To ask if you’ve had a nice holiday with your kids?

[sandytoes84]

Currently pregnant and naively thinking about lovely future holidays with child (children if I’m lucky enough to have another).

I feel like all I’ve read this summer on AIBU is how awful holidays with kids are and what a terrible waste of time and money mumsnetters are experiencing.

So I’d like to ask, did YOU have a a nice holiday? (I hope you did!) And what did you do/where did you go?

I never understand the moaning on here about holidays with children here either

Same. I've been all over the place with my children. Europe, Thailand, US, Canada, UAE. I'm a single parent as well.

It's actually been the first year that we have had a lovely family holiday with minimal drama.

Kidlets are 14 and 10 and finally both very competent swimmers so not as much anxiety around water for me. No a&e visits (last family holiday DS needed stitches within 17 hours of arriving). One teenage meltdown in the entire 2 weeks. Both old enough to appreciate things and not need early nights or naps.

Both kids got on amazingly well with hardly any arguments. DS kept carrying DD around on his shoulders in the water and chucking her in. Everyone just seemed to be really happy!

Holidays with younger kids are still lovely but I just used to find myself just as stressed and anxious, just in a warmer place 😂

Oh and last year we camped with DS 18m in UK. It was hard getting him to sleep the first evening, we weren't realistic in our expectations, but from then on it was lovely.

It REALLY depends what sort of person you are. If your idea of a holiday is late nights, long meals around a table for hours, lazy lie ins and the sort of activities/socialising that bore children, you are in for a shock.

If you like mooching on beaches, outdoor activities, enjoy tourist attractions that appeal to kids (castles, steam trains, boat rides, things involving animals) & understand your kids may well wake up at their normal early hour and may not cope well with late nights/routine changes.... you can have a great time

Great holidays with a baby.
Terrible holidays when they were walking - 3.
Great hols post-3

Last year we took my just turned two year old to Rome. It was wet, and we stayed a fair bit away from the centre, but he loved it! He's quite into transport vehicles, so journeys were an attraction in itself. I have the most beautiful picture of DS in the Colleseum. I have pictures of him touching the cobblestones on the floor around the Pantheon because they interested him. He slept during our Vatican tour lol. We did some bus tours to see sites without the faff of too much walking around with the buggy and it gave him a chance to nap). It was a lovely city break that I'd been warned against by many.

Tbh beach holidays bore me to no end. But he loves beaches, so we have taken him to places with multiple beaches but each very different. We've been on many holidays, but each self catering because I love cooking local foods. He's a fussy eater so I always walk with his staples.

I also suspect that holidays with one DC are easier than with two DC.

I've only ever had nice holidays with DS (granted there were some bad individual bits though like flights or staying at my uncles super unbaby friendly house in order to visit ill dgm/go to the funeral) but the overall experience was always nice.

I was lucky that DS wasn't a very routiney baby/toddler so would stay up at weddings or happily go to sleep in people's arms. We usually go as an extended family or to stay with/see friends which makes things easier.

With our first we were all “baby won’t change anything, he’ll have to fit in” HA! Yeah right. Cue the holiday from hell. We went to Majorca in May, all inclusive, and he hated every second of it from the minute we got on the plane till the minute it touched down again. Stuck in one room with a screaming baby, it was too cold to swim, the food was vile, the resort was grim, it put me off for life (at the time).

We stuck to Haven for the next few years which was great, as the caravans have lots of room and there’s plenty to do. All my kids ever wanted to do was bloody swim anyway. I was then sufficiently recovered from the holiday from hell to try going abroad again so we went to Bulgaria (20 years ago before it was so popular) and it was lovely. I don’t remember any other crappy holidays since.

Going on holiday with little ones is hard work though. You need so much bloody kit just for a day at the beach or the pool and within five minutes someone has fallen over or forgotten their floatie or needs a wee. I love lying by the pool now and watching the young families; it makes me both happy it’s not me and nostalgic for the sheer fun that we used to have.

“I also suspect that holidays with one DC are easier than with two DC.”

Yes. Sibling bickering and vying for attention is the most wearing thing.

Loving the hols! My kids don't argue (big age gap!) That's the key. It's very calm. Apart from the bonkers dogs

@minipie when they are younger then yes totally agree that it's easier with one 😂

Now mine are older it's easier with 2 as they entertain each other. DD (10) adores her older brother (14), they got on so well. When she wanted company in the pool he was straight in with her if we didn't want to get in. He taught her how to do handstands in the water. They played cards together, swapped books, he even comforted her when she got a bit scared on the flight.

Has some amazing holidays when DC1 was preschool age - Disney world, Europe, lots of fun. DC 2 is a different kettle of fish, worse sleeper, harder work in general but we still enjoy our holidays. Admittedly they are not what we would choose if it were just us a couple but we pick places that have kids entertainment, bad weather options, lots of different pools and sports activities. It's seems to work. Certainly never had a "bad" holiday. This year was the first we've done abroad since DC2 was born (nearly 4 now) because I didn't feel like spending £1000s on foreign holidays to be kept awake every night so up till now we've done cheap and cheerful holiday park ones on the south coast. We've also done lots of camping. This year we went abroad and apart from a slight drama before hand where we had to change everything last minute, the holiday itself was fab. Loads of DC to do, lovely location, lots of adventures. We're off again on a cheap and cheerful UK hol with friends tomorrow for the week. Usual set up, holiday park with pool and activities. There will be 9 children between us all and we will have a blast.

It's all about being realistic and adjusting your expectations. No, you will not get a Sandals paradise dream relax retreat until your DC are much older. But you can have loads of fun if you pick the right place, do your research and plan.

Most of my with-kids holidays have been nice. One was a disaster, abroad with grandparents and youngish kids just went bonkers and gps spoiled them all day everyday. We've found out we don't do well in a single room hotel for any more than 1 night - we all need more space than that so studio apartment, adjoining rooms, air bnb, camping, mobile homes etc all fine.
Other than that it's (mostly) all good.

BTW don't try and cosleep with a newborn on a single air mattress in a tent! How I didn't accidentally kill her is beyond me, except for spending most of the night awake worrying.

3 DCs now grown.

Best holidays were on campsites in France & Spain. To start with we camped in our own tent. First holiday when oldest was still a baby. As the family got bigger we got bigger tents.

Eventually we decided to give mobile homes a go. This was a revelation - our own toilet and shower! Campsites gave us freedom, no need to dress up, eat what and when we wanted. Being somewhere warm we could eat outside so didnt need to worry about spilled food. Each mobile home had a small garden & deck area so DCs had somewhere to play outside. There were playgrounds & pools where DCs made friends. There were always small pleasure such as taking DCs lizzard spotting

Having our own car meant we could go out and about. It didnt count as a holiday until we had been to a castle and a market. We always made clear to the DCs how long we would be out and tried to make sure we would be back at the campsite in time to go to the pool or playground after any outing.

Dont expect too much of yourselves or your children. Dont expect to have to do something every single moment. Relax and find the humour in stuations. One of the family legends is the mobile home where the toilet was so small that you had to combine closing the door, dropping trousers and sitting down into a single movement. Get any part wrong and you would have to try and extricate yourself and start again. It still makes us laugh now.

I think it depends on the kind of person you are, OP. If you're very uptight, then holidays with kids are probably going to be quite stressful.

Me and DP are very laid back and we've had loads of good holidays with our kids! Usually short city breaks around Europe. Trips to the beach too. The beach with toddlers/young kids is so fun! They love it!!

We adore family holidays but you need to accept that: (i) it's all about the kids; (ii) it is not relaxing; (iii) sometimes it will be hard. Once you acknowledge all of this, they are wonderful, endearing, exhausting and full of memories to be treasured.

We only go on holiday in the UK at the moment because I detest airports, I want short journeys and I want to throw everything into the car. DD is too young yet to understand or appreciate sun holidays. She will play on the beach in all weather. But I'm excited for overseas holidays when she's older.

I think it's also what you expect to get out of the holiday. If you are going for rest & relaxation as you might have done pre DC then you are going to be disappointed.
We enjoyed watching our DC have fun so holidays were quite child focused. Obviously there were bits for us too that the kids had to endure, but generally as pp's have said - if the kids are happy we are too.

I've enjoyed all my holidays with my DCs, now 9 and 6yo. When they were very small we had a villa or UK cottage so we could feed when needed, more space etc,nobody waking us up on top of baby waking us. I adjusted my expectations eg I knew I couldn't sunbathe, would spend a lot of time doing drudge stuff like dishwasher duty, washing bottles etc but made DH pull his weight too. We went out for lunch most days, nice glass of wine, afternoon nap for me and baby. Easy dinner in the villa.

Now they are older it's a piece of piss. We are staying in a UK hotel by the beach currently. They love hotels as the breakfast is a novelty. We are lucky to afford to stay in a decent one in a family suite so we have enough space. They sleep until 8am when we all go down to breakfast. They can organise themselves, get dressed, brush teeth etc. We can put them in the kids club fir some peace and quiet. They love the pool and will spend hours in there. As they can both swim I can sit and watch them if I don't feel like swimming. They enjoy piddling about on the beach so I can sit with a book. It's great!

We also enjoyed all inclusive in majorca as it was easy. Entertainment wasn't our cup of tea but it was relaxing. Center parcs in Netherlands was awesome.

If we were camping, holidaying on a tight budget or with other people (I need my space) it would be a lot harder. I'm also lucky my DS has grown out of a condition which put him in hospital twice on holiday in the past. They have no allergies or special needs either.

We have great holidays. We mostly go camping or to villas, we're planning to start going camping abroad next year though.

The key is having enough planned to make everyone happy. A pool, outdoor toys, plenty of books and board games (and wine for DP and me!) does my lot beautifully still at 13, 10, 7 and a baby.

We also do 'adventures' where DP and I plan them a mystery day trip and they spend the journey guessing where we are going. It seems to make the whole day more fun, DD2 is bloody brilliant at guessing though!

Lots of nice holidays with dc to various places.
We make sure that the dc are involved in choosing and that there’s something for everyone.
The children have never been a problem. Exh on the other hand was a nightmare.

Yes thanks.

We hired the villa, they just had to pay for their flights. They clubbed together to get a car.

Good to spend time together.

They, 3 children + 3 partners all get on well together.

Tons of lovely holidays with kids.
Mainly self catering but also hotels and road trips.
We tend to try to do everything together so have arranged the day so that tiny children get an afternoon nap so that they can stay up to all eat together in a restaurant or the hotel. No AI or holiday clubs . Any babies have just slept in buggy while we were out.
I would avoid villa with pool if DC are not safe around water but the beach is fun and there are usually municipal pools in France or wherever if you feel like a swim
We do a mixture of sightseeing and lounging and enjoy eating out as well as BBQ .
I don't mind all sharing a room although interconnecting is better.
Travelling around with older children can be a bit trying if they get bored in the car but as long as everyone's interests are taken into account we have enjoyed this.
Don't be fearful it is the best tome of the year as far as I am concerned.

When our two were babies we did package holidays in term time, cheap and cheerful and they were brilliant. We would walk along seafront while they slept in the pushchair.

They're 6 and 4 now and need a bit more entertaining and have their own ideas of what constitutes a good time. Overall we've had a good holiday but we've had a few seriously impressive tantrums, the like of which I've never seen at home!

We always have great holidays!

I think it depends what you expect from a holiday. We always go self catering as we're a vegetarian/vegan family & it's so much easier. I don't care about a bit of cooking, DH does his fair share with everything (cooking, washing up, bathing the kids etc).

We've had mostly caravan holidays in the uk but went abroad last year & it was amazing. Lots of time at the pool either in the water with the kids or watching from the side, beach days & a little bit of site-seeing but being happy to let the kids play in playgrounds rather than look at historic buildings etc

Plenty of ice creams & buying some silly but fun souveniers, writing postcards etc I love holidays!

We're doing some work on the house this year so can't afford it (either time or money) but the kids get new bedrooms out of it so they are excited!

I've got to say I don't think we have had a bad family holiday apart from taking my mum Gran and dad with us as they were so selfish and Dd screamed the whole time.

Every other holiday has been ok and we've enjoyed it and had good memories. Dd was saying a few weeks back (she's 19 now) that she loved everything we did. As we lived in Edinburgh we would take a donder up town and go to museums etc. We'd go swimming (had David Lloyd membership) go fruit picking to the zoo or the local farms and that she's glad she had those memories. Her favourite was us taking a picnic but we always got ice cream or a cake.

The worst summer holiday was the year I broke my foot and couldn't walk all summer.