To want to go on a long weekend away in Europe with 1 1/2 year old?

[fairybeagle]

DH doesn't really think it's worth it but I love the idea! Where would you go for a long weekend in Europe with a baby?

Depends. How Mobil is the baby? Nothing is worse than a toddler trying to get out of the buggy and no safe space to run around.

Also, what do your u plan to do? If you can’t do visits to galleries or museums now you won’t magically be able to do them somewhere else. Or you have to resign to just do the child friendly bits. We went to lots of places with DD from babyhood onwards but were always prepared to finish early.

We did trips at that age but it was always I. Connection with relatives and where we have been before so it was that we paid a small fortune and didn’t manage to do anything worthwhile.

Go somewhere you really want to go that might be boring for preschoolers. At 18 months they don't need so much actual kid stuff - just a chance to toddle around. Google play parks in the city to stop off at occasionally and make the meals fun eg picnics.

We went to Prague with a 3.5yo and it would have been better when she was your dd's age as she was a bit too bored. Save the really child-friendly cities for when they're older and need more things to do.

Wherever you want to go! I don’t buy in to the ‘must do kid-focussed stuff only’ mentality. Ime with my dc, because we’ve done the stuff like art galleries and museums and stately homes and sightseeing with them from day dot, they’re great at it. Yes you make it relevant to them and include park trips and the like but it’s also great to get them to experience (and learn how to behave appropriately at) more adult-focussed activities too.

Interesting. At 18-24 months my DD was def a case of "I need to do something" and just looking at stuff or walking around was out. Unless we were something really kids friendly we couldn't enjoy it as adults.

At 2-4 she was able to engage a lot better and had fun walking around, looking at stuff and wanting to go places.

And we ferried her around basically from birth to museums, castles, exhibitions etc. I think it was a case of realising that she was mobile and could do things on her own.

We're off to Madrid with our 18 month old in a few weeks. It baffles me why people stop travelling just because they have children! And I say that with an extremely high-needs one!

We went to Nice, Granada, Italian Riviera between 6 months and 2 years. Anywhere pretty to stroll round and nice places for lunch. She was quite amenable to sit in a high chair though. She got lots of fuss made of her as she was very fair.