Travelling with a 9/10m old

[Dildals]

I am currently on mat leave and DH wants to take extended unpaid leave in May/June next year for us three, as a family, go travelling for about 2 months. We're not decided yet on destination, but perhaps Canada to take in some sights and then chillax for a couple of weeks in the sun somewhere (Florida/California). Then again, I also quite fancy Montenegro and Croatia (and Georgia actually but that might be a stretch re healthcare).

I have no concept on what it will be like to travel extendedly with a young child. Anyone done this? Where did you go? Any top tips?

Honestly? I mean really?? Are you sure???

Sorry, I don't mean to be rude and perhaps you have loads of experience of babies so know what to expect. At 9/10 months most babies will be crawling but not walking. They hate being cooped up in a buggy but can't be put down to crawl on the ground - so lots of frustration and tears. Feeding is still an inexact science with a lot of food everywhere and you'll still be needing to sterilise bottles unless bf. You'll have to find the right mineral water and then boil it and cool it for every feed or drink. Sleeping may be great but 80% of babies don't sleep through at 1 yr old (and sleeping through is a 5 hour stretch) and that may be on the back of months of no sleep and utter exhaustion. (Hope you have a sleeper).

There is chilling out on holiday with a baby unless you take a nanny! There's still all the feeding, calming, illnesses, copious washing, sleeping issues just in an unfamiliar environment too. And you need to take the contents of a small country with you even for a short holiday.

I have 2dc. DD is 7m and if someone suggested packing up to go away for 2 months I'd laugh at them (manically!).

I say this as a complete travel lover. I've been to 60+ countries and have no qualms at all about travel.

Would you think about delaying for a couple of years? Sorry to not be more positive, but it's a pretty awkward age to travel with even for a holiday IME.

We did a 5 week trip with DS when he was 7-8 months. It was all in the US so an easy place to be (west coast and Hawaii). It was fantastic but definitely hard work - more a change of scenery than a holiday! The traveling between places was tough because DS would get bored (long car trips with screaming and flights with long delays); we made sure we organized travel cots, high chairs etc in the places we stayed. I was still up in the night, still up at the crack of dawn, still organizing naps, still finding places to BF. DS wouldn't tolerate more that half an hour at the beach (even in Hawaii ). We didn't go out in the evening because I wanted DS to be in his bed. So it isn't like traveling pre-baby.
It was totally worth it because we had a long time together as a family, DS really bonded with his Dad, and we'll probably never get to do something that extended again.

Boiling water for a nine month old? Really?

Meant to say that it's worth thinking about where you'll stay. We did self-catering places with more than 1 room so when DS went to sleep we wouldn't have to sit quietly in a dark hotel room!

I couldn't have done it. We had the most wonderful holiday in Italy when DD was 10 months but we didn't travel about much so had a constant 'base' to return to with a washing machine

That would be my approach. Maybe get a place somewhere nice for the 5 weeks and enjoy being together, days out, doing things at a slower pace etc rather than trying to see the sights and travel about?

littlelionman is definitely right. Sitting in silence in a dark hotel room isn't much fun at all

Have travelled loads with my 2.5 year old DD and would definitely go for it if I was you! We took her to Croatia and Montenegro and Bosnia when she was 6 weeks and loved it. People are so friendly towards families there too. She is breasfed so that may have made things easier. A sling was invaluable. Yes it is not the relaxing holiday you may have previously had but it is so nice to be away from home and not have stresses of cleaning etc.

We are off soon to Australia, not looking forward to that flight! But it is worth it and is a nice, very first world worry to have.

Enjoy your travels.

As long as you realise it is hard work it is fine- they are quite adaptable if you are.

It depends how laid back you are, people tend not to be when they only have one and they are the first.

We took DS aged 8 months to SE Asia for three months. It was fantastic! We had a good sling (used constantly) and a cheap second-hand McClaren (good for airports and some cities). We stayed in slightly nicer places than your average backpacker dive, so that he had clean floors to crawl on, and he slept with us. He was breastfeeding for most of the trip, but self-weaned while we were away - we added a travel steam steriliser to the luggage and carried on. It was a very different experience from travelling before, and your whole day revolves around the baby's needs, but it was a wonderful experience to have that time together, and I'm sure he's as cheery and sociable as he is as a result of all the people he met and attention he got. Do it!

We flew with dd 10 months old. No problem at all, just be prepared. Enjoy your break and stop fretting.

I would definitely take a carrier to carry the baby 'round in. Useful for airports if nothing else. Also take a Maclaren buggy or baby city mini jogger (eg) so you can put the baby to bed and go out at night.

Honestly this age is a bit of a pain for travelling (I'd say from 9 months until about 3 years old it's at its peak of hideousness !) but hell you have the time to go somewhere so I'd go for it.

Try and get bulk head seats on the plane. Buy extra seat for the baby if you can afford it (I never have but if I had the money I would). Take lots of snacks wherever you go. Don't bother with sterilising. Way too much hassle and no need at this age. In some countries e.g. America you can buy ready made milk bottles with teats on the top.

Squeeze baby into the stage 1 car seat still. Stage 2 is heavy and bulky to take on the plane/ anywhere. A buggy you can attach the car seat to is a bonus (you can do that in the bcmj).

Have fun!

I agree it helps to plan around how chilled out you, and also your DC's personality.
My DS could never be put to 'bed' in a pram so we decided we'd stay places where he could sleep and we could cook.
It's worth looking at your luggage allowance. Baby had 1x 20kg bag, 1x pram, 1x car seat. So I carried him around the airport in a baby carrier (much easier) and checked in the big pram. Because we were doing easy traveling with hire cars etc, I packed DS's bouncer in with the pram (they don't care as long as it's within the weight limit). The bouncer was incredibly useful, especially (weirdly) at the beach so I could put DS down in the shade and I could relax for a bit while he played with the toys.
Silly if you're doing 'proper' traveling I know!

Ooh, thanks for starting this thread Dildals! I'm in a similar position to you, although looking at travelling when DD will be closer to 11 or 12 months next summer. DP and I are big travellers and always said that having a child wouldn't change that - so I'm determined not to lose our adventurous spirit! Places we are considering include South East Asia, the Americas and Georgia/Turkey. I figure that some careful planning means we can always be near good healthcare in big cities should we need it. And of course we will need to think about sleeping arrangements etc. But the way I figure it is that this is an amazing opportunity, a chance to do something really different and as another poster said an opportunity to bond as a family. DP and I spent a year in South America a few years ago having both quit our jobs - best thing we ever did and absolutely no regrets. We have so many amazing memories from that trip and now I want to create new memories with our DD.

I'd be really interested to know how your plans develop. Good luck!

We drove to mid France when Ds was that age and would not do so again. He was crawling and so hated being stuck in his car seat, he was so bored and we got so stressed. We took loads of toys and swapped them regularly but he was still bored as there just weren't enough for him. If travelling I would suggest really short distances only, loads of toys and little snacks like rice cakes and raisins. Because they're not burning off much energy don't expect them to sleep much during the day either. Good luck though.

We did some long trips with DD when she was 4 months, and again at 6-7 months, and she's now 11 months. I think 9-10 months would be a lovely time to go away together! Mobile enough to entertain themselves quite well, and past the very early weaning stage, so feeding should be easier. It's definitely hard work, but as a few people have said it's fantastic to have a block of time together as a family with none of the distractions of home.

Things that I found:

1. Think carefully about where you will go. Having a car is good, so that you can carry the enormous amounts of baby stuff you'll need, but avoid long car journeys, or having to move on too often. Best to base yourselves in a few places with lots of fun things that you can do as day activities (which means a few hours, really).

1. Activities will be different from what you did pre-baby. From experience, an archaological site is NOT a good activity with a baby - no pushchair access (carrier is heavy when you have a days worth of stuff to carry) or shade! Outdoor swimming, however is fab! Take a baby wetsuit, but you only need to bother with swim nappies/neoprene overnappy if you'll be in a pool rather than sea/lake/river.

1. Leave some time most days for the baby to just mooch around playing with his/her things in your hotel.

1. Research healthcare beforehand. Everyone tells you they can get ill quickly, but until you've seen it you don't really realise how quickly or how scary it is. I'm much more cautious now about where I'll take my daughter than when she was just a few months old!

1. Hotels are surprisingly baby-proof, since they don't have much 'stuff' in them. Our DD started crawling while we were away, and it wasn't a problem until we got home to our non-baby-proofed house!

1. Self catering is MUCH better than standard hotels, since eating out with a baby isn't really relaxing, and if you have to do that twice a day then you won't have much energy left for 'real' activities. Also, as someone said, a separate room and lounge is good, so that you can put the baby to bed and then enjoy your evening together as you would at home. It will also allow you to cook for your baby, which you're going to want to do at 9/10 months (although if weaning is going well, you might be able to find suitable food at restaurants some of the time)

1. If you're breastfeeding, do carry on until after your trip!! This will make your trip a million times easier, not having to worry about bottles, milk, and heating up water. And by this time breastfeeding is really easy and they shouldn't need to feed through the night, so you can still have wine in the evening

1. BUT you might well be going through the dreaded 9 month sleep regression at that point. For us, that involved half-hourly wake-ups, and having to feed at each one. For 6 weeks. It was utterly horrific. In retrospect, I wish I'd sorted out DD's sleep before that hit - 7 months would probably have been the ideal time to do a bit of gentle sleep training, but I was so against the idea that I didn't. Friends whose babies were sleeping well before-hand still had a bit of a glitch at 9 months, but not as bad.

1. Remember that they might throw up/have poo incidents at any time, and sometimes several times in quick succession, so take several changes of clothes, sleeping bags etc any time you're separated from your luggage (we got through 3 sets of clothes in one flight: we were on our last change, and spent the rest of the flight quietly panicking!)

10. If possible, leave yourselves flexibility about how long you'll be away, in case you get fed up.

Good luck, have a wonderful time and take loads of photos!

Sorry to break it to you OP, but there will be no chillaxing with a baby of 9 mths. There will be no chillaxing after the baby is born for several years!

Thanks for all your tips. I posted it because we haven't got a clue what a 10m old baby is going to be like, so I think we're going to go the way of hiring a place somewhere for a couple of weeks, where we have separate bedrooms and a kitchen. Plus hire a car. The main aim is not to travel as such but to spend time as a family. We can do that in dreary UK or take ourselves to a slightly nicer place!

I have a 2 month old baby now, who's 2 months corrected, but 4.5 months in 'real' time. We had an awful start and spent 7 weeks in prison hospital. I hate to break it to middleagedmotheroftwo but I am chillaxing at the moment, with a 2m old, and with that I mean I am massively enjoying spending time with my baby. I don't think that will change when she's 10 months.

I think I know to roll with the punches so with all your advice and tips I think we'll be fine & will enjoy the adventure!

Particularly good points re healthcare and sleep regression strawberrybubblegum. What do you mean exactly with you'd wish you did some sleep training. At the moment my baby is quite a good sleeper. I can put her down awake when she's tired and she will go to sleep. In the night she feeds, and then goes to sleep again after a cuddle (cuddle probably mainly for my benefit)

rhubarb I agree it is an amazing opportunity to spend time together and for dad to bond with his LO.

Oh, and I'll try to carry on breastfeeding, defo easier to whip boob out.