Kids Clubs on holiday

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Yesterday I met up with a groups of uni friends. Most of us are now mums.

Majority have booked beachy type hotel hoildays for this year.

My friend has just returned from the Canaries with her 16 month old. 2 weeks, maybe Sensatori?. Her DS spent every afternoon in the kids club, as he did last year at 6 months old.

My other friend has booked a similar thing for her 5 month old next month.

AIBU that I haven't booked any of this sort of stuff and I'm looking forward to spending time as a family or is this the done thing now a days??

(I'm talking babies not children)

Would clubs take them at months old?

Not in places we've stayed. The kids club at the resort we stayed on in Mexico last year had a minimum age of 2 up to a max of 12 for the "kids club" then in the evenings they had a teens club for older kids with basketball and video games. Most of the kids in the club each afternoon were in the 5 - 10 age group. My two younger ones loved it - the staff were all very professional and they had some fun activities.

I would never judge anyone wanting a break - it was lovely being able to safely drop the kids in the club, let the eldest go off to play Xbox or basketball for an hour and sit and have a cocktail in the bar.

yes a prison staffed by fully qualified nursery nurses choc full of toys, games and other awful things

The kids club at the resort in mexico did hair braiding, face painting, treasure hunts, pinata games, cartoons, art activities and too many other things to mention. One afternoon they had a chef come along and demonstrate watermelon carving and they all got to try and do it themselves afterwards. They made dragonflies out of beads and string and met friends from all over the world. They MUCH preferred being at kids' club to being with us.

Sod DS I might book in Luna.

And yes some do take babies, which what I'm posting about not children who actually do activities, I was posting about under 1s.

Our kids love them. We make a point of booking hotels that have kids' clubs. Usually we spend the morning together and then they go to the kids' clubs for a couple of hours after lunch.

Sometimes DH and I do use that time to have sex in the afternoons. Occasionally we even have a post coital snooze. It's fab.

We used a crèche on holiday when DS was a toddler, 2 hours a day, we didn't use it everyday. It was a large air conditioned room with qualified staff so it kept him out of the sun during the hottest part of the day with toys in a safe environment. It meant dh and I could go for a child free lunch. Or just relax without child in tow. Holidays with small children are hard work! We did lots of other family focussed activities but we needed our down time too.

"Kids clubs are not prison, they are fun"

Well said!!! Some of my friends are wide eyed at my husband & I using the leisure centre kids club for DS for some days of the holidays. We both work full time & have no helpful local family members.

He has fun, he's not stuck in a dark lonely place with nothing to do.

I dream of going out for a meal and not having to push all cutlery and glasses out the way and be ready to catch flung food and eat with one hand.

Well for us it gives us a chance to get the babies out of the hot sun for a bit, and they usually ended up having a nap or just playing in the cool air conditioning, in addition to giving us a chance to do things like water sports, para-sailing or just having a drink without chasing a toddler.

The minute mine saw all the toys and other kids they stopped caring if I was there.

I went out of my way to find a short haul resort that would take under 2s (Martinhal Sagres, heaven on earth for families) and both DD 5yo and DS 19mo went every morning to the kids club. DS never turned his head to watch us leave and DD said it was the best part of her holiday, she even signed up for extra evening sessions (disco party). Best decision ever, DH and I ate breakfast on a balcony overlooking the ocean and got to have sex!

We do a bit of both on holiday. We'll have meals together and then the kids will go off for activities with other kids some mornings and afternoons. Some days we'll go off as a family to do something.
Being together 24/7 wouldn't work for us. I also enjoy doing stuff without DH and visa versa

My eldest was such hard work that we always went somewhere with a kids club from when he was about 1.5 - 4. After that we did SC but this year we are back to kids clubs in a hotel as he's 13 and wants to hang out with other teens. The younger 2 can go if they like or not if they don't, up to them

I had always either not used them or dd had gone for a couple of hours.
When we went to a resort which was a water sports holiday the holiday club lasted from 8am to 10pm most days. They did water sports, tennis and indoor sports plus art and crafts and could eat with kids staff. At night there was creche and a disco. There were groups for babies who had their own nannies.

One girl dd made friends with was in all day everyday while her Mum did watersports in the day and went out and got pissed at night. On the day off for kids club she wandered round alone. I found it sad to be honest. Its nice to have a break and time to your self but every day?

NoncommittalToSparkleMotion
Would clubs take them at months old?

Neilson resorts take them from 4 months old. They can be in morning and afternoon and some nights have a sleep club too.

We only discovered kids clubs a few years back. Absolute game changer. First time a holiday had been a holiday for us too as we got a bit of peace every day too.

Of course it depends if thats important to you or not, but for us, it made the holiday. We were able to spend time with the kids, and also get a break too

Absolutely! When ours were younger we would book only places with kids clubs. They loved them. Once in Portugal, we even got to have an evening together as they had a fun pyjama evening until 10pm. Fabulous...

Does sound as if you are fishing for compliments and praise for yourself and criticism of the other parents

Nothing wrong with either approach -kids clubs or not

But you know many children actually like and prefer the company of other children rather than being stuck with adults or just siblings all day - this is part of the socialisation that some children prefer and benefit from

Also Many parents need a break - not everyone has endless grandparents and friends and family who will help at the drop of a hat - these clubs give parents their holiday

Sure not your intention to come across all judgey but it reminds me of my mother who was against nurseries for preschool kids along the lines of if you have them look after them yourself - except of course she benefited enormously from the help of her extended family so she was not always looking after them herself - and she just refused to see the benefit to children of learning playing with others in their peer group rather than just always being with family - nor was she keen to acknowledge the fact not everyone would be as fortunate as her in having help on hand so therefore may need to use nurseries

I'm posting this from by the pool while my 2 year old DD is at the kids club, so may be slightly biased. It's been great!

We have breakfast together, then she goes off the 'nursery' for a couple of hours. Definitely not prison, it's a room full of toys and enthusiastic English speaking staff. Yesterday they went to the beach, today they took them to the kids pool.

Me and DH get a couple of hours by the pool together (I've read two books!), she gets some time out of the sun and playing with other kids. Then we pick her up for a family lunch and walk before naptime. Then we have an afternoon swim and chill out before dinner together-we're getting plenty of family time.

She's used to two-days a week at nursery at home while I work so figured she'd be bored with just me and DH for company! She's loving it, we're loving it and I'm actually feeling relaxed for the first time in a while. It's well worth the money!

Benefits to kids:

1. Having fun with other kids, new toys and staff who love looking after small children

2. Having parents who have enjoyed a few hours together without DC and are happier and well rested

3. applies more to older kids (though also somewhat to babies) but 2) applies to any age kids.

DH and I have just come back from Fueteventura. The hotel we stayed in had kids' clubs from 3-13. The kids looked like they were having an absolute ball. They had games in the pool, were taken off to the beach, all sorts. They could even have their dinner in a little corner of the restaurant with the entertainers while their parents ate in peace.

If our kids were still small I'd be booking them in if they liked it or not.

Personally I would not put such small children - 6 months or 16 months in a kids club in a place I didn't know well.

I don't feel comfortable leaving my DC in nursery as I've had a previous very bad experience with someone taking care of my child and I know you can never really know what's going on even if a place seems ok. I do leave my children in nursery as I have no choice but to work - it gets much easier as they get older.

On holiday I like spending them with my children for a certain period of time - but I absolutely love when DH takes them off somewhere - I really appreciate being alone for once and being able to relax. When I hear them coming back I'm secretly disappointed my peace is over!