City break with 8m old

[Albieinthesun]

We've been spontaneous and booked a few days in Brussels, in April - any tips for city breaks with a 8-9 month old baby? All the MN threads seem to be for holidays in the sun with pools / beaches etc!

If your baby is willing I would definitely take a sling. I always found that easier in city breaks than taking a pram.

If you’re flying and still breastfeeding, that will help settle the baby on the plane and stop the ears popping.

Otherwise at that age, I found you could do pretty much what you wanted to do as an adult and the baby was fairly adaptable. Just allow longer for breaks to feed her, nappy changes etc.

Thanks that's great and really reassuring! Is it sensible to get an Airbnb where we can self-cater in the evenings? And do people tend to take their own travel cot (rather than using what's provided?)?

@Albieinthesun We always book apartments (even when we decide to go out to eat in the evening) as it gives my husband and I a living room to chill in the evenings after our son has gone to bed.

And yes we've always brought our own travel cot.

We never took a travel cot as we co slept so made sure we have a king/ super king sized bed. I also prefer to travel light as it’s easier to get through the airport and get your stuff from the airport to wherever you are staying.

Re accommodation, we’ve stayed in both self catering and hotels. For short breaks I prefer hotels as I’m not doing any cooking. We make sure we take plenty of snacks etc that don’t need to be kept in a fridge so always something available for them to eat. In the evening baby would sleep while we sat in a restaurant (we had one that slept anywhere though).

We asked for a travel cot to save on how much we had to bring. We always do an apartment so we can have dinner and chill in the evening when the baby is asleep. Recommend bringing a pram for that age. Much easier when they have a nap in the day so you can sit and have lunch in peace with them in the pram rather than stuck to you sitting down.

We took DS to Copenhagen at 9 months, it was a great age to travel with! We were in a hotel but with a separate sleeping area and sitting area. Used their cot.

At that age we didn't need to self cater, just got some fruit, yogurt, pouches etc from the supermarket when we got there and used the mini fridge. We ate earlyish with him and then just had snacks and drinks once he'd gone to bed.

We didn't take a sling/carrier, pushchair was great for naps on the go and meant we could stop for a drink while he was sleeping. Plus somewhere to put everything when you're out and about for the day

We did a city break in the Netherlands at that age and it went fine. We opted for both sling and pram as our baby didn’t like being in either all day. I would try to get a travel cot provided by the hotel, especially if you are using public transport. If using taxis you have to decide whether to risk it without a car seat or bring your car seat or pre-arrange one with a car seat. We opted for a hotel as didn’t want to cook. A hotel breakfast is also a nice chance for your baby to try lots of different food without any effort on your part.

I'm still utterly baffled by so many people on so many threads who seem to think that getting an apartment means you spend all holiday cooking and cleaning 🤷🏻‍♀️🤔 Are we really the only ones who use apartments for the extra space and go to restaurants to eat?

I don’t think staying in self catering means you have to cook. But if I’m not cooking I don’t need the kitchen facilities and I want the facilities more likely associated with hotels (central location, daily cleaning, possibly a pool/spa, hotel buffet breakfast). I was also quite happy to room share with mine when they were babies or toddlers as they slept while DH and I could watch a film.

Thanks everyone, really helpful.
Ooh good point about car seats @wishIwasonholiday10 - easy to forget that one! And I was tempted to get an apartment (for the space and the option to microwave some veg for little one) but hotel buffet also sounds fun from the weaning perspective so will see what our budget allows!

I've since heard Brussels can be pretty horrific for strollers (narrow entrances and cobbled streets) so we'll probs take both.

For activities I'm envisaging some museums and galleries and if baby gets bored then maybe a park to escape to 😅

@karmakameleon Yes, I do often miss hotel
breakfasts and pools 😞 BUT the extra room is just so useful to us. And I find apartments are more often better located.

Thankfully this time we've found an apartment with a pool! I'm very excited 😬

Brussels is absolutely fine for prams!

Oo good to know thanks!