Has anyone ever had a good holiday experience with a toddler?!

[lancsgirl85]

So, having read a lot of threads on here about how it's a nightmare to take a little one abroad, I'm looking for any positive experiences whatsoever of taking an under 2 on holiday abroad. I'm actually starting to regret booking it due to reading about "dreadful" holiday experiences on here as well as my own anxiety tying me up in knots. 😫

So AIBU to ask if there are any positive experiences of holidaying abroad with an under 2? I'll take anything at this point 😂

Another vote for yes:

• Greece


• AI


• Hotel geared for kids with swim-up room which will give you a break when baby naps

we had a fantastic time

Yes lots. First traveled on an 11 hour flight with ds when he was 10m old. You need to book AI to have a proper holiday. Self catering, caravans, camping is just the worst type of holiday to think of with a small baby. Your dp or travel.partner needs not to be a useless lump as well. You really can have a brilliant holiday when the workload is shared.

Yes, we took our DD to Fuerteventura when she was 18 months and had a fabulous holiday. We stayed in an apart-hotel so had breakfast and lunch in the apartment and went out for dinner. We adjusted her naps so that we could go for dinner later and she would be awake and in good form.

We've taken our kids away every year (until covid) so we have also been away with a 3.5 year old and a 6 month old, 4.5 year old and 18 month old etc. They are much older now and some years were trickier than others but we have always enjoyed our holidays with them.

I love holidays with my small kids!

those fruit pouches or yoghurt pouches are my top top for planes - give them at take off and landing and they have to swallow, so their ears pop 😊.

On pool days we also take turns at active parenting, so two hours on / two off for each of us, so if it’s not your turn we can read / walk / nap / whatever. There’s family time in there too!

take it as it comes, and if snacks, chips and ice cream are what they’ll have, so be it. It’s not forever. Although they might surprise you - mine love something new or random to try!

We have never had bad holidays with our 2 (20 month age gap) - they’ve always been fabulous (& dc are 9 & 10 now so we’ve had a few - mostly Europe tho also done Thailand, Oz & the States.

We’re not hotel/AI type people; much prefer a villa / gite & our own space, plus we’ve never gone much for lounging round the pool which probably helps as we have always enjoyed more active holidays but they’ve always been fab - just pottering along at toddler pace and with none of the stresses of balancing work / home stuff at the same time. When they were toddlers we tended to do an activity in the morning (museum/town/chateau/boat on the river or whatever) & then back for quiet time before chilling round the pool / garden in the afternoons.

The absolute key when they were tiny was sharing lie ins / giving each other time off so we both felt like we were getting a break as well as lots of family time.

It sounds like you’re well prepared - enjoy it!

Yes. P&O cruise. We took our 1.5 & 2.5 yr olds a few years ago. Hands down best holiday I've ever had.

And...

Night nursery! Til midnight! It's a game changer. You'll get to eat dinner in peace every night (although it'll probably be 9pm. But who gives a shit!)

Do it. Book it. It's worth every penny

Not really, we had Dts, they had to stay on routine or it was miserable for us and them. We're away at the moment and No one with a small child looks like they're having fun. It's very hot though, maybe may or October time would be easier.

You only have one kid
One kid is easy lets be honest
Youll be fine

I think pp are right - it’s all about managing your expectations and going with the flow. Holidays won’t be the same as they were before children, but will be just as enjoyable!

Yes with one very demanding DD so over prepping is always good and sounds like you have that one down 😂
For the plane snack box with cereals, fruits and the toddler sweets like the kiddilicious stuff. Gel clings for the window, these entertained her for a good 20mins and used them at apartment too. Downloads of Peppa Pig. I packed a variety of toys in ziplock bags to pull out on the plane eg colouring, magic painting (this was a winner), building blocks etc. On return flight it was bedtime so we went to toilet had a wash down, changed nappy and put on pjs followed by supper and bedtime story.
On holiday we kept to same routine as at home as much as we could. Same naps, bedtime were the ones we didn’t ever let change. Once she was down we sat on the balcony with some snacks and games. A very different holiday but amazing in so many ways. Lots of walking and visits to play park etc. Early morning or early evening trips to the beach were great too as it was nice and cool. Hardest part I would say was bedtime if she was too hot so a good few nights after pjs we walked her round and round and round the block till she fell over then transferred her.
You will have a lovely time enjoy it!

Mine are now 13 and 9 and travelled with both since they were babies and always been fine
go with the flow DS ate chips and ice cream for a week

We've never had a bad holiday, and only one flight that was a bit taxing, but even that wasn't so bad, it just involved rather more walking up and down the aisle than we would have liked.
We mainly travel independently and self cater because we prefer the flexibility and extra space but we have had a few good hotel holidays with small children too. Obviously there's things you can't easily do with small children, be that an evening at the ballet, bungee jumping or long spells by the pool alone, but there are also things you wouldn't experience without children. We've visited places that we wouldn't have bothered with if it had just been me and DH but which turned out to be great - an ostrich place in Mallorca springs to mind - plus you see things through different eyes when you have a young child with you, even if you are doing something you have done many times before.

Yes, plenty. We have fairly similar holidays to when we were pre-DC. We eat a bit earlier and have a lot more snacks in the room. And we get to read a lot less. But otherwise we still visit the museums and towns and castles and sites we want to.

Been in Italy with PIL this year. They kept saying the hotel wasn't child friendly and didn't have food catered to DC and they would complain to travel company when we got home. DH and I kept saying it was fine, we don't expect catering for the DC. If they like what is on offer great, if not they can full up on breakfast and ice cream and snacks. No worries for a few days.

Huh? I travelled from Perth, Western Australia with dds 13mo and not quite 3 on my own. My dds were amazing travelling with me long haul.

Even when we went to Thailand, they were great travelling with dh and I. He was shocked.

You need to choose your time travelling too. They won’t eat normally or sleep normally for a few days. No bother, they’ll catch on.

Make your dc portable.

Yes our was brill.

He loved the beach, we took a pop up tent for him to shade in, some toys and he loved the water.

We took his buggy which reclined back, with a paraol and a fan.
On ocassion one of us did have to take him for a walk for him to drop off for his nap, then we lay by the pool together for an hour while our DS napped in the shade by us.

We didn't stay out late though, so he was tucked up in bed and we sat on the balcony chilling.

So delighted to read this as we've just booked to go here in September with our toddler!

Definitely think self catering of some kind when they’re really little. So you can feed them as and when, and they can nap and you can be elsewhere in the house/ apartment etc

I can imagine AI can work but I never did it when mine were little.

Yes, good experience every time. We've done long haul, short haul and uk holidays.
We tried to accommodate as much as we could in terms of nap times and feeding times and just did what we wanted to the rest of time.
Self catering is easier as you can give them breakfast when you need to.

Yes, loads with both my DCs. Cyprus, Portugal, Malta, France on multiple occasions. The most tricky stage was when DS2 was about 20 months and we went to Malta. He didn’t want to sit still so we just went to restaurants outdoors and one of us would walk up and down with him!

At 2 1/2 we took him to Dubai and we thought it was going to be a nightmare because he went hyper in the airport. DH went up and down the travelator next to the gate with him, wore him out and he slept all the way there! We found the time difference in Dubai to work perfectly for us. As they are four hours in front we just kept the DCs on their usual schedule. They woke late so we would have breakfast at 10.30am and they would stay up until 11pm most nights.

For long haul I find later flights are best.
Went to Florida when DCs were 4 and 7. Went had a 4pm flight so half way through we told them it was bedtime, switched off their gadgets and they slept for the second half of the flight.

We always stay in hotels, never self cater. DCs are obsessed with a buffet breakfast. They fill up on that and will just have a snack during the day, then dinner in the evening. As we’re not big drinkers and rarely eat lunch on holiday due to eating breakfast late, we find that AI is not cost effective for us.

Yes, the Santa Tecla festival in Tarragona when DS was 3. Best holiday ever. Very very inclusive of all children, performances every night, general amazing atmosphere. Was magical.

Yep. Took my son when he was just under two on a holiday across a few states in America. Driving from place to place staying in hotels and motels. He was the perfect traveller to be honest. Was brilliant on the plane, slept happily in any hotel, enjoyed the car journeys and generally enjoyed the trip.

Again took him to Sri Lanka all inclusive when he was 2 and half and again he was amazing.

Good luck!

We did a trip to Spain many years ago with our then 2 year old son and found that the best part was the evening entertainment. The children were dancing and playing together and the parents were able to sit and enjoy a drink while watching them enjoy themselves. He slept like a log afterwards. To be honest, I think that a holiday in this country worked better for us, you can take them to the beach and it is easy to find food that they will eat or buy toys to play with. Guernsey was also great for beaches. AND no long flights to entertain them or keep coming home because the flights have been cancelled.

Yes. Took a 'baby gap' year when our 2 boys were 3 and 1. Went round the world. Youngest cried on the last stage of our first long haul flight, to Singapore, which was hard on our fellow passengers, also got ill in northern Australia. Apart from that it was brilliant. Kids were great, still counts as the best thing we've ever done. Same baby now awaiting A level results!

I remember having a good holiday with my then 2 year old and 4 year old to the canary Islands.

I definitely wouldn't do longhaul. I went to Florida with a 2 year old and the flight was really the worst part..mainly because I was pregnant as well.

We did Disney. She loved it.

The holiday itself was enjoyable. There's just so much to pack and remember. I found packing the hardest part tbh.
I'm quite positive though, so I make the best of things.

Took dd to France just before she was 2. Her second or third visit. We stayed in a gîte. Tried potty training as there were tiled floors. While we were there she ate her first globe artichoke which she loved, probably due to the destruction. The gîte was just south of Reims, probably a 3-4hr drive from Calais, after a 300mile trip to Dover.