30th Birthday and baby first holiday

[Leleophants]

End of April I turn 30 and want to go away just the three of us. We will have a 6 month old and will probably be their first time on a plane so no idea how that'll go. DH and I are seasoned travellers but know things will change with lo.

Criteria:

• Gatwick or Heathrow
• Direct flight which is baby friendly as possible
• Warm end of April/May ideally mid 20s
• Things to do so we can go out for dinner on my Birthday and feel a bit special! But also not very busy nightlife city as want to relax as have a baby.
• Ideally not just a resort full of brits abroad. We do like a bit of foreign culture, although could stay in a resort if interesting town nearby
• Near beach and nature so we can be outside with lo and go in the water.

Any thoughts? Anything from 3 - 6 nights.

Depends how far you're prepared to fly OP. If the answer is 'not very far at all' then I'd head to the south of Spain, which will be warm, but the sea will be chilly.

If you're prepared to go a bit further, then the Canaries. Further still, what about somewhere like Bermuda? Very safe, English speaking, lovely weather all year round.

I’ve flown with a 6 month year old (eldest DD, went to Trinidad) and while it’s better than when they are a few months older and more mobile, it’s still (do-able) hard work so the shorter the flight and the less time difference to muck up their sleep patterns the better from my experience (the Trinidad holiday wasn’t a great time!). Somewhere that is very hot with a baby is a bit of a nightmare as struggling to keep them covered and cool isn’t particularly relaxing either! Also, maybe worth booking closer to the time? I know that will be more expensive but you will better know if it’s its something you can cope with - the first 12 months of both my DDs lives I was a living zombie and I don’t think I would have been up to a holiday at 6 months with my youngest DD who spent a lot of her very early life vomiting on me/not sleeping!

Sorry if that sounds off putting - plenty of people do travel successfully with babies obviously! I think at that time of year I’d look at somewhere like Tavira (pretty town on the Algarve with beach. April/May temps 20-23). If such a place exists, I’d look for an apartment with a pool. Apartments worked better for us than hotel rooms when the DDs were small as you can put them to sleep in a separate space to you and have some adult grown up time without continuously worrying about making a noise! They are also just nicer than a hotel room to retreat to in the middle of the heat of the day at nap time.

Thanks!

Do you think city break will just be a bit much? I've been told you need to double the amount of time to do everything.

Depends very much on the baby. DS was a fantastic napper but meant by 6 months we were a bit of a slave to nap time. Was fine in a resort, in fact most welcome, but might have been annoying if trying to see a city.

IME no holidays or meals with tiny DC were fun, so would go for something budget, short haul. And spend money on things to help you day to day back home.

We did a city break to Paris when youngest DD was just over a year (though I think we probably could have done it earlier despite her erratic sleeping/feeding/vomiting patterns & it would have been ok) and did Eurostar which was dead simple. As she was in her pushchair a lot of the time, it was an easy break for everyone. But as @Lenny1980 says, it really depends on your baby. A short haul fight somewhere with little time difference & not overly hot with an easy going baby well into a routine is likely to be fine! But maybe wait and see and book something a month before rather than now?

We went to Maderia with a 4 month old and had a lovely time stayed in an apartment with indoor and outdoor pools onsite and there was a restaurant onsite you could get meals at and a place for afternoon tea.

I preferred apartments with pools and restaurant on site at that age. Hotel rooms can be challenging either keeping yours quiet or getting yours to sleep with noise outside. I would avoid anywhere needing vaccines. I would do shorthaul rather than longhaul.

Somewhere like Sicily or Sardinia might work too - never been to Sardinia but Sicily has nice beaches and lovely food (swordfish kebabs are amazing). Taormina was really nice for a few days. Amalfi Coast was also lovely but where we stayed was more for looking at coast than beaches.

Lovely thank you. I think I will wait until baby is born like you say. It's a real learning curve for us as we are so used to booking up exciting escapes (and as it's cheaper in advance!) but we also got to the point where we wanted a baby more than anything so if this is the sacrifice then it's worth it!