Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Holidays

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

Original poster

Narrow boat holiday with toddler. Madness?

51 replies

Paaseitjes · 07/08/2025 08:04

We live overseas. Parents live in two former industrial cities about 150 miles apart. Neither sets of parents have houses suitable for a small child. The baby will be about 15 months at the start of next summer. A moving base camp where we start in one city and pootle over to the other, maybe taking grandparents along for a few days at each end, feels like a brilliant idea. No need to cart everything by train or worry about car seats, one lot of baby proofing without offending anyone, and a bit more of a holiday than staying in the suburbs. Is this actually a good idea, or is it sleep deprived madness?

OP posts:
BreezyPeachGoose · 07/08/2025 08:05

Why put yourself through the constant worry and stress of the little one falling in on a holiday?

wonderstuff · 07/08/2025 08:06

I think madness, sorry, but kids are just so mobile at that age and a narrow boat will have very little space. I’d go for a rental in between.

starofsolomon · 07/08/2025 08:06

madness

Aout25 · 07/08/2025 08:07

Sleep deprived madness. That won't be a holiday! Just stress. Car hire & carefully watch your child in their grandparents homes would be MUCH easier & safer.

NorthernDancer · 07/08/2025 08:07

Sleep deprived madness I'm afraid. The lack of space and the need to keep your DC safe, assuming they are mobile at that age, will be exhausting. I speak from bitter experience.

MiddleAgedDread · 07/08/2025 08:08

Madness!
it’s a hard way to travel with just 2 adults and who’s going watch a toddler while one of you is driving and the other is operating lock gates??

Drivingmissrangey · 07/08/2025 08:08

Why wouldn’t the GPs houses be suitable for a small child? Or do you mean there’s not enough room for everyone to sleep? Because if you think a house on actual dry land isn’t suitable I have no idea why you think a boat is.

rwalker · 07/08/2025 08:08

Horrendous idea because youd be stuck in below deck and can’t imagine the interior being particularly child friendly

User415373 · 07/08/2025 08:09

I mean it depends on your toddler.
I'm incredibly wary around water and it's one my absolute non negotiables. For example, I don't let my mum look after my kids as she has a river at the end of the garden with no fence. I just can't take the risk .
Personally it would be no holiday for me, having to be constantly vigilant around water. Toddler would need a life jacket on at all times? Obviously you wouldn't be able to pop into the boat to grab something while they're on the deck etc.
I mean it sounds like a lovely idea if you really want to do it but why not an air BnB or similar instead? One in one city, then catch the train to the other?

Ballardz · 07/08/2025 08:10

Terrible idea. At that age toddlers have discovered their freedom and are constantly walking and climbing around. It will be non stop stress for you.

MittensTheKittens · 07/08/2025 08:11

Sounds like a lovely idea... in about five years time. :)

CharlotteStreetW1 · 07/08/2025 08:11

You can tell I don't have children as I thought it was a lovely idea! 😬

Needlenardlenoo · 07/08/2025 08:12

We did our first holiday like this when DD was 6. The locks were stressful. We really needed an extra adult.

Only do this if you can guarantee one or other set of parents will be aboard for the whole trip and if they are practical hands-on people who will catch a rope or operate a lock gate.

Treeleaf11 · 07/08/2025 08:12

I'm sorry but it is madness. Can you get an airbnb between the two of them in an area with things to do. Your parents could each stay with you for a few days.

bitterlemonade · 07/08/2025 08:15

Dreadful idea. We spent time aboard one with family earlier in the year. My two were much older but still felt I needed to keep an eye on them constantly.

They are much smaller inside than you might think. Really not suitable for toddlers - so many different ways that they could hurt or bump themselves before even worrying about the water!

Pinkcherry26 · 07/08/2025 08:17

Terrifying. Have you ever been on a boating holiday OP? I am guessing not. It's a lovely idea but no from me.

Original poster
Paaseitjes · 07/08/2025 08:18

That's pretty unanimous! Only one out of 3 households can drive so car hire and most holiday cottages are out due to access. A canal boat doesn't seem much less stressful than trying to keep a baby quiet and entertained in the Travellodge type hotels that are all that's available in the (shithole) towns we grew up in! Plus we only have a tiny flat so lack of space is normal. The issue of number of hands for opening locks does seem pretty insurmountable though! We'll wait until the baby can operate a lock and can be trusted not to jump overboard Grin it's a shame the grandparents didn't fancy retiring to a very stylish flat in the Barbican

OP posts:
user9064385631 · 07/08/2025 08:20

We live near a canal. Plenty of people go past with little kids on board holidaying. And plenty of people live full time on there with young families so it can be done but how relaxing, no idea!
I would say though, it would take an extra ordinarily long time to travel 150 miles! And if like this summer of no rain, you take the chance that parts may be closed because of low water levels.

LizzieSiddal · 07/08/2025 08:21

I’ve been on several barge holidays. The thought of having a toddler on board is horrendous, it would be so dangerous.
You’d have to have the baby velcroed to you at all times!

Fordian · 07/08/2025 08:22

Don’t do it. A friend had a really stressful holiday with 2 preschoolers at a villa with an unfenced pool.

User415373 · 07/08/2025 08:23

Paaseitjes · 07/08/2025 08:18

That's pretty unanimous! Only one out of 3 households can drive so car hire and most holiday cottages are out due to access. A canal boat doesn't seem much less stressful than trying to keep a baby quiet and entertained in the Travellodge type hotels that are all that's available in the (shithole) towns we grew up in! Plus we only have a tiny flat so lack of space is normal. The issue of number of hands for opening locks does seem pretty insurmountable though! We'll wait until the baby can operate a lock and can be trusted not to jump overboard Grin it's a shame the grandparents didn't fancy retiring to a very stylish flat in the Barbican

But you don't have to stay in a hotel? We've just got back from a holiday in a bungalow air BnB with an enclosed garden. Our toddlers loved it and had space to blow off steam and play safely. The not having a car issue would the same in the boat - you could get a taxi, a train if you need to travel? Not sure what cities you are staying in but most have nicer areas!

KidsHaveAllTheFun · 07/08/2025 08:29

Not glamorous, but honestly caravan holidays are perfect at this age (not perfect, nothing about travelling with a toddler is perfect!)

You can have full on entertainment like Haven, or much smaller independent ones.

Much better than a hotel room.

Original poster
Paaseitjes · 07/08/2025 08:32

The water isn't so stressful for us. We're Dutch so open water is normal and there's a canal at the end of our garden. I'd thought a combination of travel cot, tying a harness to a chair leg à la Silas Marner and life jackets should do the trick, but that wouldn't work for a flight of locks. Stairs, open fires, British taxi drivers and ambulance waiting times scare me much more about coming home, not all of which are rational! I think we'll try to lure the grandparents out of the UK for family holidays

OP posts:
Zezet · 07/08/2025 08:32

I had a partner who grew up on the water (like literally sailing the ocean with his parents) and until they were five or six the kids ALWAYS were tied to the boat and in life jacket. There was a whole system of metal strings installed all around the boat so they could walk and click from one to the other (sorry, don't quite know how to explain it in English). The parents were dead serious about it. He was allowed to handle big knives from the age of three. But he couldn't be on the boat without the system.

So on that basis I would never do that.

Zezet · 07/08/2025 08:33

Also love your username.