Holiday with 4yo and 3mo

[parisfernandez]

Im due DD2 in 6 weeks time. I have a 4yo DD. I haven't had a holiday since 2008 because of financial issues, house moves etc. This year, I think we can just about afford one.

We were thinking about the end of September, beginning of October time and DD2 will be about 3-4 months old.

Is this a good idea?

We have family in Canada so all I would be paying for is flights and some spending money.

Also thought about going to turkey because it's cheap and hot.

I'm scared to take the children on a plane (im terrified of flying at the best of times) and ive heard that planes can be really bad for babies - ears, breathing etc.

If you were in my position, would you go for it this year or wait until the children were older?

I've only got one DD, but we've been flying to Germany where my family is with her since she was 3 months old. Never had any problems, when she was tiny I'd feed her on take off and landing to avoid her getting earache, and in between she mostly slept.

Having said that, the flight is only 1.5 hours. I don't think I'll be going anywhere with her long haul until she's old enough to watch at least 2 films back to back! But that's just because I'm lazy and don't want to have to entertain her for hours in a confined space...

I think if you're waiting for the kids to be older you'll be waiting a very long time for your next holiday, so I'd probably say go for it!

My two DDs have been doing long haul to Asia (12 hour flights) a fair few times already. DD1 is 3.5 and has done it 4 times and DD2 is 18months and has done it twice.

It's definitely easier before they are 7-8 months and mobile! They tend to eat and sleep and need very little entertaining! From about 8 months until about 2.5 years can be difficult - they are mobile and want to be up and about. Also not quite entertained by the TV yet. So lots of new toys and books etc is required!

I'd say it's a great age to go on holiday as they still sleep quite a lot at that age. However my DS was a fairly low-maintenance baby, so I really think it depends on the temperament of your DC. It gets much harder around 5-6 months & upwards because they require more entertaining.