would you take a 6 wk old baby abroad or on holiday anywhere come to that?

[serenequeen]

we are absolutely desperate for a holiday, but are very, very limited on dates due to ds's imminent start at pre-school nursery. the latest we could go would be w/c 6th Sept, but dd will only be 6wks then - probably waking in the night, no jabs yet, routine probably not established, fastened to mummy most of the day, not allowed in the sun etc...

so mumsnetters is it worth going on holiday abroad (no further than say greece) or even in the uk for that matter with baby this small?

thanks in advance for your comments

We took dd1 to Sweden (for a conference!!) when she was 8 weeks old.

Parents and in-laws thought we were barmy, but It was fine -- the baby doesn't know or care where it is as long as it has ready access to booby and the occasional clean nappy.

I recently took all three including dd2 (then 6 months) to Mallorca for a week to stay with some friends, and that was fine too -- but it would have been a great deal easier with a six-week old (more portable, and they fall asleep more easily and don't notice the change in environment).

Have a great time!

Certainly - the best time to go! I really did not want to go but my dh insisted taking me dd1 (2) and dd2 (3 weeks) on hols to Tenerife. Despite my reservations I had a lovely time. Waited on hand and foot (all inclusive - £249 each!) and loads of people admiring baby. No housework, just breast-fed baby, sat around the pool (put the pram in the shade) while she slept. And I had had a c-section. The only problem was getting her passport - dh had to spend the day at the passport office and it cost a fortune.

If you can't face going away, my caravan's available for that week (my dds are back to school that week), in Camber Sands, East Sussex. (Has a wachine machine and dryer so you won't have to worry about coming back to a mountain of washing!).

I'm now at the 8 week mark and personally wouldn't contemplate going abroad with a tiny baby whom I haven't quite sussed out yet and who was still getting used to being on the 'outside' but then it depends on what your baby is like and how confident you are. And personally medical care abroad would have been a worry for me.

How about choosing somewhere which is geared towards children and baby - dare I say Centerparcs! We've booked for our first visit when ds will be 3 months old but appreciate the fact that they and probably people who go there are used to dealing with tiny babies. I would also try to fit in the baby's 6-week check-up as well before you go.

Congratulations by the way!

Definitely worth going on holiday - we went when dd was 5 weeks, as we were constrained by dp's (school) holidays. We were persuaded to book the holiday by some friends of ours with children, we wouldn't have dared otherwise, being nervous first-timers. It was the best thing we did. If we hadn't booked it, we wouldn't have gone, but we did and it was a brilliant week. We had a self catering apartment in a seaside town in Cornwall. Everyone coo-ed over dd, we were able to take naps whenever we wanted, cook meals when we wanted etc. Totally recommend it.

That was in the UK, but I reckon abroad would be ok. The aforementioned friends took their 7 week old and toddler to Florida!

We took dd to Wales (cottage) when she was 6 weeks. It was lovely. If anything it's the easiest time to take them away!

We took DS to Braodstairs for the w/e when he was 2and a half weeks, and to a Greek Island (Paxos) when he was 9 weeks. I can't remember whether he had had jabs, or whether that mattered. It was SO easy. He was b/f really well - not at all routinely - never was - but I lay on the beach and swam while DP sat under a nearby tree (or beach bar canopy) reading and cuddling him, and I'd trouble myself enough to feed him when necessary. Then in the evenings he slept in his lie back buggy while we ate in beachy restaurants. I can see that this would be harder with a 3 year-old in tow, though!
The place we went to in Spain was handy: A small beach village cove, with cafes and bars along the front, a pavement width from the beach. We had leisurely lunches while DS played on the beach right in front of us.

I would really love to say Oh Go For It, but I think it depends on how you're feeling, tbh. At around six weeks with both of mine I was a bit, ahem, zonked. I might have felt better for a holiday, of course. And I think on balance that I am quite unusually bad at the first few months of babies.

She'll be incredibly portable, and let's face it she'll be fastened to you wherever you are.

we went to a cottage in Wales last yr when DS2 was 12 wks so a bit older than yr dd, but tbh he was the easiest member of the party to deal with! As others have said, all he wanted was boob, nappy and sleep. Just stashed him in the beach tent/walked all over with him attached to my chest (in the sling I mean) while he snoozed. Don't suppose he knew much about it, babies don't mind do they as long as they are clean and fed. In fact that was the week when he started sleepingthru the night hurrah, must have been the sea air. We didn't bother takingn the pram, jst the sling, to cut down on luggage. And of course if you are in UK then anything you forget you can easily buy there. I wdn't have wanted to go abraod then i must say but that's as much to do with my older 2 running riot on the plane/in airport as no 3.

we took DS1 to Yorkshire in a cottage when he was 8 weeks old - it was fine. I don't think I would go abroad though.

I'm not sure I'd go somewhere where it's hot, as it can be pretty hard on you and the baby (I was in Italy woth 8week old baby and staying with family but ended up shut indoors most of the time as it was too hot to contemplate going out).

But I would DEFINITELY go somewhere in the UK, (I'd worry about medical problems too in a country I did not know).

I'm sure the whole family would benefit from a break!

My only advice would be don't go self catering, make sure it is a holiday for you too, even if you'll be strapped to the baby most of the time!!

I would, except my ds was the world's worst sleeper and we were up ALL night which would have been even worse, I think, anywhere but at home where there is cable telly and food and tea to hand and a spare bedroom to hide in. I mean he was awake ALL night. Hideous days. However, if your daughter is a normal child with reasonable stretches of sleep, it sounds lovely. Can you go somewhere with childcare so you do get a bit of rest? A hotel would have been a nightmare for me, with nocturnal boy, but self catering would have to come with a cleaner and maybe even some catering for preference. Actually, Centerparcs, though expensive, can be really lovely, and I am a bit of a holiday snob myself. Otherwise maybe Mark Warner or something? Or head for a really baby friendly country like Greece or Italy.

Went to Faro with 7wo no probs. Couldn't do much as she had to stay out of sun but still lovely to be somewhere warm. Taking her carseat with us and hiring a car at the airport (also drove to Stanstead UK end) made it pretty stress-free and she got lots of attention. I imagine you would end up staying at the hotel lots and maybe DH going out with the toddler - but take lots of books and it'll be fine.

My baby is due November 5th and we are going to Cyprus for 10 days for New Year and I am really looking forward to it!

I'm glad some people have found travelling with such a small baby a positive experience as I was a bit scared tbh but I think it will be fine.

I think you have to find something that fits your own particular idea of relaxing, and fits your own level of laid-backness etc. I can quite see that for some people a holiday with a newborn would be a nightmare. But IMO if you can move house whilst practically in labour - and have curtains up so quickly, you are capable of anything

It's funny how in this country parents aren't discouraged from taking their newborns to public places, but in other countries (the U.S. & Korea, to name 2 random ones) they are actively discouraged. In the US (where I have a lot of respect for the quality of medicine) the worry is that the infant might come down with a fever, which apparently can be damaging to a baby that small. I've never heard that here. Now that's not to say that keeping a baby at home is failsafe either, because of course older siblings & parents can bring pathogens INTO the home. . .but I have to say my thinking is influenced by the advice in the U.S. and so, no, I'd probably avoid taking a child that young abroad, or on a plane etc.

Also I'd be discouraged by the practical reasons Aloha mentioned: a baby screaming down your hotel room, and your having no recourse to "escpae" in the form of a kitchen or spare room or anywhere else. Dd was inconsolable for months. . .I'd imagine going on holiday with her at 6 weeks would have been like exchanging "hell" for "hell-on-wheels" which in my estimation is worse. But I'm not taking a position on what you should do, I'm just answering your original question "Would you take a 6wk old bay abroad. . .?"

Yes Yes Yes. Self catering is probably better, with dd in your room (forget Gina for a week). I have a really cool Samsonite popup travel cot with attached mossie net you could borrow. It weighs nothing and provides full shade for when you're out. And I would go for a laze by the pool type holiday - even though I know you'd normally hate that, preferably with childcare for ds. CAT me if you want it - I've changed e-mail address

I'd take a baby on holiday at that age, but being cautious I would tend not to go to a country where you don't know the language (in case of a trip to the docs or any unneccessary stress really). Plus the heat can make them wake at night more (it does for ds anyway, and he's used to it).

Serenequeen, if I knew then what I know now I would've gone on holiday when he was tiny, as at 7mths he is in his routine and used to his surroundings.
I'm not sure I'd go abroad only because of heat and the "What If?" factor. Devon is lovely

I say !!!YES!!!
We went away with dd2 6 times before she was 6 months old on independant trips (ie not packages to resorts), the first being at 2 weeks within UK, the first abroad at 7 weeks.
I found it fine because ahe was an easy baby and was fully breastfed, so no worrying about the water and stuff (that would concern me, if anything) and it provided a simple solution to night grizzles. She slept with me so she could snack in the night as required.
I think it's mostly how you feel about it. If you're desperate for a holiday, then go for it.
We've never had any probs communicating anywhere in Europe and we only speak English. IME so many people speak English these days that if the person you're trying to communicate with doesn't speak it there'll be someone nearby who'll translate for you! If you're worried about medical things, get a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet for where you're going as they often list where to find English speaking doctors.
Our policy has always been "Where there's a will there's a way" and we've had a great time as a result and our kids (now 3.5 and 22months) have been to many fantastic places!!! (We just came back from a week in Germany yesterday!)
I think If you feel up to it then do it

When my baby was 6 wk I would have said "no" but now that he is 18m and he no longer wants to sit in his pushchair, doesn't fit in his travel cot, no longer sleeps in days out, and I'm carrying an incredible amount of things to get him through the day (toys, food, water, juice, bottles for the night, etc). I can just think to myself WHY WE DIDN'T TRAVEL MORE WHILE HE WAS SO STATIC AND DIDN'T HAVE AS MANY NEEDS??? so the answer to your question is YES go ahead and enjoy, this is the easier time )

Dd first went to New York at just under 6 weeks - we thought hard about it but had no problems - she was so portable and didn't cry either way on the plane. While my husband went to meetings the 4 kids and I "did" Manhattan! She has since been to Dublin, Switzerland and the Bahamas, and tomorrow we're off to Venice. (No I'm not always on holiday - following daddy to work in school holidays is the only way they get to see him!) I'd thoroughly recommend air travel before the baby gets into crawling mode - much easier on the nerves. Just avoid anywhere too hot (or buy a UV shield from Urchin) and if you're not breastfeeding a travel sterilizer and mini kettle make life much easier than those sterilizing bags. Go for it and have fun!

We took DD to a cottage in Nothumberland and an overnight stay in Edinburgh when she was 12 weeks and it was lovely. We didn't go abroad as I wasn't organised to have anything planned or booked by then!

Florida at 10 weeks - absolutely great. She was still getting us up 4 times a night but I still had a really great time. The family all chilled out around me and that helped us all bond together. Couldn't recommend it more - much much easier than when I first travelled with dd1 when she was 14 months and walking and I couldn't relax the entire holiday for fear of where she'd gone next.

Yes I took ds at 6 weeks. He was a dream on the plane, slept well, and usually whilst we ate dinner at night, covered him in sun cream, sun brolly, sun tent - although found it easier to leave him in the apartment and we sat on the terrace. We really enjoyed ourselves!!

thank you very much for all these messages.

i actually feel quite gung-ho about taking dd abroad IF she were certain to be behaving as she is now - she is just a dream baby. however, since neither dh, nor my fantastic mws are in favour of a trip abroad (i can't face the arguments - not enough energy atm) and i can see how miserable it would be if she suddenly got, say, colic, or started waking up 5 times per night, then think it is safer to stick to the uk. then at least it's easier to bail out if it all goes pear-shaped.

i think a hotel would be best, self catering can just be a transfer of all the bog standard chores to a different but less convenient environment, and with ds and dd the ages they are, we don't need the flexibility of a self-catering environment.

now we just have to check availability and the old bank balance, which has taken an absolute pounding from our recent move and still has to fund some extended mat leave for me....

thank you very much everyone