Will we regret hotel based city break with a 10 month old?

[trrk]

We booked some flights to Amsterdam over Easter with a voucher that was about to expire but am now starting to have regrets. Our baby will be 10 months old by then. Due to being a crazy busy time so far I've only been able to find hotels within our price range in Amsterdam (without staying way outside the centre) so we wouldn't have access to a kitchen and we would all be sleeping in the same room. Also tried a smaller city Leiden which seems to have good train connections but it's the same there. Are we going to regret spending 5 days in a hotel with a 10 month old? Not sure how to deal with food etc and whether she will be able to eat food with us in restaurants. Is 10 months old a bad time for a city break generally? When I booked it I pictured us strolling around the canals and visiting Keukenhof flower gardens but will a 10 month old be happy in the stroller for long stretches? There seems so much unknown when booking a trip with a baby as you never know what thy will be like by the time you go! We were big travellers pre-baby but finding it so daunting now.

Oh and at no point did I even mention MM.

And I've just seen how you travel with babies, so frankly, I'd advise anyone not to take anything you say seriously.

Well it is, so you pull over at the next safest opportunity surely 😆

Depends on the baby and your expectations. Sightseeing or a city/hotel break with DS at that age would have been a total nightmare. He wouldn’t tolerate more than ~ 15 mins in the pram without screaming and he just wanted to cruise/crawl/roll EVERYWHERE. He also never slept in the pram, despite my best efforts. If you have one of those placid babies that is happy to just be, and sleeps well in the pram so you aren’t stuck in the dark room from 8pm onwards/nap time, it’ll probably be fine.

Can’t help with the first break part but we took our son his first holiday at 10 months. It was ideal as he didn’t need milk on the plane and was just having a bottle at breakfast and bedtime. So much less faff! We’d just get bottled water (the one that’s suitable) to use in the kettle. He ate three meals a day at the buffet and was happy to have whatever. Any earlier than this I think would have been a struggle. He slept for hours in the buggy every day but then it was hot. Have plenty of snacks on you and you’ll be fine! The good thing is at 10 months they don’t want out the buggy to walk yet

Absolutely. I can’t believe how reckless people are with their kids in their pursuit of their own pleasure. So bloody selfish

We did trips with DD at that age but never a hotel. DD was a bad sleeper on the move in the evenings, no way she would have been happy sleeping in a pram in a restaurant.

I would try and get an apartment.

There are lots of supermarkets around, Amsterdam is a city where people live everywhere and need to shop. We had one near our hotel and got fruit, drinks, rolls and packed cheese/ham for lunch. Just make sure you take a proper knife in your suitcase.

Depends on the baby and your expectations.

This.

And... One of the biggest impacts to your baby's routine at 10mo is eating.

My DS 10mo is on 3 meals a day. Yes there are babies in Amsterdam as PP said, but those babies live in houses with kitchens to store and prepare food. Not saying its not doable, but you could have a baby that refuses to eat pouches 3 x a day on the go (mine showed his distain for Ella's Kitchen all over Granddad's kitchen at Christmas). And where/how will you keep utensils clean?

I think you will find the trip less stressful if you had an apartment.

Should add, an apartment is also good if you find you need to go home early (speaking from experience 😅). You can always put DC to bed while you and DH have a night in with a bottle of wine, sample some of the local delacies, etc.

Holidays can be very stimulating for babies. In a good way, but it can also tire them out pretty rapidly.

Definitely do it!! You won’t know until you give it a go. Just have low expectations for what you’ll be able to do each day, and take it easy.

Can you not find an Airbnb? Me and DH are going to Holland for 2 weeks in April and have booked 2 Airbnb's, one in Amsterdam and one in Rotterdam. We are also spending 4 days in a mobile home at Duinrell which is in Wassenaar.

We both love Holland and have been there quite a few times and stayed at Wassenaar 4 times before.

We prefer to have a kitchen so we can at least have a breakfast there rather than eating all meals out. Also prefer to have more space than an hotel room.

We only booked it all last week and there was quite a lot of places to choose from. They were about the same price or cheaper than hotels.

I assume you are not driving there?

A lot will depend on your baby but I will say the Dutch are very child friendly in my experience. I probably would look at going for a hotel and make sure that the hotel has a lift. Dutch stairs are mega steep in my experience and I certainly would not fancy carrying a baby up and down those stairs or trying to lift a pram.

While I agree that an apartment is easier, DD never had more than the odd fruit pot.
She survived on porridge mixed with warm milk or slice of bread with jam for breakfast, baked potato and pasta for meals when we were on holiday and she was 9 months old.
Take spoons and buy yoghurt pots and a knife to cut fruit.

we've never sat in hotel rooms while the kids are asleep. stay out and let them sleep in the buggy. same with older kids, won't kill them going to bed late for a few nights.

Thanks again all for the advice! We definitely prefer an apartment but having booked a bit late and Easter being super popular there is very little going on AirBnB except super expensive options or ones far from the centre which makes it harder to just pop back anyway and involves more lugging the stroller around on public transport.

Took six week old to Amsterdam and he was born 6 weeks prem

Cycled around with him

More then one is hard

But one is fine

Yes they are annoying making noises at night

Pre made milk, pouches of food, sterilising tablets and washing up liquid and brush

Wax ear plugs

Go x you will be glad x

In that case, have a fabulous time - have low expectations and don't stress worry if your plans don't quite work out, but also cherish the good times.

This is our approach having done a couple of breaks with our 10mo and we've been pleasantly suprised (most of the time)!