Travelling with baby under a month

[Wanderingelk]

I’m due to give birth by c-section in July, but really want to do a summer holiday with DD1 (who is older) before the end of the school hols. In other words, DD2 would potentially be 3-4 weeks hold at the start of the holiday/

Does anyone else have experience of taking a holiday within the baby’s first month? We’d likely stay in the UK or France/Spain, travel by car and stay in an AirBnB. I’d also go with something very low energy (eg short walk to beach).

Is this crazy or actually pretty do-able? A big part of my thinks that DP, DD1 and I would all be cooped up at home otherwise, so we may at least be somewhere pretty/away from home.

It can take a few weeks to get a birth certificate then you will need passport.

Maybe channel islands?

Not sure about a plane ? The baby won’t be vaccinated against anything.
also will you have time to get a passport?
How comfortable will you be travelling so soon after a C section ?

I did a UK caravan park holiday when dd was 6 weeks. Having activities and entertainment on site made life a lot easier. The biggest challenge was the journey itself, we stopped every hour or so which doubled the length of a 4-hour drive.

Bear in mind your newborn won’t be able to be in the car seat for more than a couple of hours so unless you live on the Kent Coast I’d suggest sticking to the UK.

I wouldn’t with baby so young, they won’t have had their vaccines yet. I’d wait until they have at least had the first lot.

Yes, I was wondering about vaccinations but, equally, I can’t see how they’d be at more risk on holiday than at home (unless we literally stayed home and didn’t leave the house all summer). We’d be driving and in private accommodation, so not mixing on flights or trains.

My parent took me to Yugoslavia (1960’s) when I was 6 weeks old. I had a great time apparently. I’m sure you will be fine.

This will be the biggest issue; you could easily wait 2-3 weeks for an appointment for a birth certificate and then you have to get the passport, and you can't do the one day fast track, just the week one, for a first passport.

So if things are fully cancellable that will be fine, but it's a distinct possibility you wouldn't have a passport in time.

(We took DD to Paris when she was a month old on Eurostar, after I've had a C-section, so I'm not necessarily saying that would be a problem, but I think the passport could will be)

You won’t be able to swim after a c section, so if that’s an important part of a beach holiday then it might be tough. Also passport is definitely an issue

There is a big difference between a 6 week old and 3 week old.

OP - I doubt you would get a passport that quick. I would be surprised if you can travel insurance for a new born. DD1 was born my c section, admittedly an EMCS but I would have struggled to traved 3 weeks PP.

I couldn't have done this after a section, I was still struggling to walk far or lift anything heavier than my DD at 4 weeks. Everyone is different but it's major surgery so be prepared that it may take some time to recover, especially if you have any trouble with your scar. Check on the insurance too, make sure you and your baby are covered.

you'd be lucky to get a passport organised that quickly

The guidance is only 30 min for the first month or so so any car trips would be difficult. A lie flat car seat might allow you to extend this but they might still need constant feeding at that age. Why not go at the October half term instead?

We did Centre Parks when DD was 8 weeks and DS nearly 3. That was hard enough.
Just driving with having to stop every hour would be exhausting.
You are likely to be getting very little sleep as well.

Personally op I can see why you'd like to but I think you could end up putting yourself under a huge amount of pressure if the time came and you didn't feel up to it.

I had a planned section and my recovery was pretty decent but I still felt very hormonal, exhausted and just vulnerable at that stage and I don't think I'd have wanted to be anywhere but home. I'd plan for something relatively local with a good cancellation policy so it's booked if you feel OK but maybe not as much pressure. I think the 30 min window for journeys at that point makes things quite difficult as well op so I'd look around an hour from where you're based and then you can stop for lunch on the way.

Agree birth cert will push you back for abroad.
I had to wait 2.5 weeks for an app.

Don't think I could have it done tbh. I had my second last year and sacrificed an abroad holiday.

Is there any nice lodges near you or anything?
May feel more like home from home.

Also, my main issue with getting out and about in the early weeks was I was breastfeeding and really struggled to get dss weight up so I was pretty much feeding round the clock so that would have been harder out and about. So maybe worth considering what your plans are regards feeding as well. We went abroad when ds was 5 months and by that stage it was grand, he was totally portable and I was fit for it. By the time you compare peak prices it might not be a huge difference if you're worried about the school fining you. Lots of schools will be flexible though it just depends.

How will you get a passport and do a long drive with a newborn?