To take a 5 month old on a girls' weekend to Paris

[Patapouf]

Has anyone done this and has tips to make it less stressful? I know the baby will get nothing out of it but I am not ready to leave him at home with DH for 2 nights just yet and I'm desperate to make the most of mat leave.

Travelling by Eurostar, probably stay in an Airbnb. Planning a bit of sightseeing but mainly mooching about, sitting in cafés and stocking up on skincare and food or maybe not having seen the value of the pound

Friends will be hands on and help as much as they can but I'm very anxious that it will be disastrous. Baby is BF (not going well), but mostly EBM so worrying about the logistics of expressing or BF out and about. I also can't imagine trying to manoeuvre a pram on the narrow pavements. I know babies live in Paris, I did too once, but I'm a worrier.

Can I make this work? How can I pack light?

I suppose my AIBU should really be how can I be less nervous about travelling with a baby?

But who will stand up for the poor menz who are also the babies parents doncha know? So what if mum is BF the baby is still 50% the dad doncha know?

I'd go if I was completely sure my friends were happy for me to bring the baby and they werent just being polite.

It could be a nice break for you all.

@SnuggyBuggy have you had a drink this morning?

Gosh what a thread. OP I’ve travelled extensively with ebf babies from 10 weeks onwards and it is very doable.

You need a pop up cot (I had the koo di pop up bassinet which was ace), an ergo baby and preferably a babyzen yo-yo. Then just go!

Personally for a girls weekend at that stage I would have probably left my babies for a night and just gone early one morning and come back the next evening - but that would have been to give me a break. If you don’t want the break from your baby then go for it! (Although, if funds permit, would your dh consider coming to Paris too and staying separately with your baby? Then you could pop over and see them a couple of times and still preserve the adults only girly weekend vibe, and your dh could have a nice couple of days hanging with baby binge watching tv in a nice hotel in his pants )

I have a baby of a similar age and I'd do it. Baby is ebf and comes everywhere with very little fuss and is v happy in a sling. Providing you don't share a room and you just join in where you can rather than people changing things to accommodate you, i cant see the problem personally. Expressing and sorting the bottles is more tricky but not insurmountable.

Travelling with kids is easiest when they are tiny.

What is the bedroom set up OP? I asked earlier in the thread but cant see if you've replied. Will you have your own room?

@SandraOhshair nothing is booked, so I don't know! I would want to have our own room, as much for my friends' sake as mine.

I think that's the main thing for me, the sleeping arrangements. I think your friends are being a little naive, even if they are well meaning. But a room share would be horrific! The rest can just be accommodated.

If your friends are happy with it and you are confident about taking him, then yes I would take the baby. I wouldn't leave a 5 month old either. I would cancel it however if there's a chance some of your friends are unhappy with the idea.

I live in Paris and have 2 DC.

Metros are awful for prams/pushchairs and people them hate having pushchairs squeezed on only to listen to a wailing overheated baby (the metros are HOT).

My tips:
Sling as much as possible

Use the buses as much as possible - they cover Paris well and are much more pushchair friendly (and cooler than the metro)

Bring calpol. Yes there is a French equivalent but my DC insist that they taste very different and when a child needs it, its not the time to try and persuade them to have something new.

Nappies are far more expensive here than in the UK.

I’m another one who’d groan inwardly at the idea of a baby coming on a girls’ trip - and I’m a teetotal 30-something! You don’t have to be a raging party animal to prefer adult company.

That said, it’s totally irrelevant because the friends in this scenario are OK with it. With that in mind OP I’d go for it. Can’t offer you any tips though as I’m one of those awful childless people who hates their parent-friends.

Repeating myself. It might well be fine, but there's a lot of scope for stuff to go wrong > bad sleep, teething, random temperature and vomming, crap weather, Eurostar strikes post-Brexit... seriously just leave it for six months. Paris will still be there next year.

Is there any chance you can leave the baby with DH? (Sorry of this has already been covered)

It would be a nice opportunity to take some time with your friends etc
Bringing a baby along would def change the dynamic of a girls weekend

If your friends have never had kids I think you are going to be testing your friendships with this trip. The fact you are asking for tips on travelling there suggests you have a) never been there and b) have not travelled with your baby very often. We love travelling and have been lucky enough to have been all over the world with our kids since they were 6 months old - but I would not either recommend someone take a baby to Paris and I would not want to go to Paris with someone with such a young baby unless we were going to stay in a house with no intention of leaving it. If you are planning on going I would recommend a trial run of going away for a weekend to see what its like. But even then, there are many major capital cities I would recommend it would be easy to travel with a baby to, but Paris is sadly not one of them. The streets and pavements are narrow, the main forms of public transport like the metro and buses would be very hard work with a baby. And there are loads over tourists in the better weather months.

Just to add, I'd not be keen on a baby coming along on a girls weekend in Paris

I've got 2 DC and would be happy to leave them with DH and spend a weekend in Paris!

I don’t understand anyone who’d be angry at their friend for bringing a baby along. Babies are wonderful and add so much joy to things like this, especially in cafes and things where they can be fussed over - what a bunch of misery gutses half of you are! I’d be so sad if my friends thought like that. Have a lovely time with your little one OP.

ittakes2 OP has said she used to live in Paris and is planning to go in November.

especially in cafes

Is there any chance you can leave the baby with DH? (Sorry of this has already been covered)

Erm... Possibly once or twice...

Bringing a baby along would def change the dynamic of a girls weekend

I have a feeling that might have been mentioned two.

OP is looking for tips for travelling with a baby btw, not people to tell her what a bad ides it is. (It isn't).

OP I hope you have a wonderful time with your friends.

No way!

Sorry but no.

I think you either need to go and enjoy the trip or stay at home with the baby.

For everyone saying it's a bad idea, is that based on personal experience of travelling with an infant? I know some of you have said so, but there are lots of posts just saying 'no' with no elaboration as to why...

It really depends on baby’s temperament! Mine would have been a screaming nightmare. Other babies are happy to look at everything with big calm eyes and sleep.

I’d probably book one with a low cancellation fee!

is that based on personal experience of travelling with an infant

For me. Yes.

Purely from a feeding pov: I had to mix feed (triple feed, pump/breast/formula trying to get my supply established) . It was a fucking nightmare. Pumping kit crap - nowhere private to pump, one of the little valve things got crushed so I had to Amazon prime a new valve out, nowhere to keep expressed milk cool. Then the bloody batteries ran out. Didn't realize how fast pumps eat batteries because I'd only ever plugged into mains electricity before. Cue an emergency purchase of a manual pump while away, which was a shite no research purchase that I got ripped off on. And that's before I start to remember the faff involved in trying to make up formula on the go when my expressed milk hd been out for hours and spoiled - no microwave, no drinking water aside from carrying around a bottle of mineral water, to add to the tonne of crap I was already carrying.

Honestly, I'm getting flashbacks of horror just remembering that newborn trip (within the UK too, with DH there as backup!!).

That does sound hideous @PlutocratCow

I think I'd feel far more positive about travel if BF was going swimmingly!