Just want to go home

[holly201]

We are in Greece with our 1 year old and 2 other couples with their kids and I just want to go home.

Little one is overtired and hot, hates the travel cot but sleeps well at home, all of the sunbeds in the shade have towels on them by 7am, meal times are a nightmare, I just feel so overwhelmed.

Constantly worried DD with get burned, is too hot, isn't drinking enough water etc etc I can't relax at all, not one bit.

The room is so shabby, nothing like the photos, chipped tiles, dirty floors, the balcony glass rattles like it's about to break if you touch it. We paid good money, it's tiny and grubby and just shit.

Everything feels like a fight, screams to get in her swimsuit, screams getting out, doesn't want her nappy changed, screams at nap time, if I take her to the room with AC she just wants to play not sleep, it's a fight to all get showered and dressed for the evening.

I don't even know why I'm writing this but it feels good to get it off my chest, I think holidaying abroad with a 1 year old is the worst idea I've ever had. I think I'm going to give it a miss for the next couple of years 🤦🏻‍♀️

No pretending here.

Honestly a lot of how you view holidays post kids is dependent on how you holidayed pre kids.

We are not people who find sitting by a pool relaxing. Our holidays were always go go go city breaks in apartments or apart-hotels (we still eat our for every meal bar breakfast) and we just carried on going once our son was born.

We've only really had to make adjustments from two onwards (as son became more of a person and less of an accessory 😂) and add in more child friendly museums, a trip to a park or a day or two at a beach.

So yeah, if your idea of a holiday pre kids was cocktails and reading on a sun lounger, then sure, it would be very hard to achieve that post kids without help but city breaks post kids are definitely achievable to a similar standard.

I love holidaying with my son and this year we get to take his baby sister with us too 🥰

I must be a rarity - I have loved all the holidays with my kids, even the toddlers. I think it's because we don't do poolside ai holidays tho. If you have a rental car you have an air-conditioned nap option. And if one 'option' doesn't work (pool is boring, beach is sandy, whatever) you can switch it up the next day. City breaks are good for this too.

My eldest is 22 and my youngest is primary school aged. I've holidayed abroad nearly every year I've been a mum. It doesn't have to be miserable, I love it!

Snap @TheBirdintheCave

I can only empathize and feel your pain @holly201 !

Dream: they will be entertained and well behaved whilst travelling
Reality: they will only be quiet when put in front of a screen and comment loudly on other travellers to your embaraasment. They will require zillions of wee stops including when they just went 5 minutes ago because they didn't realise they needed a poo as well.

Dream: they will enjoy trying new foods and culture
Reality: even if they enjoy trying new things at home they will steadfast refuse them on holiday and be highly suspicious of anything which is not chips or rice despite much cajoling.

Dream:They will enjoy the beach
Reality: they will get sand in every orifice, and scream like a snot ridden sand banshee

Dream: they will love the heat and being able to wear less clothes
Reality: they will moan and complain and become lethargic in heat and only be happy in air conditioned bliss. Can't really blame them as we Brits aren't really used to proper heat!

Dream: They will enjoy being allowed to stay up later with the grow ups and get used to the new time zone
Reality: they will be fixed on their existing routine and you will find yourself staying at the ceiling in the dark at 5pm whilst other holiday makers enjoy the sun.

Dream: they will enjoy sightseeing and learning about new culture and trying out the language
Reality: they will get bored sightseeing and their 'highlights' will be things they weren't supposed to see or non events such as finding a packet of crisps they recognise in a local shop. They will not appreciate the finer things.

I could go on...

Save yourself the trouble next time and do a stay cation or leave the kids at home!

@ThatTimeIKnewFamousPeople Right?? I don't understand the negativity towards holidays with kids here 🤷🏻‍♀️ I see the same phrase on a lot of threads 'holidays with kids aren't a holiday' and find it so irritating 😂 It's such a blanket statement when everyone's lived experience is different. It really is a subjective thing. Just because one person had a hard time with their kids on holiday doesn't mean everyone will.

Holidaying with kids isn't a holiday, I always said it was just a change of scenery! Maybe don't go somewhere so hot next time - and take the IL's!!

It is extremely hot in Greece currently. July temps in early june. Will hit 43 on wednesday, so trying to relax around a busy shared pool with a 1 year old is never going to be enjoyable.

No more words of wisdom or advice that hasn't been mentioned upthread OP. I live in Greece and used to escape with mine by flying back to UK in summer holidays, where rain and queues would have me checking for flights back home by day 3 😂

I have great memories now and we are going next month with a full itinerary planned. But it was always so challenging when they were little. Holidaying with babies and very young children isn't much fun for many. We try with all our optimism but invariably being away from home and routine is often a lot of upheaval, and really trying and so effing tiring.

I found from aged 5 it became much easier (hang in there!!) and by aged 8 we could traipse all over on city breaks etc. Then you hit the teens and another set of challenges arise... 🙄

Do complain about the sunbeds situation though. And if finances can stretch whenever you feel ready for a next time, rent a villa. Shared pools like the one you are describing is hell.

@TheBirdintheCave totally! We've never had a ton of money (relatively speaking) so our holidays abroad are more 'budget' than some of what's suggested here, but they've all been great!

My kids are not angels and I don't expect it of them. But spending time together seeing new sights, eating (hopefully) nice food, no work, no chores, better or at least different weather, hearing a different language, different scenery, watching your kids explore new situations... This is all good stuff in my book! I love holidays. We expect some tricky bits because that is life, but it's still always fun.

I remember my sister calling me in tears - she and her husband drove 7 hours so their girls could see Tobermory because they were obsessed with Balamory, and they got there, the kids weren’t interested and just wanted to see “proper” balamory on the telly, so much of the time was spent in a shit B&B in the rain watching ceebeebies. Her advice was don’t go away until they’re old enough to order from a menu themselves and only go to places where daytime drinking is acceptable.

We used to holiday in the UK when our daughter was a toddler. We went to a place called Crieff Hydro, which was great for kids of all ages. That said, it was still stressful! Busy hotel, in a new unfamiliar bed - it's all quite unsettling for them when they're young.

One of our holidays to Crieff was hell from start to finish, when our daughter was around 3. It was like she'd been possessed the entire trip! Her behaviour was horrific. She slept/dozed the whole journey home, when she woke up at home it was like a switch flip, back to her normal jolly self 😂

If nothing else @holly201 the trip will make you appreciate your home comforts on a whole new level - so hang on to that thought!

Probably just don’t go on holiday until they are more manageable. I didn’t go when my kids were little. It’s just work and not a holiday.

We took our 15 month old to Thailand many years ago. Such a mistake! 😂 Zero percent restful. It was routine out the window, none of the usual safety stuff or toys and me and DH tag teaming all day long around the pool. Collapsing into bed at 7:30 with DS sleeping like a starfish between us as he hated the travel cot 🤦🏼‍♀️

We then waited till he was 3.5 years to go skiing, which was great at that age. Our youngest was 4 (eldest 5) before we all went on a sun holiday. A lot more fun at that age.

We mostly staycationed when the kids were tiny. We both worked full time so spending 24x7 with them was a novelty if not a holiday. We did days out, we did paddling pools in the garden, they had their normal food and bed times and we used the cash saved to do other things including a babysitter several times over the two weeks to go out and have a nice adult evening.
Very small children and heat over 26 degrees is not compatible in my experience. A wellies and bucket and spade experience in the UK, Ireland, Northern France is easier all round. And being able to self cater is definitely easier. You can still go out to eat but you can suit yourself more easily.

I agree...its better to go to butlins till they are 7

So she can go there next year!

We didn't take our first family holiday abroad until DD was 3- partly because she was a 2020 baby- but mostly because of this. It just felt like moving the work to a hotter and less familiar location before that.

I don't have any patience for people thinking they can lay claim to a sunbed all day though. I'd be dropping the towels in the pool. Such a shame how windy it gets sometimes.

Are there any places nearby you can take her to between 11 and 3 to keep her out of the sun and entertained? Kid friendly museums, butterfly houses, those types of things?

We took our kids on a pretty packed road trip round Germany and then another to Jordan when they were both 1 and 3 and it was incredible and they were super well behaved and we have the best time.

Took them to an all inclusive beach holiday (first for all of us) when they were 4 and 2 and it was carnage - throwing cutlery around, not wanting to eat meals, just wanting ice cream, not napping, not wanting to get changed and didn't want to be in the hotel room and if they did, they wanted to jump off furniture and smash the fridge up. I honestly think when they are that young (and depending on your child's personality), the whole all-inclusive is a nightmare as they need distraction and being in a resort did not provide enough distraction. The experience was so far removed from a holiday that I'm planning a big anniversary holiday (including the kids), for later this year and have wiped the Maldives of the list...

We also did self catering when they were little. It is more work than the gloriousness of hotels/AI but easier to adapt to with minis.

It did leave me totally over self catering holidays though!

It's a difficult age to holiday with DC.
Also Greece. I love Greece but unless you pay supremely top price the accommodation is well below the standard you would get in Spain for the same price.

I feel like we should have a game of bingo for the first poster that makes this kind of comment on pretty much every thread when OP is looking for support. Are you just trying to make a miserable poster feel worse about themselves?

My first holiday with a baby was exactly the same. I couldn’t wait to go home. After that we didn’t go away for 2 years, then Covid hit. So we had a four year break and didn’t go away again until my children were 4 and 7. Best thing we ever did. It’s far easier now. Relaxing might be pushing it but it’s mildly pleasant now.

We took Dd who was nust 1 to France in a cottage with family.

Homestly it was great. Sat her in a little paddling pool at the side of the swimming pool or her cousins ( much older) looked after her in the pool.

Mild but not boiling. She ate mainly baguettes.

Can’t say we’ve had issues with the kids on holiday - all ours have loved it. For parents it is just parenting somewhere else though but generally at least it’s warmer and sunnier (than the uk anyway!).
however our most recent holiday was disappointing standards wise - not the 5* we had paid for. Take pictures, complain to your travel agent with these and upload reviews asap, it might not do much but will get it out of your system a bit.

@TheBirdintheCave Same here. I've gt a 5 year old and 1 year old and love going on holiday with them. Usually DH and I work demanding full-time jobs, so being able to have a leisurely breakfast and mooch about in our pyjamas is totaly bliss compared to being up at 6:15 and shocing everyone out of the door by 8am.

@holly201 Sorry it's not going well, it sounds like you have a hotel problem. I would definately complain and see if you can get moved to a better room. Also, I'd pick my battles with your DD. We toom our kids across 3 dfferent times zones back in April and I just had to let go of routine, fed them snacks whenever they were hungry and if they didn't nap, they just had quiet time.