids club and a large swimming pool that had lifeguards and loads of inflatables. The DC were 9 and 5.

I’ll let you know . Mine are 5 and 7 now. Honestly at that age it is really shit and you only find that out once you’re there .

They have been better since youngest was 3 but I wouldn’t say genuinely enjoyable as there is always something to worry about.

Does the place you’re staying offer childcare?!

If not take turns and have some time off.

Mine are 2 and 3. Certainly not there yet.

We have just done short breaks. Trying something different each time until we find something that works for everyone. But yes everything we've tried has been stressful for us.

Actually, we took dd to a yurt when she was tiny and that was ok but since then and the arrival of ds it's been difficult. Posh hotels they kicked off at dinner and I was embarrassed room was cramped as well. Caravan with the in laws was great for them but terrible for us. I could go on. But you're not alone op!

They have to be at least primary school aged then you can shove them in holiday club. Otherwise they're shit. You're not wrong sadly. Shame you squandered loads of holiday cash on a crappy one.

Save up for another dream destination holiday in a few years (providing you don't have more kids). Otherwise resign yourself to shit ones until my first sentence applies

We had a great family holiday last year ................ DS was 16 .

(Actually we did have a few good holidays at Eurocamp or similar - a kid's club is essential ).

I always liked my holidays with children - mainly because I’m not at work

It gets easier when they get older although you have different challenges

like how to keep everyone happy over location, accommodation, WiFi access and choice of activities. Everyone has an pinion on everything

2.5 and we went on a trip to Europe with a long series of train journeys. Child slept in mclaren and we sat in the bar/cafe car and watched Europe go by, was weirdly brill as train made dc sleep for hours.

Well mines 16mo and been walking since 9mo and I enjoy them. Depends on the child and company and support I suppose!