To not want to go on holiday?

[HopelesslyHopeful87]

As a general disclaimer, I have quite bad anxiety and I think I may have over thought this. Didn't sleep a wink last night for worrying.

Holiday is booked for Easter holidays. We are booked to go in a static caravan. Me, DP, DD, DSD, DS and 4 month old DD. We are going with friends and their two DC in an 8 berth caravan. It was booked over a year ago before I knew I was expecting DD. Therefore there will be ten of us in the caravan. Wouldn't be a problem usually as two of the girls would top and tail.

The reasons for my worries are:

• DD is only four months old
• We will have to take her whole life with us
• She doesn't sleep brilliantly and is currently in a shit sleep regression
• There is nowhere in the caravan for her to sleep
• There is nowhere in the caravan for me to attempt a semblance of her bedtime routine.
• She has just got out of hospital with severe bronchiolitis which needed three days of intensive care where she almost needed ventilating. Thankfully that didn't happen. I am therefore worried about her being out in the cold and going swimming etc
• She also has reflux
• She is a very light sleeper to the point where us just turning over in bed at night disturbs ber

I am so anxious about not being able to keep her in routine that I've worked so hard to put in. Naps I can work around but at night we do bath, low lights and quiet and a bottle then in her crib in the dark and she self settles with Ewan. In a caravan the travel cot doesn't fit in the main bedroom does it so where will I put her to sleep? The van will be busy and with all the six other kids I don't see how I can do it.

It's making me not want to go. I feel like I'll be the only one bothered about how she sleeps and I'll be trying not to disturb the other kids and the other adults. It was decided that we would sleep in the living room sofa bed thing and the other adults would have the main bedroom due to fitting the travel cot in but that is making me feel worse because I can't go to bed if everyone else is up.

Someone please help me and tell me how I can work around this. The anxiety is doing my head in and is making it so hard to see the wood for the trees. Sorry this was so long.

Even without anxiety and a poorly very young baby that is not a holiday. You are actually over crowding if more people are staying than it's advertised for.

Let your DH go with the children and you stay at home or just pay your half and look at it as a very bad decision and financial loss.

Cheapest vans at Trecco for that week are £479. As I said, there are cheaper vans in different parks if you want a holiday just for your own family.

I imagine the OP will have to pay her half of the original van if they get another one as they agreed to share with the other family.

Usually I am a'do it and you'll have a great time' poster, but even I am thinking it doesn't look good.
Can you ask the park to move you to 2 2 bed caravans, and a cheaper grade?? Then at least the adults have their own vans and you have baby with you?

Trecco Bay is a huge park, biggest in Europe I think. There will almost certainly be free vans. If ten of you turn up with only one van booked then I can pretty much guarantee that reception staff will insist you book and pay for a second van, or cheerio. We're booked for 10 days in a 6 berth in one of their parks in Yorkshire starting March 30th, paying £678. When I filled in the names of family members staying or not staying (teenage DDs are undecided), I got the maximum occupancy alert once six names had been entered. They just won't allow any more.

I'm usually a get yourself off & enjoy it poster but in this case I wouldn't be going anywhere.
It will be horrible for you & if I'm brutally honest it will be utter shit for the other family-if I was them I'd be dreading sharing a caravan with a baby, sorry.

If you do this, I doubt you'll all still be friends when the holiday is over. It sounds incredibly stressful. If you can't afford another van, send your DP on his own with the older children.

Enjoy or not is by the by, as it's not going to happen unless you book a second van.

To make it absolutely clear, if it weren't already:
No extra children topping and tailing in beds
No extra bodies kipping on the sofa (excluding two in the pull out sofa bed)
No tents pitched on the grass outside the van. (as if!)

Just, no.

Just consider that if your booking another caravan, your friend must still be expecting half of the payment for the ordinal caravan. I know I would if we booked together, they may be counting on that money as spending money.

Without saying too much and outing ourselves paying for our half for our friends is not an issue. They have purchased and any money we offer is a goodwill gesture. Our friends have made this clear and the only reason I offered half is so I don't look like a scrounger.

They are not counting on our half as their spends.

So explain the situation and be honest. Just offer 100-200 if you have it. That is a lovely amount of money.

This sounds stressful and you sound stressed. Just an idea but why don’t you

1. explain to your friends it was a lovely offer but due to baby sleeping/illness your need your own caravan.
2. Set up a go fund me account for 2nd caravan expense and get all us lovely ppl who can afford it/would like to donate to the cost.

I'll avoid the gofundme. That's not my style.

OP, only you know if you can afford the £479 for a 4 to 6 berth at TB plus spends for that week. If you do go then I suggest you and DP taking the sofa bed - only way to have your baby beside you in a travel cot, then if your older children are okay to share the twin bedroom then you can just pile your stuff on the bed in the double bedroom to give more space. You have to be very disciplined staying in vans. We've had seven in an eight berth once, and made use of the underseat storage in the living room.

Just don’t go!

Ok so they are owners so you wont get the entertainment passes anyway and they are not out of pocket so dont go. Maybe see if they have a week you can rent from them and go as a family

Could some of the older dc camp in a tent next to the van?

When you sign in and get bands for the pools etc they won't allow more than the caravan 8 berth amount. You need to ring them.

"Just consider that if your booking another caravan, your friend must still be expecting half of the payment for the ordinal caravan. I know I would if we booked together, they may be counting on that money as spending money."

Well, if the OP's DS was out of a cot when the booking was made a year ago, then the friends overbooked a van for more occupants than would be allowed. So it's their problem. The OP cannot share that van with all her family. If I or my family weren't staying in a van, then nfw would we be paying a single penny towards it. We don't fund other people's holidays.

"Could some of the older dc camp in a tent next to the van?"

No. Fire regulations will not allow this.

OP do your friends own the van? You haven't indicated this? Again, even if they do I very much doubt overoccupancy would be allowed due to safety regulations.

Friends do not own the van. They have just booked it through a holiday website.