Single parent holidays

I didn’t read all this.
I have been on holiday with my DC every year myself for over ten years with the consent of the other parent in writing (for border control).
The situations I would be concerned about with the non-resident parent is things like them being aware of DC swimming capability and things like that. But unless there are safe-guarding concerns which you have not stated, you cannot put conditions on a parent taking DC on holiday.

@Smallfry79 that seems a bit of an overreaction to something you say yourself was not serious. I’ve travelled alone with DD both abroad and in the UK since she was 4. One thing I did always do was get her to lead me to reception on her own soon after we arrived and told her if I was ill she could ask the people there for help. She actually liked the feeling of control/responsibility. Nothing ever happened though.
OP YABU. Very.

How old will the DC be next year?

I have taken my dc away as a single parent many times and this scenario has never crossed my mind. It's highly unlikely that anything would happen that would mean your ex would be hospitalised

I also think it's really unfair that you have discussed this with your kids. Why would you put this fear/worry on them?

Millions of lone parents like me travel with their kids all the time.

Life is a series of reasonable risks.

I think you are being massively over anxious about this.

I fully understand your concerns.

I have been a single parent to two children for years and early on i wondered about going on hols alone and how we would cope if anything happened one if them.
I never really worried about if anything happened me.

Until one time we went away and the first day I got so sick. I think it was food poisoning. I couldnt be away from the bathroom with a basin in tow for hrs.
We were self catering and the kids had to sleep on beds with no covers the first night as i was too sick to make up the linen packs. I was fine the next day and the whole incident wasnt that serious really.
It did give me pause for though though about how the kids would cope if something serious happened me.

I decided not to go abroad with them alone again until the oldest was a teenager and better able to cope. We did holiday in our own country or visit family abroad though. No one is suggesting single parents never leave the house.

Im not sure you can stop him going. He is their parent too. Maybe suggest you would be more comfortable if they went to a resort with a holiday rep or point of contact and make sure kids know how to contact them?

Yes the odds are very slim that anything will happen. I do feel though that people here are dismissing your genuine concerns too easily though. Part ofco parenting that is most difficult can be conceding control and accepting things you dont always feel are ideal.
Just prepare your kids well in advance and hope for the best

I'm a single parent and I have almost no support system and yet I've always figured things out. My kids have never been abandoned anywhere. I find this ridiculous.

Perhaps as a safety net suggest he books a package, it means in emergency there are reps that could be called upon, plus that's what consulates do

Remember if something bad did happen you can fly out and help - but everything will be fine!

I think you are being overly cautious and worrying unnecessarily. Have you travelled much? By your thinking single parents (who already have a tough life and are doing everything) would never be able to go on holiday.

What if you took them on holiday with your partner and something happened to both of you, at the same time?

It sounds like a package holiday to Greece. If something happened a company rep would step in. And failing that you can call the FCO and the local consulate would assist.

You do sound anxious and upset about the previous A&E incident. Did you think the children were injured too? I think it would be helpful to have counselling for yourself because you're going to be a nervous wreck whilst they are on holiday. Let your children enjoy themselves with their dad. And try not to pass your anxiety on to them. Holidaying in the next resort is ridiculous!

YABU you need to stop being controlling. He's as much their parent as you are

A friend of mine goes on holiday to the same place as her ex. Then they each have a week with the kids and a week on their own.

Surely if anything happens you’d hop on a flight?
but really, he’ll be able to cope, most people don’t require hospital treatment on holiday

I agree you are being unreasonable. Easy jet do single parent packages on their holidays and I have taken my DD on a few.

Thank you for the response. It was severe reactions, swollen hands and feet etc. There's a name for it. Pharmacy over there was useless helping.

Millions of single parents take their children on holiday every year.

You're being absurd.

Feels a bit of a stretch, going from mosquito bite to single parent travelling being unsafe. Would a local pharmacy/clinic not have been able to provide necessary drugs (antihistamines) to counteract the reaction?

not only are you being completely unreasonable but utterly ridiculous. You could ask him to make sure he had good insurance to cover eventualities where emergency childcare or other adult flying over but he doesn’t need to comply!
i took my two abroad (18 months & 4) as a single parent, didn’t even consider that kind of scenario. If I had we’d have never done anything.

That could happen to me in this country as I'm a lone parent and DS's dad is not involved. So if I ever ended up in hospital god knows what would happen. It's not something I think of day to day though, you just get on with it.

You've raised a good post. Recently I took my child abroad by myself as husband couldn't get time off work.

Whilst there I was having severe reactions to mosquito bits, at the end of the trip the rep said I should have gone to hospital over it.

Such a thing never crossed my mind.

It did make me question how safe it was to go solo abroad.

Millions of people travel abroad every year successfully. Sod all happens other than a good time and they arrive home safely. It's not reasonable to assume otherwise. A tour operator or hotel management would help and support in a worse case scenario.

There are plenty of single parent group holidays if you wanted to suggest it? Single with Kids and Mango are both worth a look. I had both good and mediocre experien es with these. Any kind of tour holiday where you stick with a group would help. The Field Council also do holidays in the UK which my children particularly enjoyed but they are not single parent focused.