What do you do with babies on holiday?

[FunnyOrca]

We are considering our first holiday with our baby. She will be about 7 months. What exactly do you do with your baby on holiday? I can’t really imagine taking her on a city break, or to a holiday cottage or on a hike? An all-inclusive isn’t something we have done before. People say they are good for babies, but what do you do all day?

At a similar age we went somewhere with a 2 hour time difference but didn't tell the baby - so at out at 7.30 which for her was 5.30, bed for her at 10 which she thought was 8. It worked really well! Obviously it worked in the mornings too

Thank you everyone!

It doesn’t feel like it right now, but I’m guessing a city break will be possible given how unanimous the responses have been!

I see mentions of all the baby gear. Can I ask what people are taking?

At the moment I would pack:
sling
books and toys
padded blanket for floor time
bath thermometer
changing bag (plus extra changing mats)
stain remover
I’m guessing by 7 months I’ll need bibs?

She co-sleeps and refuses the buggy. Is this really naive? Am I missing loads of stuff?

I ask this as I hope to travel by train.

No, that's a good list. You don't need to take a ton, even toys at that age are literally any object that wasn't breakable or swallowable and that we could hand to them to look at.

A silicone bib would be handy, yes. They're only usually having one meal a day at that age so you can just feed them a bit of yoghurt or mashed fruit/avocado or a strip of toast.

I might keep trying with the buggy, if this is a few months away still. It can be handy to be able to strap them down somewhere safe and not get too sweaty with a baby strapped to you for hours.

Agree that it’s an ideal age to do something that you really want to do, before baby is on the move! We went to Sicily when DS was 8 months and it was perfect – a mix of city and beach and the locals were always sweet with our ‘piccolo bambino’. He would often nap in the pram when we were out and about and we’d get to enjoy a spritz or some food on a piazza.

Since baby is starting solids, I would recommend self-catering with a high chair and cot available.

Don’t over think the packing ! You don’t need a bath thermometer (just feel the water) or a blanket (every hotel will have blankets or a towel to put down!

Just do what you would normally do and baby fits in as much as possible! When they are two or four etc this will not happen so make the most of it!

I loved the French baby food selection and assume other places on the continent are similar.

We took our child on first holiday when she was that age and we did the all-inclusive thing, again it wasn't our thing but felt easier - we were also going with family who wanted to do that type of holiday. We assumed they would help a bit...errr, no they did not. Whatever holiday you do, there will be a bit of taking turns so you can try and get a break as well as parenting. We took turns swimming, having solo reading time etc, played with her, took her to dip her feet in the sea. Got her to sleep in buggy then took her out for dinner. Sat in bed or balcony of hotel having drinks when she was down in the room.

We have since had other traditional beach holidays with her and they've been fantastic for a child (although not what we are used to) - Mini discos, buffets that mean she can try a range of foods, other guests making a fuss of her, swimming pool to play in, children of different nationalities making friends.

We also more of an "exploring" holiday which was also great - cable cars, adventure playgrounds, buses, trains, eating in different places every night. Whatever you do, it'll look different from pre baby but it can still be fun.

Just to add, we had only just started weaning and the all-inclusive buffet ended up working well for us. We took some of the Ella's kitchen pouches and paired with sliced fruit and bread from the buffet.

DD was absolutely not hotel-suitable until she was nearly 8.years.

As a baby, she woke up at ungodly o'clock and demanded food. I didn't fancy doing bottles at 6am in a hotel room. Later she still was up at 6am, preferred a normal bedtime or it was 6am the next day and utterly overtired. Sleeping in the pram was a no-go for evenings.

We had great holidays with self-catering, Devon, Majorca, Isle of Wight, Germany. A nice flat/cottage/villa with a washing machine, high chair, cot.

We did hikes with her in a back carrier, played at the beach, went to the zoo, park, pool, museum, castles, stately homes. But we did all these things at home so it was just a different location. We live in London and she had her first museum visit at 8 weeks.

Any holiday won't be what you did before. Even with taking turns, it won't be the sipping drinks at the pool, it will be platying with her in the splash area.

It’s easier to take a baby on a city break type holiday than it is a toddler. Make the most of it whilst you can. Although at 7 months your baby might bee crawling and wanting to explore rather than be in a sling, my DS wouldn’t go in a sling by that age.

City breaks and hiking are perfect. We mostly road tripped incorporating both of those, they also liked camping, make sure your overnight stops have a pool some days, otherwise just do what you enjoy. When dd2 was 6 months I did a two week road trip incorporating camping and hotels, plus stayed in a friends flat in San Francisco, was brilliant and her older sister (2) had a ball too, best moment was taking them to a jazz club and them letting dd1 go on stage and have a tambourine - she’s now a professional musician