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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Would you take a 6 week old on holiday?

218 replies

MamaFoxToBe · 13/03/2022 18:41

I'm currently pregnant with my first baby and due in mid September. Went for a meal with the in-laws today and MIL said they've booked a caravan in North Wales for the first week of Nov and they'd love for us to join them. She said she would even watch the baby in the evening if we wanted to go off and watch the entertainment etc.

I can't imagine wanting to go away six weeks after giving birth, let alone leaving the baby that early! And surely they don't want a screaming baby spoiling their sleep while they're on holiday too 🤣 I'm just thinking it's a lot of hassle with such a new baby but she seemed really keen for us to go too even though she did say she'd understand if we said no.

OP posts:

NeverDropYourMooncup · 13/03/2022 19:32

Having endured the caravan experience with in laws, my main concern is whether you are quite aware of just how shit the things that pass for mattresses are in most caravans.

The last thing you need whilst your body is still healing and ligaments are lax in for you to have to attempt to sleep on something that feels like broken concrete blocks in a sandpaper cover, mounted upon three fence posts.

And, if you have a baby anything like the sizes of mine were, it's damn near impossible to fit into a caravan toilet or shower that soon after birth - with the likelihood that you'll still be bleeding, sore and needing to keep wounds clean and keep the smell of sour milk and baby puke off your skin, you won't want to be trying to navigate having a toilet visit and shower in something about the same capacity as a double wardrobe, just with less heating and a sink getting in the way.

Now, a hotel break for the weekend might not be a bad thing - heat, posh bed, extra large shower & bath - but not a bloody caravan at the beginning of winter rain, sleet and cold. Especially not with the in laws.

gogohm · 13/03/2022 19:33

Took dd2 away at 4 weeks, road trip of over 1500 miles, flew long haul 9.5 hours with dd1 at 7 weeks

Geranium1984 · 13/03/2022 19:34

I dont think I would have wanted to share a small caravan with others (in winter!). My boy cluster fed all evening long in those early weeks so you need somewhere comfy to plonk yourself for hours of feeding.
You'll also be up in the night.
If it was a large house somewhere then id consider it. Really depends how you feel after the birth and how your baby is. They might be really easy, or they might have colic and be really unsettled 😱

User280905 · 13/03/2022 19:35

Yes to somewhere lovely and comfortable with lots of space and privacy, and catering. No to a self-catering caravan with my in-laws

Sleepy86 · 13/03/2022 19:36

We've booked Center Parcs for mid November this year (booked it back in November last year when we were on our way home from our last visit ) and I'm now pregnant and due early September. There's no way I'm cancelling it as my 4yo DD had an absolute blast last year, so we will be going with a very young baby. We're very lucky that we live about 10 minutes from our local CP and we're also going with the in-laws (MIL & FIL, SIL & her DH and their 2 DS's) so we will hopefully have some support, but I'm really looking forward to it already!

Don't be put off, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time!

Qwill · 13/03/2022 19:37

They are so easy to take away when they are that age. A caravan wouldn’t be my idea of a holiday, but if that’s something you like and have done before I would go for it! Especially if they’ll provide you with some rest it’s and help! You’re so lucky to have have family that can help!

LoudSnoringDog · 13/03/2022 19:37

We took ds 2 to Majorca at 6 weeks old. Was one of the easiest holidays with him!

Cleothecat75 · 13/03/2022 19:37

Dd1 was sleeping 12 hours a night by 6 weeks (dh went away for 2 weeks at that point and dd and I went on a mini adventure to see several of my old friends round the country). Dc2 was waking every hour and crying a lot through the night at 6 weeks. There’s no way of knowing how your baby will be, so impossible to say how your holiday would pan out.

Static Caravans are generally cramped, and we have stayed in some with no room for a cot or even a Moses basket in any of the bedrooms, in some you might just squeeze a travel cot in if you climb into bed at the foot of it. Maybe speak to the site if that is likely to be a problem to you (I know some people are happy for baby to be in another room, some definitely aren’t).

Personally, I’d be thanking them for the kind offer and asking if they wanted to rearrange for the spring when baby is a bit older, everything is more settled and the weather is better. At 6 weeks I would have found a week in a caravan with the in laws far too much to deal with.

Superbabe64 · 13/03/2022 19:38

Holiday...yes we did with 4 week old.
Caravan in North Wales in November...no!

Brainwave89 · 13/03/2022 19:38

We took our children on holiday when they were this young. We went to see my folks abroad and also went on holiday in Gernany and the Czech Republic. All went well on these occasions. Restaurants and our hotels were super supportive. In once case when we had to leave to settle the baby brining a new fresh plate of food to our room for no charge. In Asia similarly people were very good with small children. At nine months we went to a quite nice hotel in Dorset which kicked us out of their restaurant as they did not allow kids... needless to say they did not tell us when we booked the hotel!.

Ori18 · 13/03/2022 19:39

No. The very thought makes me shudder. But everyone’s different. I was just about up to moving around my house at 6 weeks pp

thefatpotato · 13/03/2022 19:39

I think it really depends on the baby. I was away at 6wo with DD but she was quite an easy newborn. DS had colic, HATED the car, and it was a very, very stressful first few mo the of his life. We did do a huge trip when he was 7weeks but we were moving abroad, not a holiday IYSWIM. I wouldn't have travelled until they'd had their first lot of vaccinations either.

SW1amp · 13/03/2022 19:39

In theory, yes but not to a caravan in north Wales in November..!

Mine were all absolutely terrible in the car. We couldn’t go to the supermarket without puce faced screaming, so no way would I have driven any distance for a holiday

But I could have got a train with a pram, and took them both of a plane to Ireland to meet PIL when they were 6 weeks, so the concept of travelling with a tiny baby is fine to me

GADDay · 13/03/2022 19:40

In laws and a new baby in a caravan. Absolutely NO way.

Having said that we did go to the south of France with DS and MIL when he was 6 weeks. We stayed in a gite with bedrooms on the opposite sides of the house and thick stone walls. It was lovely.

UndertheCedartree · 13/03/2022 19:40

I'd just wait and see how you feel. I took my first abroad at 4 weeks and 2nd abroad at 7 weeks. If you are breastfeeding you don't have to take much and babies that young are so portable. I wouldn't have left mine that young, though.

findingsomeone · 13/03/2022 19:40

I wouldn't, just because I bf and was sat topless all the time. I don't feel comfortable breastfeeding in front of other people so anything that means prolonged time with others is a no from me.

timeisnotaline · 13/03/2022 19:44

We went on holiday when ds1 was 5 weeks and again when ds2 was 6 weeks. My babies didn’t sleep so I needed Dh to take a week and help and didn’t want to waste his holidays. The important points are though - NOT a caravan! We needed a comfortable space to ourselves, made no plans to meet anyone before late morning, and I rested when I needed. I wouldn’t have done it staying with someone and having to fit in or be ‘on’.

GucciBear · 13/03/2022 19:44

I took my daughter away to a holiday cottage when she was six weeks. I had my parents for company and everything was fine. We were in Tintagel.

drpet49 · 13/03/2022 19:44

Hell no

Crunchymum · 13/03/2022 19:45

DC1, no way.

DC2, no way but mainly due to DC1 being a toddler when DC2 was born (DC2 was relatively "easy" at 5 weeks)

DC3: no way, but she spent two weeks on neonatal and was tube fed for her first year.

I wouldn't dream of entertaining a caravan, in the UK, in November under any circumstances though.

Hm2020 · 13/03/2022 19:46

I wasn’t even breastfeeding but I’m sure I was still leaking milk and first period came around then and was like a flood I couldn’t have done it personally. I needed home comforts at that point and in a caravan the baby would wake everyone all night long. Also it’s freezing in November.

Belladonna12 · 13/03/2022 19:46

Do you mean a static caravan rather than one of the small mobile ones? If a static, then I probably would consider it depending on the size, number of bedrooms. We did that when youngest dd was 8 weeks.

Original poster

MamaFoxToBe · 13/03/2022 19:47

The more I think about it, the more I think my answer will be no but I will see how I feel once the baby is here.
Thank you all for your replies x

OP posts:

Florencenotflo · 13/03/2022 19:47

We took dd to Cornwall at 6 weeks. Our friends were already booked to go and had hired a house with enough space for us. But we were kind of asked after they had booked it anyway, so they knew it would be a last minute decision.

Apart from having to make more stops than usual on the journey down, it was fine.

But it will depend on so many things. I'd had a c section but was healing nicely and felt good. Bf hadn't worked for us by this point but we were doing fine with bottle feeding. If was actually a really nice break away from home. I rested more there than I did at Home, my DH and friends took charge of cooking or we ate out.

It's just hard to know how you'll feel until very near the time. Are they happy for you to let them know?

DearDoggos · 13/03/2022 19:47

Holiday yes, but absolutely not a Caravan in Wales that you have to share with your MIL!! You may find yourself far less tolerant of each other in such a confined space when you're sleep deprived. Unless you're bottle feeding at that point she won't be able to look after the baby properly for you. Say thanks, lovely idea etc, but you'll plan something a little further down the line.

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