At what age do holidays with children start to feel relaxing?

[hallydays]

At roughly what point did you actually feel holidays were relaxing?

I am not saying that they aren’t enjoyable with little children; they can be but there’s no relaxing involved!

How old were your children when you were on holiday (not necessarily away) and felt like you were actually having a break?

Around the age they stop trying to kill themselves every time your bum hits a seat. And can entertain themselves reliably.

For DD that was pretty much birth - she was superglued to me and just wanted to sit quietly. For DS… who knows? He’s 11 and it’s not yet! Unless he has a particular friend with him who’s very quiet. They play board games.

Another vote for when they've left home, so you don't have to take them with you and you don't have to worry about them trashing your house while you're away.

We travel a lot with kids, in the UK as well as short and long haul. Things improved drastically once they got to 5 and 7 (independent meal times, puzzle book ages) and then again at the 9 and 11/12 mark (at which point they get the point of it all and start actually participating in making the whole thing a lot easier).

Yup
around 30

When they decide they don’t want to come with you.In our case the youngest was 16 and could be left with the eldest 23.The first holiday I could not get him off my mind as our holidays had resolved around our kids for so many years, they were hard work but lots of fun and I felt lost but as time has gone on I really enjoy our holidays without them.

I guess it depends on the temperament of the kids. We avoided the toddler years, but loved going on holiday as a family (we do adult only ones too), still do now they’re teens, mine are not the stroppy ungrateful kind though, they know not to behave that way.

I agree with PP, things improve when they can all swim- around 7 years. You then have a good few years until they are grumpy teens; but on the positive they can be left if you want to go out!

We had a lovely holiday with DS aged 18 months he loved the beach, slept for 2 hours every afternoon and through the night reliably it was off peak in Southern Italy so he played on the resturant floor in tbe evening. We then had another one and the next relaxing holiday was when she was about 3.

Depends on the child and the type of holidaying you like!

I've always loved holidays with DC since they were babies. But they were an easy child and I like active holidays. I'm not interested in lying on a deckchair.

My friend would probably say never - her child was hard work as a young child and horrible and abusive as a teenager. The child's grown up and calmed down now but they don't really get on even now and a holiday would be awful!

We tried as toddlers and early school. Just no
Went away when teens and.it was bliss. They could do their own thing around resort but young enough to do family.bits.

Mine are mid 20s. When we go away they carry my suitcase and take care of getting through the airport etc. That’s relaxing!

So sad that so many find holidays with their children a strain…

After the age of about 12 I’d say.

Ours were always fine, but then we stuck to beach holidays with warm sea/pool, so since dds were always real water babies, and dh and I also love the sea, so we could take turns to watch them while e.g. snorkelling/waterskiing.

Dd2 was snorkelling at 4!

This! I found holidays with teens much more stressful than the early years. Grunting and moaning about going out, grunting and moaning about not going out, wifi too slow, it's too hot, sea water is too cold, beach has too much sandy sand...

That sounds lovely. Where was this please?

I guess it depends on what you mean by a break.

We're not sun lounger people, happy to be active with our kids so it's felt like a break from about 5?

If I want to sit and read a book all day, I book a day off when they're in school

I'd say 7/8 until they hit puberty/tween age and become pains in the arse again. Dd was then great from 14-15 ish but now she's almost 17 it's difficult again - I'm past the point of wanting to holiday to suit her but she doesn't want to miss out. Everything I like about holidays - heat and sun, different food, exploring historic sites, naps, drinking wine and people watching - she hates.

I think it depends on two things: the kind of holidays you like and the kinds of kids you have.

DH and I have never been fly and flop kind of people so even pre-kids our holidays were pretty active - but that's how we relax. Time away from home and work exploring new places and trying new things really recharges and refreshes us.

All my family is on the other side of the world so the kids have been used to travel since they were babies regardless. DS1 is born to travel, will adapt anywhere; DS2 has somewhat more distinct likes and dislikes but he'll give most things a go.

Obviously full on when they were little but we always did self catering so we could kick back easily in the evening and stick to our own schedules, probably started to ease off when the youngest was 4 or 5. Definitely since about 6 and 10 the ability to kick back in the afternoon/do separate things/just be more chilled has been excellent.

They're 10 and 14 now and brilliant to travel with.

One rule we've instituted is that each parent always gets a half or full day to
themselves to do whatever they want, no kids. That makes such a difference to get that mental break.

I've always found it relaxing to some extent, not as much as pre-kids. no washing up/cooking/laundry/work! And DH and I each have 1-2 hours break a day, the other has DD, plus when she is napping.

Was HD Parque Cristobal in Gran Canaria. They also have one of the same in Tenerife. We have been to both and both are lovely, but we prefer Gran Canaria

Agree, mine always moan about the slow WiFi (teens)!

That's pretty much exactly like mine.
But we only ever did the classic resort type holiday once, when they were small. It is not for me (or my husband) so other holidays have been more of road trips, active, or cities. They like all of that.
One important thing is always planning free time they can do random things of their choice and they can do independently as much as it is safely possible. Find the local basketball court and play with local children. Something like that.

From 4 onwards when they could play in the shallow part of the pool with me near them on a sun lounger, or they could go to the park at the pub where we were eating and we could stay at the table and watch from there. Basically where we weren't needed to be in with them all the time

When you can leave them at home? When they are tiny, its hard work. Its a bit easier in the primary and early teen years, but they get tricky and sulky as they age. Maybe when they are in their 20s?
But last time I went away with parents and siblings, all us siblings were in our 30s and we still managed to have a few rows and sulks.