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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:
AmandaStaveleysBlackNWhiteArmy · 13/03/2022 23:00

*it was my husbands family we went with and DD was the first grandchild on my side.

Kite22 · 13/03/2022 23:03

We did, with dc1, but it was to a house, and in the Summer.

I think putting November into the mix makes it less attractive.
Making it a caravan, and the lack of privacy, and how noise travels, definitely less appealing.

ForgedInFire · 13/03/2022 23:03

I actually took my 10 day old on a caravan holiday a few years ago. I went straight from my midwife appointment. I booked it before I knew I was pregnant and I decided to keep it and decide if I wanted to go once I had the baby. It was fine, I had a lot of family going on the holiday as well so they kept my toddler busy while I relaxed with the baby

carbibarbie · 13/03/2022 23:08

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend it!!I did this with my first baby who was 8 weeks at the time. It was hell. He didn't sleep, therefore I didn't sleep and the rest of the adults wanted to stay up later and were loud. I was trying to adapt to mew motherhood, breastfeeding was hard, my husband and I were a bit tense with each other. I needed to be at home. It was highly stressful, even getting there was hideous. The baby screamed the whole way there and I was a mess!

carbibarbie · 13/03/2022 23:10

@Roselilly36 @titchy these comments are making me lollll

carbibarbie · 13/03/2022 23:11

And that's before you have your in laws trying to 'help' left right and centre when you want to be holed up in a cocoon of babyness with zero intrusions!

Chilesstanton · 13/03/2022 23:15

Hard pass

converseandjeans · 13/03/2022 23:16

We took DD to a caravan in Wales when she was 2 weeks old. However it was April & we didn't have anyone else there.,

We camped with friends when she was 8 weeks in a small tent. But she was sleeping well.

I think it depends on how they sleep tbh. A caravan would be a nightmare if they kept crying. Especially in November.

I don't know you're going to be too bothered about the entertainment at the caravan park.

Yamyam13 · 13/03/2022 23:17

Unless you have a planned CS and arent too fussed about BFing - there’s no way of knowing how the birth will go and when it will be. And how BFing will go if you’d like to try it.
There’s no way I could have gone anywhere at 6 weeks Post Partum, and I think majority of my friends, even those with more straightforward deliveries and breast feeding journeys would say the same.
I was trying to make it through each day and even having my own mum & besties round for short visits felt totally overwhelming.
I would take a rain cheque and stay home enjoying those precious first months that go by in a blur.
All the best

BooksAndHooks · 13/03/2022 23:19

DD was just 3 weeks When we went away on a uk caravan holiday with family. It was fine lots of help with baby and they are most portable at that age. She stayed in the sling most of the time when she wasn’t feeding. Had she been born on time she would have been less than 3 weeks.

Lorw · 13/03/2022 23:34

For those of you who took baby away in a tent, how did you put baby to sleep? We want to take ours away camping however not sure about sleeping arrangements Grin

feministqueen · 13/03/2022 23:35

I took my daughter away when she was 3 weeks old. We went to the lakes for a week. We had booked it a year before and tbh I was worried about going but when we got there it was lovely.

You'll have a great time. And you know what...it you don't, then just come home. Just because it's booked it doesn't mean you have to stay.

redandwhite1 · 13/03/2022 23:36

House yes, caravan no

No one will sleep, it'll be cramped and cold

AlwaysLatte · 13/03/2022 23:39

Our eldest was a similar age when when I went abroad with him and my my mum (husband was skiing, so the baby was too young) it was fine.

converseandjeans · 13/03/2022 23:44

lorw

We just used pram - think it was called Quinny - and it had sleeping bag type thing.

It was May half term so not too cold.

HRTQueen · 13/03/2022 23:48

Cottage/villa by a lovely quiet beach with a few restaurants in the summer Yes

A caravan in Wales in November No

Twinkster · 13/03/2022 23:49

The problem is: you won't know until you give birth, @MamaFoxToBe
The fact that your ILs want you to go would suggest to me that they're not likely to be very understanding if you're not feeling physically great, or like leaving your baby, or like going out.

I felt as if I'd been in a car crash after almost dying in childbirth with DC1, so there is no way I would have been going anywhere at all at 6 weeks pp. I was also suffering, massively, from post-natal anxiety. None of this was on my birth plan! I would also have killed anyone who suggested that I might want to go out and watch some "entertainment" when I could stare at my baby instead.

TheTeenageYears · 14/03/2022 00:23

I wouldn't commit to anything 6 weeks pp. We did a caravan park with DS in South West in I think an October at 4 months and thank goodness I had just bought a winter weight sleeping with arms because it was 14 degrees overnight (I took room thermometer with me from his room when staying away so I had a comparison to what he was used to temperature wise overnight)

ToniLaRoni · 14/03/2022 09:22

Yes I'd do it.

But not a caravan in November.

An actual house with some soundproofing, real bathroom facilities (en suite for sure) and decent heating and our own space.

Belladonna12 · 14/03/2022 09:50

@ToniLaRoni

Yes I'd do it.

But not a caravan in November.

An actual house with some soundproofing, real bathroom facilities (en suite for sure) and decent heating and our own space.

If it is a static caravan there may be an ensuite and decent heating though. The lack of sound proofing would be the in laws problem.
Belladonna12 · 14/03/2022 09:53

I'm a really surprised at all the negative comments regarding this holiday. It is a good idea to wait and see how OP feels but many posters seemed to think there will be no chance it will be a good holiday which I think it's ridiculous. If it's a static caravan it could be warm and spacious. OP's in laws may be very helpful.

Blossomtoes · 14/03/2022 10:02

@Belladonna12

I'm a really surprised at all the negative comments regarding this holiday. It is a good idea to wait and see how OP feels but many posters seemed to think there will be no chance it will be a good holiday which I think it's ridiculous. If it's a static caravan it could be warm and spacious. OP's in laws may be very helpful.
It’s MN. In laws are always vile. Caravans are always leaky tin boxes. Having a baby means weeks of incapacitation while leaking from every orifice. 🤷‍♀️
ChampagneLassie · 14/03/2022 10:09

I guess everyone's tastes are different but sharing a caravan in Wales in November sounds horrendous, throw a new baby into mix and it certainly isn't getting better. You don't know how you'll feel - tell her you need to wait and see when you have the baby.

MrsSkylerWhite · 14/03/2022 10:11

I did, chalet thing rather than a caravan (which was awful). Did it for much older sibling, guilt I think. Big mistake, no one enjoyed it and I wouldn’t recommend.

Belladonna12 · 14/03/2022 10:28

@ChampagneLassie

I guess everyone's tastes are different but sharing a caravan in Wales in November sounds horrendous, throw a new baby into mix and it certainly isn't getting better. You don't know how you'll feel - tell her you need to wait and see when you have the baby.
I agree OP should wait and see but why does it sound "horrendous" to you? It could be a static with three bedrooms and central heating. The in laws may be willing to help out a lot with the baby etc. Her DP will be off work too.
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