Just want to go home

When I was a single parent, and the only one with a small child, I went to a family wedding in the Dominican Republic. DD was 23 months, she hated the heat, we both got savaged by mosquitoes. She wanted to be carried everywhere, it was awful. None of my family helped me with meal times but that's another story. I spent thousands for the pleasure of this. You have my sympathy OP.

We just took our young primary aged kids abroad for the first time. We were completely baffled by the number of babies and toddlers on the flight and at the hotel and in the two hour check in queue. Amazed that so many people looked at doing that with babies and considered that it would be anything other than a torturous ordeal, never mind a holiday! We stayed UK based until now and I’m glad we saved our money. Pacing around trying to get a baby to nap under a snooze shade and being terrified of sun burn held no appeal to me. We couldn’t understand, just assumed some people so dead set on getting some sunshine that they don’t mind all that? Maybe they’re just hardier than us but our story is exactly what I feared OP.

Chalk this one up to experience OP and reconsider in five years! By age 5/7 you can plug them into an iPad on the flight, play UNO in the queues and with a hat and rash vest not worry so much about the heat. And if you’ve saved lots of money not going abroad for a while you can justify a fabulous hotel to do it in!

We went to Sani in Greece for three years in a row when DC were little. Youngest was just over one year old when we went the first time.

They were the best holidays! Everything is geared towards families and it was pristine and clean. Definitely no smoking by the pools and not a football shirt in sight.

DC went to excellent kids club for couple of hours every day, to stay out of the sun and wear them out. In the meantime DH and I could chill by the pool with books followed by a quick nookie in the room before going back to collect the DC. It was that relaxing that yes, I was up for sex . My only complain is that Sani is outrageously expensive during school holidays…

I find the first few days are always a bit rough, as kids are sleepy and take time to adjust. We always pick somewhere with an active run kids club now even if that means paying for a nanny option in the club for younger ones.

We had a few holidays that were just awful without this, mostly heat, tiredness and just young children being themselves.

This(and budget) is why we stuck to caravan parks for the first 5 or so years. If you pick the family friendly ones everything is geared towards kids. It's not hot or beautiful or anything but it's a lot of fun for all of you, as long as you can embrace the tacky entertainment and chance of rain.

You were genuinely quite brave taking a 1 and 2 year old abroad. I'm sorry the holiday hasn't been what you wanted or expected so far.

Also if your resort had a no reserving sunbed policy that everyone is ignoring, then dump the towels or get the pool attendant to do it. I have no qualms about doing that sort of thing.

We used to buy a small cheap paddling pool and take it to the beach, fill with water and put a parasol over it. DD used to love it when she was a baby.

Hopefully it'll get better for you now your baby is acclimatising

@holly201 sounds odd but you forget about all the negatives you just mentioned and remember the best bits. I don't know what you enjoy but we got ourselves out and about, combination of the heat and lots of walks (albeit messing around moving a pushchair umbrella with the sun constantly 🤯) ours napped and we made the most of those times. We didn't stick to any routine (not an approach of many parents I know but worked for us) we didn't try and get them back to the apartment for 7pm bed, they eventually slept in the pushchair and we had an evening together every night didn't matter if we got up later. Also, we gave each other time off and took it in turns with the kids at some point everyday. Hope you enjoy the best you can xx

completely agree op. When I had my dc3 I said no holidays after 9 months and before 3. Brilliant. Complete waste of time/money and happiness.
its only a small amount of time to wait

Yep, have many stories like this…..

my problem was, I just couldn’t be convinced that holidays with toddlers and babies are shit, was just convinced I hadn’t got the formula right. So tried all inclusive, Eurocamp, child friendly villa, holiday village, beach, countryside, etc etc….

it was shit. Every time.

until they got to about 5 and 7. Then it got great.

I mean we laugh about it now, but if I were you I’d learn from the experience & save the £££ for when they’re older. Put the cash away for hols later on when they can really enjoy it.

We were a French campsite family. Started in a ridge tent when DC1 was under 1. Graduated to a mobilehome when funds allowed. DCs are all adults now so DH and I are off to a eurocamp holiday just the two of us this weekend.

My advice for now? Slow right down but be prepared to change activity regularly. At around 15 months DS was obsessed with sweeping, got him a little brush and he was in heaven sweeping our holiday home!

Can you get something like a small washing up bowl? All my DCs have had a lovely time splashing 'washing up' with a big bowl of water. It has the benefit of keeping them cool and entertained.

Good luck, celebrate small successes and next time will be better.

We went away in 2022 on a much needed holiday, our ds was coming up to one. He cried constantly every day and night. He wouldn’t go in the travel cot every time we went for a walk and he fell asleep we thought ahh we can sit down somewhere, except he would wake up and scream. We were in and out of pharmacies as was so out of character for him. By day 3 we had enough we thought it was the heat. We managed to switch hotels and go further away from the coast where it was cooler (we hadn’t booked a package but booked directly and told the hotel we was in we were going home) On the day we moved my childminder text to say some of the kids had come down with hand foot and mouth. And of course of DS now had it! Dp went of to the pharmacy and we managed to get some medication to help with his mouth and it was just a case of getting through the remaining days but it was hell!

We tried again last year and went to Portugal when he was 2. He wasn’t poorly but the whole thing was just as stressful. The pool was a general no go area we figured out on our first day - not relaxing! We walked a lot let him walk a lot, went to the beach as it was cooler and he seemed to like that. We bought buckets spades and an inflatable boat from local shops and he would sit under the umbrella in his boat playing with the sand with buckets of water. He lived on chips, pasta, ice creams and snacks from the supermarkets as wouldn’t eat a full meal. We ate in turns still trying to occupy him and bed shared at night. We also had my 15 year old daughter who constantly moaned the entire time. We tried to keep busy by getting out early and letting him walk, he napped in his buggy under a sun shade where we would either lay down or grab a drink. We allowed screen time at dinner time on occasions to make it slightly more relaxing but would be back at our apartment watching Netflix by 9pm. We did manage a couple of boat trips which he seemed to like but generally it was about keeping busy and getting out and about. We do have nice memories and now laugh about what an awful time it was but we aren’t going anywhere this year!

If you’ve got £8k+ to drop go for tots too or Scott Dunn. c. £5k for mark Warner. All have kids clubs that cater expertly for small toddlers - even just for an hour or two. We saved and went for fewer holidays at higher quality resorts.

and holiday in May and Sept/oct in Greece : just too hot for little ones otherwise.

Tip - book Scott Dunn they have amazing kids clubs even for the little ones.

Holidaying with little kids is shit.
Its why we’ve never taken our 4yo (ASD so development delayed) and 3yo abroad.

Even a couple of hundred quid on a haven caravan feels like a waste of time and energy which always ends in massive tears and fights and no one sleeping.
MIL recently paid for us to go to centreparks with the extended family group and whilst it was the best holiday I think we could have as a young family I wouldn’t have paid for it myself. Spent 85% of my time threatening to bin the £8 tub of pick and mix they got on the first day 😂 just to stop them screaming and fighting each other

Hope things remain more settled now. I suspect she was feeling the heat and has now become more used to it.

Have a lovely rest of the holiday xxx

I think it depends a bit on the child. We’ve been away a few times with ours since he was about 3 months and while I wouldn’t say they’re dream holidays, we managed to find ways to make them work. Mainly by forgetting any idea of routine and just going with the flow as much as possible. Have you had a look if there are any kids activities locally. It sounds like you’re just staying in the hotel all day which probably isn’t helping your mindset.

To add, I’ve seen a couple of people mention Butlins. Just my opinion but it’s a shit place to take a one year old (I just took my 18 month old). There’s nothing for them to do apart from swimming and some shitty little section of soft play. The rest of it is for older kids and everything is so loud, all the time. Plus the accommodation is grim. I would go back when he’s older/taller for a few days max, but unless you enjoy that type of holiday yourself I would not bother taking a small child to Butlins.

Urgh yes…feel for you. It’s not a holiday at all with kids. We didn’t go abroad until our youngest was 5 and it was still an absolute ballache 😂. We booked an all inclusive resort as we thought it’d be easier (I hate all inclusive).

It was too hot so they couldn’t be out of the shade, they refused sun cream… They only wanted to eat cereal, nuggets, slushies, and ice cream. There was no room to play around the pool as the sun beds were crammed in so they were very antsy. We had to sleep in one room with them both and they woke up so, so early. My youngest was car sick and vomited all the time. They moaned and whinged endlessly. It was so expensive and made me and my DH so sad. Our best days were the days we went out sightseeing - they actually really liked that!

We decided that shorter (out of high season) city breaks would be better, plus the odd UK beach day/theme park etc. in the summer. When they were younger Center Parcs/Butlins were good options (too expensive in school holidays now though I think).

Basically, it’s just work for you, not a holiday but harder and more stressful as you’re not in your home. Plus it probably cost more than your mortgage for one week away…

Obviously in a minority, but I love holidays with young children. We have done city breaks, beach holidays, villas in the middle of nowhere. We have done at least three a year since they were three months.

We only pick places where we have the whole place to ourselves, always get a washing machine so you can travel light and put everything in one suitcase. And most importantly separate bedrooms and living space. Take it in turns to give each other a break. From about 1 they loved the sand so beaches were an easy day. We always eat out for lunch and have something light in the evening with a glass of wine after they’re in bed.

I don't understand why people want to go to hot, arid countries in mid summer. I love England in the summer. The long days are magical, with it being light until 10pm. You can wear summer clothes but it isn't usually so hot you're sweating. It might rain often, but that's what makes it so lush and green, and then there are the thunder storms, when the hot air meets the cool air, and sometimes we get a light tail end of the hurricanes from the USA.

I honestly don't understand the general negativity on here for holidays with children. It absolutely IS still a holiday with young children, lots of people enjoy them.

Ours are DS6 and DD2, and our holidays with them have genuinely been the best times of my life, absolutely love it. No stressful jobs, no routines, just totally relaxed and fun. They've been to Majorca, Menorca, Salou, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, France (Disneyland Paris 4 times) and off to Florida later this year. We've also done lots of UK breaks - hotels, caravans, CenterParcs and MUCH prefer being abroad.

OP sounds like you've been very unlucky with your accommodation unfortunately 😕 I'd agree with another poster that beach days are far easier than pool at that age. Also out and about exploring and day trips. Hope it gets better for you.

Everyone seems to be questioning your decision but plenty of people take toddlers on hot weather holidays - you just need to adjust - look what the locals do. Out for walks before breakfast, some play / beach / pool in the early morning, long siesta between 11 and 3 then out again late afternoon. Later bedtime to compensate for siesta. Eat later, lots of snacks especially fruit and ice lollies as they will help with hydration as well. Use lots of sunscreen 20 mins before you leave the room, and cover up with hats and long sleeves as well. Good luck!

I've never understood why anyone would take an under 5 to the blistering heat for a "holiday".
WTAF. How did you think it was gonna go?

@holly201 I totally understand, currently abroad with a 3 year old and everthing is a battle, I thought it would be easier as she gets older but it’s not.

Its not relaxing at all xx

I was on holiday in Greece and the room was nothing like we'd been promised being dark, small and tatty with dodgy wifi. We complained and I think we paid a bit extra to be upgraded to a better room. We ended up in a new room which was lovely and large, bright and modern. It definitely changed how I felt about the holiday. (They were progressively updating the facilities and we had ended up in the old part.)