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 😂

Princessa Yaiza in Lanzarote- kids clubs, mini disco, lovely soft play on site....

We went to Turkey in June with our DD2, and plan to go somewhere next year as well with a new baby who will be 8mo and DD who will be 3 then.

It was fab (ignoring the plane on the way out but I won't tell you about that - the holiday was worth it!)

Not the kind of holiday I ever thought I would go on - in more a quiet air bnb / do our own thing type person, but we decided on a family friendly half board hotel.

It was perfect. We had a small apartment with kitchen and living room area, separate bedroom / bathroom.

We still had to keep vague routines - nap / breakfast times etc and obviously couldn't go out late at night. But just to be able to be away / break from the normal daily life stuff - cooking / meal planning / cleaning / washing / thinking of things to do / nursery run before work etc. was great.

It won't be a holiday like before you had children, but it will still feel like a holiday. X

Haha we have a tablet for the plane and we are counting on Peppa pig keeping her quiet! 🤞🏻😂

Yeah - I've taken my under 2 on a few holidays. The US, Tenerife, couple camping in the UK, Spain. They've all been really, really lovely and I was on my own with her for most of them.

I don't understand all the stress and negativity around it, to be honest.

I found under 6 months and over 4, it was a breeze going abroad. Between 6months and 4 it ranged from total disaster to very stressful!

We ended up ditching overseas holidays until youngest was 4.5 and did Centre Parcs for about 3 years on the bounce….it was so easy, everyone had a great time. We’ve started going further afield now and it’s lovely.

Creche for a few hours a day and all inclusive is the only way to do it. Anything else is too much work to equate to an actual holiday for you, unless you love spending every waking second entertaining the whims of a small child and doing normal household tasks like cooking and cleaning somewhere else. I've tried different flavours of holidays with small children and this is the only way WE get a nice holiday .

Most of our holidays were same cooking, cleaning and entertaining small children in a different location - and if I suggested taking the children to the onsite clubs DH was unhappy as he "wanted to spend time with our children".
I loved the onsite clubs as a child

We're doing our first abroad holiday with our children this week and I've been terrified 😂 but this has really put my mind at ease. Nobody in "real life" I know has ever had these "holidays from hell" you hear about online, so I think our perception is just skewed.

We have done five UK holidays though. The first one (DD 6MO) was fine but tiring. Second holiday (18MO) was tough - she was cranky, refused to go in the high chair, didn't want to go in her baby carrier for walks etc.
The issue on this trip was trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. It was unreasonable to expect an 18MO to want to sit in a fairly posh restaurant and be silent at mealtimes. We also didn't explain to her very well what was happening, ie "today we're going to a new hotel! Now we're going for breakfast!" Etc.

The other ones have been fantastic. Been to a couple of houses by the beach, which were absolutely brilliant and the kids had their own room. We could have a leisurely breakfast and get ready for the day, and could come back home for a nap time whilst we read a book or watched the football etc.

Our abroad holidays were fairly family friendly before so Im not sure what will be different now, other than perhaps not doing as much walking. I would say, however, that we don't have a rigid routine with our kids, and they're not ones that get up at 6am or need to be in bed by 7pm, so I think that makes it easier.

Make sure you have headphones for the tablet or have it on silent.

Yes, we took our then 11m old on a driving holiday through France and on to Italy for 3 weeks. It was amazing!
We've also done an all inclusive to a waterpark hotel in Rhodes when we had 4 children, and the toddler was absolutely fine.
We've not been away since 2018, so I don't know how the current toddler would cope as yet.

Yes, but always self catering and with friends too. Either friends with children of a similar age or friends who don’t have children but are happy at babysitting one evening so we can go for a bike ride. It’s much, much easier with friends as you share the cooking and cleaning load and everyone organised stuff.

We do have headphones for the tablet but no luck in getting her to keep them on so far, she cries and pulls them off in the same way she does with hats. She's only a baby so she doesn't understand what they are for! We will keep trying!

This thread has definitely given me hope so thanks everyone! I'm actually now (dare I say it😂) ... somewhat looking forward to it instead of just feeling anxious. 😀

Thats why i dont think MN is particularly good for parents. Its all about the negative and never the good . As i said above , never had a bad holiday with dc, it,s what you make it, even if its raining a walk on beach can be fun with toddlers.

Yes! Obviously much harder work than pre kids, but still lovely.

2 parents one child is fine, you can still each get a break, just not together except at nap time/after bed time. My top tips for a holiday with age 1-3

• buffet meals (no waiting and it doesn’t matter if they reject stuff)


• location ahead of uk time so they can have dinner with you and hopefully wake up later. Or they sleep in the buggy while you eat dinner (never worked with mine)


• blackout blinds to help them sleep when you need them to


• pool with a shallow slope


• for the plane: apps that don’t need sound to be fun. Try PaintSparkle or Koi Pond for an 18 month old. I’m sure there’s others. Also snacks.

Once you have two kids under 4 then it’s a lot harder work and roping in extra adults (eg grandparents or kids club) is the best bet!

I got back from Greece a couple of weeks ago with my 17 month old. Loved it!

Yes there were a few tantrums but no different than when we were at home. He had so much fun. We even went on a few excursions with coach journeys and multiple stops along the way and he was fine.

He didn't eat much there but that wasn't because of the food, I think the heat just knocked his appetite so I gave him more milk than usual to make up.

He had long naps in the day as well which meant I could get some sunbathing done on the balcony.

Honestly I was so worried but now I'm desperate to go again, we had such an awesome time.

(Hotel was self catering and had no kids club either!).

You need to go at it realistically. It's not going to be your usual sun bathing with a book all day kind of holiday. We found it was better for us to split the day, bit of playing in the pool in the morning and then going out and doing something for the afternoon after his nap i.e. walking round a town / the beach or something.

It's different to holidays without kids for sure but it certainly wasn't bad either, we really enjoyed it.

Loads, you have to reset your expectations of what makes a good holiday and be prepared to do stuff you normally wouldn’t allow.

Yes my expectations are definitely reasonable I think. I didn't enjoy lying around with a book all day every day on holiday before I had my DD either tbh, I'd get easily bored and would want to explore the local town/restaurants/beaches etc. I'm also pretty used to running around after her at home so I wouldn't be expecting anything different in Spain (well maybe a little less running if it's hot and more napping 🤞🏻😂)

Yes Been taking them since 6months. Just find child friendly hotels and night flights.

So our flight times outbound are 3.30pm (landing 8.30pm) and coming home 9pm landing in U.K. 1.30am in the morning. No time difference as we are going to the Canaries. 😊

It have literally always loved holidays with my kids. We've been abroad to hotels when they were each under two and loved it. We are away now in a small self catered flat with our 8 and just turned 3 year old and it's been one of the best weeks of my life! Routines go out the window and everyone has to be patient, but it's been so much fun!

DS was about 20 months when we first took him abroad. He was great - loved the big paddling pool, fell asleep in his buggy every night whilst out for evening stroll or out to eat.

He did the most disgusting poonami on the plane home, but aside from that it was lovely.

I wouldn't take a bottle fed baby on holiday abroad though - heard so many stories of bottle refusing due to different tasting water/heat/whatever.

We did self catering in Italy with DS age 2 in October. We was utterly feted in the resteraunts in the e endings which we had pretty much to ourselves. (Is there something about blond hair being good luck ?)

@lancsgirl85 I'd be really interested to know which hotel you're looking at in Spain? Is it quite family friendly? I'm trying to find somewhere Spain / France / Portugal etc (basically somewhere a couple of hours flight) that has kids facilities / playground etc.