First Holiday with the baby - HELP!!!

[scobby]

Hi,

I am in the process of booking our first holiday as family this year. We plan on going in June when the DS will 15 months old. So far we have pretty much decided on Menorca.
The questions really affect which tour operator we go with and which hotel.
Firstly - do most days finish at 7 - 7.30pm when my DS normally goes to bed? Is there anything else we can do - like do hotels have baby monitors whilst you sit at the bar? Does anybody prepare their babies for bed and take them out in the buggy for them to fall asleep and the parents can have a few nice quiet drinks before taking them home and transferring them to their cot?

Does the hotel choice take on added importance? we normally go self catering but I am swinging towards an aparthotel in case we have to stay at the hotel most nights.

Lastly flight times - In Scotland there is limited flights from the airports - some of the best holidays come with flight times in the middle of the night - well 5.30am to be precise - so we would have to leave our house at3am to get the plane. Should you try and get daytime flights?

All advice most welcome.

PS - This is hubby here - not the wife - I am doing the research!

15 months was the age we found it hardest to take DS on holiday, because of the toddling, inherent senselessness of them, ability to detect danger and head straight for it, and in DS's case, refuse to eat anything or go to sleep.

We have usually taken DS out in the pushchair in the evenings, letting him sleep, and then putting him in his travel cot when we got back. This has resulted in such spectacles as us walking round for hours on end in the evening with DS in his buggy with sunglasses on, as we tried to make him think it was night. IF your baby is an excellent sleeper, I would try for an aparthotel which has a baby listening service - or where your own baby monitoir can work, so that you can eat / drink at the bar within range. But I think there are big advantages to self-catering because you can prepare what your abay eats, when they need to eat.

Daytime flights have pros and cons...5.30 probably means that the excitement of being in a new environment will mean he won't go back to sleep once you get on the plane..so i would do day time flights if you can.

It mainly comes down to what you want from the holiday. We took DS to Cyprus when he was about that age, maybe a bit older.

Personally I would not use a baby listening service or a hotel babysitter, but thats just personal choice. I would choose a self catered apartment with a nice balcony so in the evening we could cook and sit outside with a glass of wine or 2! We found going out to eat with lo an absolute nightmare and we could not relax.

The other thing with hotels is the entertainment- fine if you like that sort of thing but if not- a real pain especially at midnight if your room is anywhere near the entertainment area. DS is bad without sleep at the best of times but add to that the heat and you have yourself a devil child!! We found getting him to bed at a reasonable time was a must- again this depends on what your dc's sleep is like.

Actually I think that 5.30 flight is ok - baby gest all excited being woken up in the night and stays awake for a couple of hours, is KNACKERED on the plane and drops off. Hurrah!

Evenings - well IF he is a reliable sleeper than you might be able to get him in a buggy while you go out for a drink. But you might be too knackered. I would go for the poshest accommodation that you can (balcony would be LOVELY) and try and have romantic evenings IN.

Bear in mind however that it's just the same chores but with a different view.

If you are normally the one at work during the day then you will probably be KNACKERED afterwards.

Hope you enjoy it though - Majorca can be lovely.

We took dd to Majorca at this age and went half board. We opted for day flights so it would be better for dd (plus I didn't fancy night flights anyway!).

DD's bedtime was around 7-8 then and we did exactly what you described. We would have an evening meal around 6.30/7.00 ish, then put dd in the buggy and walk along the seafront to a bar. She'd fall asleep and we'd stay as long as we liked really . Dh and I took it in turns each night with drinking alcohol. Whatever time we got back we'd put her in her PJs and into bed. DD was a really good sleeper though and waking her to undress her was never a problem.

I took my DS to France for a week when he was 17 months old. We had a brilliant time, the flights situation was similar, and we could only get flights from newcastle so had to drive down (from Edinburgh) and this meant leaving at 4am. This worked well for us because as morningpaper said, he was really excited to be woken and then slept in the car.

We went for flights and accomodation seperately rather than a package deal, because i found a brilliant place on the internet that was a luxurious apartment with huge balcony, in fact there were 2 balconies! there wasa cot and everything included. It was PERFECT. the place was beautiful and the balcony looked out over the St Tropez harbour. We tended to stay in at evenings, but we did go out for dinner 4 nights, and ate in the rest. i found that it was easier to keep DS up til around 8-8.30, but to give him a longer nap through the afternoon. This was also useful as when the sun was that hot between 12 and 3) it was better for him to be asleep in the apartment than out in the sun anyway. I used this time to sunbathe on the balcony!

I also found that because we got a private apartment it was a lot quieter at nights, rather than being in a resort where there are lots of older children and teenagers up til later at night.

Wre also hired a car when we were there and this came with a baby seat (although i think we had to pay extra for that, cant remember) as the area we stayed in was a little 'out of town' so it would be quieter. It was well worth it and we used it a lot.

The flights were fine, but we have been taking DS on flights very regularly since he was born, as his dads family live abroad.

I'd say though that a hotel here might be okay to leave your DS in bed and pop to hotel bar, maybe with a monitor, but i dont think i would do it abroad..

I dont know if any of this information helps, but i hope it does!

We took our 6mo son to Crete and we are going next month when he is 14mo to the middle east. as far as flight times go, don't worry about it - take the cheapest. ours arrives at 2am! last time we had to leave home at 3.30am.

not sure about facilities etc. but i would recommend - TAKE THE GRANDPARENTS, OR AUNTY! (We are doing this both times). They don't get to spend much time with him and LOVE being able to babysit at night and play all day, so it really IS a holiday for you as well.

We often took our 5 mo out for meals etc. he just stayed up late. probably harder now though as in more of a routine and wouldn't sleep in buggy. if yours will sleep in a buggy then definitely do that.

Guys,

Thanks alot - what fast responses!
I will stick with my plan of getting a good quality aparthotel with self catering facilities.

Our DS regularly eats outs with at around 5- 5.30 ish and we give him his dinner at the same time. He is normally excellent - as long as he gets a bit of bread:-) As the clock is an hour forward I assume could safely get dinner at 6 - 6.30 with him.

It looks like for alot of it I am going to suck it and see. He is an excellent sleeper at nightime and is normally asleep within 5 minutes and rarely have to go in to see him. If we visit friends that live a long drive away we normally prepare him for bed and put him in car seat and he sleeps on the way home for an hour - then makes a bit of a fuss for a minute when I transfer him to his caught. So fingers crossed.

My aim is for a mix of nights in - sitting on the balcoy, hotel restaurant and bar and strolls into town for dinner and drink.
Wel'll see....

Again thanks for the responses.

Scooby

Oops - That will teach me to post a message without preview (and a wee beer)

caught = cot (how embarrassing)
balcoy = balcony

PS Is there no edit feature of your own posts?

We have taken our ds on hols with us since he was 1 and it is never exactly easy but there are things you can do....I would highly recommend self catering accomodation when holidaying with children of all ages. So much easier if they are unwell or just want to sit and watch a dvd. Take the most lightweight buggy you can find (buy one if you have to). Dont go mad taking every item of clothing the child has (as I did for our first holiday!) and remember that in most places you can buy the heavier essentials when there-eg: baby wipes, jars of food, even nappies. We have always gone where there is a washing machine and tumble dryer...absolutely invaluable when on a beach holiday. I would also recommend borrowing or purchasing a portable dvd player if your child likes to watch dvds. We borrowed one last year and it was a god send. It came in very useful at the airport too when he was getting bored. We have just bought one for our summer holiday this year. As for flight times, I think it would be a lot less stressful for you and the little one if you flew in the daytime. Night flights can cause havoc with adult body clocks so i imagine it would be worse for a child. Good luck

We've been on holiday with DD (now 3.8 years old) a few times with varying degrees of success. We went to Tenerife when she was 7 mths and Majorca when she was 12 months and did self catering. We fed her early evening in the apartment then put her in the buggy and we went out for a meal. She was fine sleeping while we ate and we had lovely relaxing meals out.

When she was just 2 we went to southern Spain and attempted to do the same thing but it was a nightmare. By that age she refused to sleep in the buggy and we ended up either pushing her around for ages in the evening trying to get her to sleep or eating with her on our laps or one of us taking her for a walk while the other ate and then swaping over - not particullary enjoyable. We then decided to eat in the apartment in the evening after she had gone to bed which was a lot less stressful!

This year we are going longhaul for the first time with children (Florida) and DD will be 3.11 and DS will be 11 mths so who knows when we'll find time to relax!!

I guess it depends on your DS but I would strongly agree with others who've said go somewhere with self catering facilities. Majorca was fabulous by the way - we loved it and will definitely go back.

One of our most relaxing holidays with children was in Austria - there is a 'chain' of super childfriendly hotels (look up www.kinderhotels.com) which have great childcare facilities (e.g. all day childcare, separate childrens meals, cots, potties, prams, bibs, even nappies..!). Most hotels also have excellent activites for adults (e.g. spas, saunas, bike rentals etc...). We were there last summer and have already booked again for this year.

Having children really does change ones priorities, I guess: when the kids are happy, you are!

I think you will find it difficult going out to eat in the evenings with your DS. I live in spain and have found that 6pm is when the Spanish go out for a cup of coffee, dinner isn't until 8.30 or 9pm at the earliest. I have found there is only a bit of tapas or cake available to give my kids but perhaps it will be easier in Menorca as there a more tourists to cater for.

We got a cheap deal on a paris hilton and the baby listening was fine there because they locked the lifts to all but guests with that day's code after 6pm and the moniter streched to reasonable bar and very nice restaurant in the hotel. We went to atmospheric places to eat in the day when ds (20mths) was asleep in buggy - though all the waiters wanted to make a fuss of him and wake him up.
Menorca was fab and we found a lot of families eating around 7.30 - so with the time difference and a long nap ds did fine. I just let him graze on cheese/fruit/bread in the afternoon and so if he only had breadsticks and played under the table at dinner - fine!Back to the hotel balcony for wine at about 9 - found it difficult getting back in to a routine when we got home - tearful bedtimes for a few days.
I hate night flights and found the only thing to do was to have a bag full of very bad snacks like crisps to cope with the not wanting to be strapped in tantrums - especially when the very large 23 mth old has to sit on your knee!
have fun