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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

The thought of going away with toddlers..

32 replies

Lollyloup91 · 05/02/2023 19:09

Puts me off ever looking. But plenty of people I know seem to go away once or twice a year with no issues it seems and lots of happy photos of social media!

We've taken DD away twice, she's 2.5 and both times were just 3/4 night stays in the UK. Both times were HARD WORK, she didn't like not being in her bed, she was unwell, she didn't sit still for more than 10 mins and we were too knackered to enjoy the evenings with her asleep.

We have a DS on the way and I had the idea of having a holiday abroad when he's 1 next year, also before DD goes to school. But looking into it I'm thinking it would be a huge waste of money and generally just hard work....

Anyone else feel like this?

OP posts:

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 05/02/2023 22:27

We've had a mixture of stay at home and trips abroad. After a disastrous holiday somewhere that should have been warm but was unseasonably baltic, the kids were ill and everyone was miserable we had a lovely staycation the next year. We used the money to do nice things during the day, meals out, for a babysitter and adults evenings. It was a very chilled 2 weeks with decent weather and we felt genuinely rested when we went back to work. But we both worked FT so it wasn't a normal routine for us anyway.
We have friends who swear by all inclusive and all day kids clubs which sounds a bit grim to me especially if your kids are very small (older kids will enjoy the activities more if they are that way inclined) but each to their own. My views are very tainted by interviewing a former nanny who worked a summer in a v high end reputable holiday company staffing them and her tales just made me feel ill.
I think it sometimes depends on the people you are. If you're rigid about baby toddler routine and the type to stress about varying it (because restaurants don't open early enough for meals at 6, then you're probably not going to relax and roll with the odd bad night or having your evening interrupted because someone's had an unplanned snooze and is wide awake at bedtime.

headstone · 05/02/2023 22:29

Anyone been on a cruise with a two year old? Or is that just a crazy idea.

rainydaysandcupcakes · 05/02/2023 22:46

Going away with children of any age (including teenagers) can be hard work if you made it or have unrealistic expectations.

You know your children and you need to make a holiday work for you. We have have brilliant holiday with our children but made sure we tried to make life easy. E.g make sure they eat properly even if that is being some favourites from home. Making sure you don't over tire them, and enjoy the time they are sleeping. Have lots of things they like with you.

If you relax your kids will be

anomaly23 · 05/02/2023 23:00

I have taken both my kids away since they were babies. Ds was 15 months and dd was 3 weeks old. We have a brilliant time.

TheBirdintheCave · 05/02/2023 23:28

We are a city break family and carried on that style of holiday after we had our son. He's been on a train hopping trip around the cities of the Emilia Romagna region of Italy when he was 18 months and then all over Granada when he was 22 months. This year we're spending a week in Sicily and he will be 2.5 :D

It's totally possible to enjoy trips with toddlers. Our son is a brilliant traveller and we don't place too many expectations on ourselves re naps and bedtimes. Generally he wears himself out exploring so we don't need to worry.

Nappy changing and eating out etc is just the same as it would be as if we were on holiday in the UK. We even manage to carry on our son's use of reusable nappies by always staying somewhere near a launderette 😅

Two kids, granted, will probably be a bit more of a challenge but I wouldn't let that stop you from planning to go somewhere :)

allfurcoatnoknickers · 06/02/2023 17:34

I must be a total weirdo, because all the holidays we've had with DS, who's now 3.5 have been amazing. The worst ones are the ones where we've stayed semi-local and driven because he hates the car and always throws up. He's a delight on a plane though.

We did a city break when he was 4 months and it was great, and then did all-inclusives or beach resorts until he was 3. This past summer we did a trip to San Diego because DH went on business and DS LOVED it. It was one of our best holidays to-date.

I think it's the luck of the draw really - according to my parents I was a great traveler when I was little, and now I have a great traveler too. I was recently away with a friend, her husband and 2 kids though and the kids HATED everything and were miserable the whole time - they wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep and just wanted to go home.

I'm pregnant with #2 right now, so hopefully she'll love travelling as much as we do.

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 06/02/2023 18:22

It probably depends on you and your DC tbh. If you have a good sleeper who doesn’t mind the heat and you’re happy to chase them around and aren’t too fussed about relaxing then it could work out fine.

if you have a bad sleeper who is grumpy in the heat and you like to spend holidays relaxing then I doubt it would be much fun.

I didn’t take mine away abroad until they were around 9, but that was for financial reasons rather than a conscious decision. I know my friend took her DC away when they were 18 months, she thought it was a waste of money and didn’t go abroad again until her youngest was about 5. So it’s really just dependent on your individual feelings.

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