To think it's cruel to take a 9 month old baby abroad

[Cherryblossom90]

Recently been on three week holiday abroad with DH and 9 month old baby to see our extended family.

Baby was fine in terms of sleep, eating etc but due to hot weather abroad she was stuck in doors with me/DH/other family member for most of the day. She seemed just gentally miserable not her Usual self at all (more quiet and clingy, mainly) she's been back to usual self since being back. I really regret going actually even though the adults had a nice time I feel it was a bit selfish and I feel we shouldn't have gone.

Just curious how others justify taking a baby abroad on a long plane journey, to a hot country when it's so unpleasant for the baby?

Am I being unreasonable to think it's cruel to take a baby abroad?

Cruel?! 🤦‍♀️🤣

Of course it isn't cruel. It's going to be hard work if you've raised an inflexible baby wedding to a strict schedule, but on no planet is it cruel. Oh woe is me, a 3 week holiday 🤦‍♀️

Many babies have older siblings and pre-booked holidays, arranged long before they arrived. You can't make decisions around baby when you have older siblings, they have to fit into your life. That may mean travelling to see family, very ill grandparents etc.

Why on earth was your baby indoors? When my dd was about 9 months we went to the S of France in summer of 2003 when it was 42 degrees and she was fine, we had no air con and she was playing in the pool and sitting outside with no issues at all! Maybe she was just bored 😂

Swimming
Water play
Eating a fresh mango or banana straight from the tree
Drinking fresh coconut water
Eating new and different kinds of food, albeit mashed
Not having to wear socks or hats
Being passed around doting family and meeting lots of other kids.
Even if not on a family trip, possibly enjoying a place where kids are allowed to go to restaurants and generally adored in public
Watching all the wonders and strange noises of a tropical country

Super cruel indeed!

YANBU I doubt she'll ever forgive you tbh.

Took dd to a very hot country when she was 9 months old

We took her in the big pool in the hotel and she splashed about in the baby pool. We took her to shopping malls and restaurants which were all air conditioned
We certainly didnt stay indoors with her. That would just be miserable for us and for her

🤣🤣🤣

Oh yes, when we took my 8 month DS to France he was treated like a little prince in the village - people absolutely doted on him when we walked around, it was adorable!😂

The travelling itself is a bit rubbnish but no I disagree sorry OP!

We regularly take ours to my parents house in portugal and it's been great! we go in may/october so it's lovely and warm but not scorching. They play in the pool, on the beach, love trips to cafes or shops, play with grandparents etc.

It's not a RELAXING break for us per se, but the weather, nice food, seeing family etc makes it a lovely change. The kids are usually so tired out from playing that they sleep well too which is nice!

Your parents have a house in Portugal?!! My inner green eyed monster has come out!😂

Cruel? Don't be so bloody stupid.

Think you have a bit too much time on your hands tbh

Yes I think it's cruel unless absolutely necessary.

Unsettling for the baby and their routine (at such a young age it's a big percentage of their whole life). Also unnecessary dose of radiation for such a tiny body in early stages of development.

Also annoying for the other passengers on the flight.

Babies get unsettled if you take their clothes off for ten seconds while changing, of COURSE major temperature changes to a hot country are going to be a big deal for them.

Definitely not cruel.. but bloody hard work and not worth it 99% of the time.

Radiation? From what?

Well- I took my 3 month old to Australia to see his grandparents and then again when he was 11 months old. Frankly that was cruel on me rather than him, because it was pretty brutal.I travelled alone. Then I took him aged 2 and my new baby for the same trip. That was fucking nuts in retrospect, but again only because it was an awful experience for me. They were absolutely fine.

You have an odd definition of 'cruel' OP.

I was born in a very hot climate, and we had no air con for a long time. I can assure you that I'm fine. And I was a happy baby. Slept a lot, bur smiled lots as well 😬

My children have all been to hot countries by 9 months, and what do you know they were fine. No more miserable than some winters in the UK full of cold.

I took my DD to Barbados at 10 months and she loved it.

Cruel 😂😂
Of course isn’t!
But you don’t have to go again, so don’t if you’d rather not.

No, it's not cruel. And it does have benefits for your baby - from what you say she met members of your extended family and started to build relationships with them. That's really important.

She might not remember the trip when she is an adult, but she will likely remember her relatives next time she sees them on a video call or hears their voice.

We took DS to see family abroad when he was about the same age. We've been back since then and he definitely remembers his grandparents and was excited to see them when we went back. Recognises pictures, says their names, wants to talk to them on calls.

He didn't love the disruption and definitely found aspects of the earlier trip hard (unfamiliar place, different food, lots of new people, hot weather, being in the car a lot more, everything being new and different) and it was hard work and not always so fun for me too. But now he talks about his family abroad and says he wants to go back!

I don't care about other passengers on the flight. I did my best to keep babies happy with toys, books, earplugs and so on. Babies are people too, and have every right to travel, in economy at least. I wasn't going to stay at home. until they were ten.

9 months is the beginning of the toddler period. They aren’t babies. Of course they can go broad

I live in Portugal, had 3 babies here, last year went camping with 1 year old in algarve 37 degrees, no cruelty here! keep skin covered and in shade during middle of the day 12-4 and have a blast on the beaches and swimming pools. I also took all of mine as babies back to the UK at various baby ages from 3m to 2 years and beyond, a pain in the arse sometimes when they want to run around the cabin but cruel? No, very odd.