Becoming irrationally worried about taking DS to Italy- tips please!

[singalongamumum]

DS will be 20mo, we are hiring a static caravan. I am SO excited but also kind of dreading how DS will cope with the change of routine etc. We went away last year but he was littler then and easier to manage! He is fast becoming a proper toddler and I keep wondering if it's all going to be a nightmare. Especially the sleeping- he is much improved now, but it has been a struggle getting him to sleep well... what will I do if it all deteriorates??

I am being daft I know, but please can some MNers come and calm me down with wise words and handy tips.

Think you'll have a lovely time. But, jsut to warn you our ds' sleep on hols has either been fine and then regressed when we got home. All OK as you'll just be going back a tiny step and need a week or so to get back into swing of things and get tough again. Worry about that when you get back though.
(mine was awful sleeper, so I sympathise. Almost 3 now and he's pretty good)

Don't stress. You'll all enjoy yourselves.

Cross out EITHER from that to make it make sense!

We travelled with my dd at 6 months, 15 months and 20 months and never had any trouble. Maybe one night to get used to a strange place. Playing outside all day/in pool/on beach, followed by a hose down/cuddle/story and mine slept like a top! One thing with mobile homes is the lack of a bath. My dd was scared of the shower at that age. We used to take her to the shower block, but then used the inflatable boat we bought as an impromptu al fresco tub. She loved this.

Thanks guys- your words are calming me! Good idea about the boat, portofino; I was imagining the shower would cause problems.

Where abouts are you going in Italy? They love babies there generally - your ds will get fussed over. We went to Sardinia when dd was 15 months and not long walking. She loved breadsticks and ice cream and in one restaurant was always whisked off by the waiter to look at the fish and lobsters.

Try and go with the flow, his routine will probably be disrupted but when you are home to your familiar environment everything will fall back into place

We always do "with the flow" on holiday. I just make sure dd eats fruit and milk etc everyday and don't stress if she just eats sandwiches/chips/pasta/icecream every day depending on what's on the menu. Veggies can be hit and miss if you eat out abroad.

He portofino - we used the inflatable bath too!!! You could request the baby pack and get a bath - which you can use as a pond outside!!! You'll find the Italians to be very child friendly and he'll probably be exhausted every night with all the outdoor activity - plus you'll likely be eating late so hopefully that will mean bed late and lie in!! If all else fails, pack medised and a portable DVD player.... she speaks from experience!!! Where are you going?

We took ds to Sorrento when he was 23 months old. It isn't an obvious place for a toddler (we went for family reasons) but he had a fantastic time. As already mentioned, we found people very child friendly and we were welcomed every where.

His routine went out of the window and in the end we adopted a temporary routine with long afternoon naps and late(ish) nights. We weren't the only ones out with toddlers in smart restuarants at 9pm - it seemed the norm with locals and people were so helpful. He was back to normal after 2 or 3 days at home.

He did live off pizza and pasta for a week but no harm done!

We are going to Lake Garda.

When you say go with the flow, I am assuming you mean always have a glass of wine to hand?!

Ok, thanks for your wise words- I will not stress about any such nonsense as eating well and sleeping routines- wear him out and lay him down will be my motto!!!

He loves pasta so I expect he'll eat well.

A bottle of wine, singalong! Holidays are meant for chilling out and being out of your normal routine, don't see why that shouldn't apply to the dcs too. Keeping dd up later usually means we get a lie in too! Lake Garda's lovely....

singalong I'm italian and have been going to italy every two month since dc were 3 months.

doesn;t matter how much I tried not to change their routine in the beginning I've realised it's better to adopt the 'when in rome...' especially in spring/summer.

I've rediscovered after 10 years of uk life that there's a reason for siesta or staying indoors after lunch.
so after getting horribly stressed about bedtime etc and stressing dd I let them do like their friend did and worked a lot better for everybody. my dd1 was 20m when we went one year and she used to stay up till 9ish in minidisco and would sleep a lot more during the day. trust me you'll enjoy more and stress less.

also they'll pick up uk outine fairly soon.

Well, with all those bottles of wine, looks like it'll be lengthy siestas all round!!!