Travelling with a baby

[sophcooper]

Thoughts on taking a 9 week old to Spain in September?? My little one was 2 when we first flew and I just don't know how I feel taking a baby but I also don't want to cancel

I wouldn’t want to go on holiday then as I was an exhausted mess. Of you can pay an admin fee to change the holiday to next year. With TUI it’s £50 pp and if you had a free child place you don’t pay the admin fee for the child.

Will you definitely have a 9 week old or potentially a 7 week old? Big difference
September can still be very hot for such a small baby.

will you get a passport in time? You need to register baby before you can apply. Personally I wouldn’t unless it’s to visit family.

My DCs are adopted and were born abroad so we flew home with them when they were babies but that was to get home. The flight itself was ok though.

I wouldn't take them on holiday before they've had all their infant jabs though as they are just so much more vulnerable at that age.

We took advantage of adoption leave and went on term time holidays with them when they were under 1 but one was 8 months and the other was 10 months for their first holiday.

I took a 12 week old and it was fine.
you need to be quick getting the passport though.

I'd move it a few weeks later if possible just I case any medical issues and of course the passport is a thing. But baby should travel fine at that age they sleep
So much it'll just be in the sling.

It's the end of September 28th for 7 days

They would be 9 or 10 weeks depending on when I get my section date but I'm thinking If I get them registered ASAP I can and apply for the passport that day

We moved house when DC2 was 2 weeks old. A week's holiday two months after that would have been lovely and absolutely doable.

It's fine.

I waited until for all the early vaccines

We took my first to Italy when he was 9 weeks old to visit my in laws - I was dreading it, and felt quite pressured into going, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (family dynamics with my hard work SIL were harder work than the travel!)

I personally think this is the easiest time to take them away. I took my second abroad for a holiday at 6w, with a nearly 2yo. The relative effort for the children was newborn 10%, toddler 90%, even with the baby being colicky and a rubbish sleeper.

I wouldn't put it off for a year that's for sure. A 1 year old will mean you wouldn't get a moments peace. Even if baby only wants to sleep on you, your can do that on a sunlounger sipping a cocktail rather that supervising a crawling/walking menace 😄

For what it's worth, my baby slept both ways in the plane. I ate, read a book and had a cold drink. The toddler was HARD WORK. At the hotel I spent a lot of time with my feet dangling in the children's pool, with baby in a lightweight sling shaded by an umbrella. Husband was chasing around our toddler who was constantly trying to kill herself.

We're planning to go abroad when dc is 8 weeks old. But it is to visit family. We've had to be quick registering the birth and applying for the passport though. I imagine it'll be fine as they sleep a lot during this time and are very portable. Will utilise the sling during the travel bit and luckily it's not a long flight. I'm probably more relaxed though as we will be staying with family who will help out (hopefully!). Think I'd less likely go on a proper holiday due to the sleep deprivation in the first few months as I think I'd enjoy it less.

I've just brought my 6 week old to France for Xmas and to Spain last week (when she was 12 weeks).

No bother and we had fab hols both times.

I think you need to be prepared for anything; they may cry, they may have a poonami on the flight or they may sleep.
Everyone around me on the plane was really understanding (or they at least pretended to be!) and several offered to help me with my bags.

I had a sling and the Yoyo zen buggy that you can take on board.
It's worth paying extra so your travel companion can sit beside you and help.

During the holiday, we stuck to the same loose routine. Both times we travelled to see family, so it was nice to have the extra helping hands.

There were a few things we couldn't do e.g. we stayed home for a few of the meals out as baby was being fussy.
However there were lots that we could do and it was really nice having a change of scenery and going for walks / exploring local cafés and shops with baby.

We applied for her passport the day after she was born and had her first set of vaccines before the first flight.

I flew transatlantic with my then 6 week old and back again when he was 12 weeks. It was easier then than when they were toddlers! He’d had 6 flights by the time he was 3 months.

Oh correction to above, we applied to register her the day after she was born and then for her passport once she was registered.
There's a delay in registering babies near us, so by the time we got her birth certificate we had to pay for the speedy passport, to make sure we'd have it on time.

We had a registration done when DD as 1 week old and applied immediately for the passports (dual nationality from birth).

We went abroad when DD was 12 weeks to visit family. We were just coming out of all things colic related and still battled silent reflux.

DD was a very early riser and I was glad I could make myself some food and drinks at 6am in my mum‘s and my PIL’s kitchen, a hotel would have been awful.

I didn‘t enjoy the week and we so much more preferred the holiday when DD was 10 month and we were in a better mental stage. Saying that, it was self-catering as she was still a very early riser.

There is also a delay in my area to register babies, I got the appointment 6-7 weeks after the birth and had to get a fast track appointment.