Holiday with a baby under 1?

[Cyas]

Hi there,

my partner and I have been thinking about our first holiday as a family before I go back to work in the autumn, probably when the baby is around 6-9 months old (3 months now)….but it seems like we have quite different ideas, so I’d appreciate some feedback from people who’ve been on holiday with a baby as to what’s practical and works 😊

my idea was basically go somewhere warm but not hot, just the three of us, probably a holiday home on the beach somewhere in Greece, Turkey or Spain…keep it simple so we can figure out the whole baby on holiday thing and there’s not too many stresses and organising to do.

hubbys idea is to go on holiday with another couple who have also just had a baby (I’ve met them once together, my husband works with the guy), and go to 2-3 locations with them in a week in their home country where we don’t speak the language. While I love the idea of a childless road trip and they’re very nice people as far as I know, I’d want our first holiday to just be us, and I’d like to be in control of what’s happening when and where, and keep it pretty basic (just one location, not feeling like we need to socialise / tag along with another couple when we’re just figuring out being parents on holiday), and also can’t imagine driving around in the heat for hours is great for babies.

dont want to crush hubby’s dreams as he’s set on it and always complains I don’t let him plan anything, but am I being unreasonable? Essentially it’s about the baby, not us. I floated the idea that we could book our own stuff and go at the same time as them but not overlap and rely on them entirely…or just go to one of the places in our own time, but the reception wasn’t good…I just feel really uncomfortable with it. It might be fun and totally okay though and I’m just worrying over nothing!

You need to crush those dreams sorry! His idea is not going to be fun for the baby, you or the other couple. Unless you have one of those unicorn babies that sleeps anywhere, doesn’t need any special kit or food and is happy allll the time.

Your plan sounds perfect.

Baby will hate a road trip, and you don't want to be relocating/packing and all that disruption. One location, self catering good as then you have sink fridge and microwave for bottles if needed and somewhere other than the bed to sit while baby sleeping (even better if you have a terrace or even private pool). Not too hot but warm enough to sit outside comfortably, Aircon inside ideally. Nice resort you can walk around with pram

holiday with a baby is fine, what elevated our experience was upgrading our room so we either had a separate living area or something like a swim up room, one hotel we stayed at had a mini pool on the roof of our room which was amazing!

we liked to be able to put the baby somewhere to nap and then have a separate place for us to go.

we are never normally the type to upgrade rooms but with a baby that naps you spend so much more time in the room it’s totally worth it and we learnt our lesson from the tiny hotel room we once stayed in where with a crib and pram in the room there wasn’t much room to swing a cat and we had to go to bed far to early for our liking. Spend the money on a better room is my advice!

I’m not sure you can say baby will hate a road trip - mine came on a few similar holidays for work around the same age and loved them, I’m really glad I took the work and took him. They’re brilliant memories for me.

You seem to be worlds apart in what you want, though. I’m not sure it needs to be quite as chilled out and baby-led as you’re intending if he’s not interested in that, parenting abroad isn’t that different to being at home, but equally he should be less ambitious if you’re not interested in a multi-trip holiday with friends.

I agree with GoodlifeGlow. It's not much fun when you have to sit in a quiet dark hotel room, or at best on the balcony while your baby has a nap / goes to bed at 6pm. We went on an All Inc to Gran Canaria but all accomodation were individual villas, either one or 2 bedrooms. After the kids had gone to bed (3 and 1 at the time) we could either sit on the terrace and hubby would go and get us a drink from the bar, or watch TV in the living area.

Babirs are portable do what you would like to do.
If you like a road trip you can do it.
But soubds lijd you want to relax in one place and he wants to go around. Compromise.
And get him doing everything from day one nappies baths entertaining

Also you know your baby best and what kind of holiday would be more suitable. Some babies will happily fall asleep in their car seat / pushchair in a restaurant, and not wake up when you lift them into bed. Ours were the opposite and had to be in their cot with zero noise and no distractions.

I don't think a road trip with a baby is a crazy idea - in lots of ways it's easier than doing it with a toddler who wants to be on their feet all the time. We did a road trip around Maine when our little one was about 6 months. He was a good sleeper though - just slept solidly in the pram next to our table while we ate in nice restaurants every night!

However, I think doing a week's holiday with people you barely know is rather risky, baby or not.

Are any of the places your husband's friends want to go, within a couple of hours of a beach resort? If so, could you compromise and do one location with husband's friends for 2-3 nights and the rest of the week in a resort just the three of you? If you can tell us the area, we might be able to suggest some good hotels. Agree with poster above that a swim up room is a blessing when you have a napping baby in tow!