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Original poster

Honeymoon when you have young children

57 replies

Yamaya · 29/07/2021 08:24

What did you do? Just not have one or take them with you? It's not much of a honeymoon then is it!

We have one parent between us but he is in his 70s and hasn't offered to watch the children for us. I have a brother and sister in law but they aren't very interested and certainly wouldn't offer.

OP posts:

HalfTermHalfTerm · 29/07/2021 08:58

@MakeCrisps

What is a honeymoon when you already have kids anyway? It's just a holiday.

A honeymoon was once a period of getting to know someone intimately, but that's been and gone for you.

To be fair to the OP it’s been and gone for the majority of people who are getting married, I’d say. Not just people who have children.

My parents got married when I was little OP. We had a family holiday together (the 3 of us ) and then they had a few days away in the UK while I stayed with my grandparents. It’s a shame that’s not an option for you!

angelaEhen · 29/07/2021 09:02

I took mine with me on a familymoon, felt special to have them with us to celebrate they were 2 and 6

Original poster

Yamaya · 29/07/2021 09:05

Thanks for all the good ideas and options. There are some I hadn't considered. Maybe taking a "honeymoon /holiday" on the one year anniversary will be a better option with the kids being that bit older.

OP posts:

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Families

userchange902 · 29/07/2021 09:08

Once you've got children why would you want to go away for more than a day or two without them?

Um because everyone is different and there is no one on this planet, my children included, who I want to be with 24/7. I think it is really healthy for children to build relationships with other family members and it's only this modern day life we expect parents to want to live the nuclear life 24/7. Have done several breaks without the kids, kids will be staying with family for 2 weeks in august because I need to work and they live further away, perfectly healthy and normal for those of us who have good family childcare options, something my kids get very excited about and create brilliant memories. I remember fondly my breaks at my grandparents house.

Mumdiva99 · 29/07/2021 09:12

We took our 3 with us. But they were older 7, 9 and 11 at the time. It wasn't a honeymoon as such but was a nice holiday.
(When I was pg with the first we did a nice last couples break away.....even that wasn't traditional honeymoon due to me being 7.5 months pg).

When you become a family then that takes priority. Things fit around the family. I think your idea of having a nice holiday next year when youngest is a little easier is a lovely compromise.

HappyDaysToCome · 29/07/2021 09:18

I had an 11 month old. So it was just a holiday really. And not a very relaxing one. Didn’t occur to us to not take him.

Im hoping for a 25th anniversary trip to Hawaii. I’ve been there once and always wanted to honeymoon there, before I spilt it by having a baby first!

wendz86 · 29/07/2021 09:20

Took my 2 year old (at the time) and my parents then we had some evenings off etc while my parents looked after her. Not the most romantic but i couldn't have left her for a week.

Iwonder08 · 29/07/2021 09:26

Take them with you. Both of them can spend some times in kids club if you are going to stay in a good hotel. They will also have babysitters in a hotel. You can hire them a couple of times so you can have a romantic dinner. I would go

mongoosebaby · 29/07/2021 09:39

We had to take ours. To make it special we booked a much more luxury hotel than we would normally, booked a suite so we weren't all in one room and went somewhere where we could book Ofsted registered childcare- which we used twice for a couple of hours in the spa and one meal out when they were sleeping. It was a fabulous holiday but we had adjusted our expectations. It wasn't really a honeymoon in the traditional sense but we had travelled extensively pre kids so didn't feel like we were missing out! Can you book a night nanny for your wedding night instead or similar? Not cheap but it is a special occasion.

MarmaladeToastAndAMarmaladeCat · 29/07/2021 10:27

I’d take them, look for somewhere with kids clubs, crèche, baby-sitting service etc and try and get a few hours together every day and you can also enjoy relaxing evenings once they are in bed. Might not be as relaxing as a child free honeymoon but you can still have a nice time.

korawick12345 · 29/07/2021 10:30

@Nobloat21

We binned ours off. No point taking them.

What the children?

Nobloat21 · 29/07/2021 10:47

Yes! And it was said with humour

korawick12345 · 29/07/2021 10:55

@Nobloat21

Yes! And it was said with humour

TBF, seems like the only sensible solution!

ComDummings · 29/07/2021 10:59

We just didn’t have one.

ComDummings · 29/07/2021 11:02

Well we did have a night in a hotel on our wedding night so I guess that counts as the honeymoon? My parents had the kids.

CornishGem1975 · 29/07/2021 11:02

We've badgered inlaws into having them but we're not going abroad as I wouldn't feel that comfortable being that far away from my youngest.

RevolvingPivot · 29/07/2021 11:05

We took ours to Disney land for a week. Even had separate rooms with a kid each. They were too young for the rides ( 2 and 4) no idea what I was thinking!!!!

Reallybadidea · 29/07/2021 11:05

We couldn't afford one and didn't want to leave the baby for more than a night. 21 years and 3 more children later, I'm hoping that we might do something amazing for our silver wedding when they'll all be adults

JudgeRindersMinder · 29/07/2021 11:08

It’s our 25th wedding anniversary this year-we’re hoping to go away, and that’ll be the honeymoon we didn’t have 😂

JudgeRindersMinder · 29/07/2021 11:09

@Reallybadidea

Haha I didn’t see your post! Great minds think alike 😂😂

tenredthings · 29/07/2021 11:16

We didn't have one. No one to look after the kids, we joke we'll have it one day when DC have flown the nest !

HollysBush · 29/07/2021 11:21

We were married young with an 18 month old at the time. My parents wouldn’t have him and mother in law said you’re a family now, you won’t want to be without him. So the 3 of us went on ‘honeymoon’ we did have fun despite the tantrums.
Our first holiday alone together was 19 years later when our children had gone to university.

SquashMinusIsShit · 29/07/2021 11:23

If you went on a package holiday with kids club/creche you could try to get some alone time but unfortunately in your circumstances you won't get a week away alone.

BatmanBaby · 29/07/2021 11:30

We are going away for two weeks and we are so lucky that both our families have offered to pitch in and have the kids for us! We know how lucky we are to have this offer. I can't understand the people saying why would you take a holiday away from your children! The kids will eventually grow up and leave home, they are a lovely part of our lives, but we are still us and still a couple, and I think it's good for the children to see that, and not have our whole lives focused only on them and no time for us!

I hope you mange to get something sorted so you can have some time together just you two, it;s so important to not just be mum and dad.

Maireas · 29/07/2021 11:38

@Yamaya

Yeah, I know what the options are realistically. I think I am just surrounded with people who still have their mums or their partners mums who are all too willing to take the children for a couple of nights. But that's not our reality.

If it's not your reality, that's the way it is. It wasn't ours, you just have to manage. A honeymoon was for a newly wedded couple to have their first time on their own together. You'll just need to wait until they're older if that's what you want.

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