Taking your baby on holiday aged 1 year.

[Writerwannabe83]

Me and DH are currently mid mini-argument about going on holiday next year. He wants to go abroad just after DS's first birthday. He wants to go 'cheap and cheerful' but I can't think of anything worse with a one year old. He's looking at hotels and trying to talk me into going to the ones with poor reviews because 'it may be cheap but at least it's a holiday...' These hotels have tiny pools, small rooms and the food isn't catered towards English people - just what I want with a 1 year old.

He has the image of sitting at the bar with the baby next to him, sleeping in his pushchair till gone midnight every night and I just frowned when he told me.

He said he can't wait to take him in the sea!! I don't even go in the sea myself because of how dirty it is, I think I'd have a heart attack if DS was in there at such a young age

Am I just being precious???

We went away to Cyprus when DD was 1, we stayed in an apartment so could make all our own food etc. wouldn't have wanted to stay in a hotel, much easier when you have your own kitchen and lounge to sit in in the evening when LO goes to bed. We had a great time and DD basically spent the whole holiday in the pool.

I wouldn't do poor review places but def go away

Ours have both travelled extensively since birth and at 1 year I would def take take in the sea and mine would sleep in evening next to us in pram or sling.

Just avoid extreme heat- so go May June/ Sep and you'll have a lovely time

I wouldn't / didn't.
Book a cottage near the coast in England / Wales and you'll have a fab time.

You are being a bit precious about the sea, and also food "for English people"! IME little people quite enjoy trying new food in a different place, even if they're fussy at home. Equally, being in a warmer climate can reduce tendencies towards liveliness!
As pps have said, choose somewhere decent with good reviews from families. If you go outside the school holidays you should be able to find somewhere decent for not too much money. The are some places that are all-inclusive but you stay in an apartment - that would be the best of all worlds for me, as you always have food on tap, but have facilities to prepare your own if your ds has any particular needs.

Do go on holiday with your baby!

I'd avoid hotels like the plague (unless they are 5* and offer free childcare ) and go self-catering.

We've been abroad every year from when DS1 was 3 months old and yes, he even went in to the sea then: Dirt has never stopped any of my kids from having fun.

Of course an equally fun time can be had staying within the British Isles, but I'd absolutely recommend self-catering with children.
And cheap hotels with poor reviews? Shudder. I'd rather stay at home, so I suppose I am with you on that one.

We did at 5 months and then again at just 2 years , both were fine . babies and children are so adaptable.
ds is 6 months and we're looking to go away in September

Cheap accommodation is a false economy. If the rooms are so basic you are going to spend more money just escaping the accommodation. Spend the extra money and get a decent 4 star resort with all the facilities you need for kids that way you wont spend £££'s in days out trying to escape your more basic resort. I would never do cheap and basic as I like a decent room to relax in once the kids have gone to bed.

You're being precious about the sea thing. Blue flag beaches are clean as is the water. What do you think babies living near the Spanish and Greek beaches (or any beach) do? We spent last summer in Greece and the sea was lovely, warm and clear.

Self-catering is a lot easier with small children though than a cheap and cheerful hotel.

I have taken a one year old to the Far East and Spain. As long as your expectation isn't on a lot of activities it is fine. Sight seeing is a big no no. And no way you can sit in a bar with a sleeping one year old. They would want to crawl and walk, depending on age. And I won't go for cheap either. You want a nice hotel. I'm ok without a separate room because DD wouldn't go to sleep unless we sleep anyway. And really don't get what's wrong with foreign food. But that's the bit I love most on holidays. DD was fine with all the foreign food. One year olds aren't picky. They get picky from over 2. (Went to Spain again at 2 and DD is still fine with foreign food. Now she only wants chips).

And don't get why the sea overseas is dirty? The water in langkawi in Malaysia was crystal clear. I have never seen a beach with water that clear before. And the water temperature was so warm. Mallorca was clean too. You are being precious and prejudice.

Camped in France with all of ours since before they could walk. It was great. Lots of fresh air and a relaxed atmosphere.

Funnily enough they do have children outside of Britain!

Don't do it. Especially the cheapo bad review option. It sounds like hell on toast. DH and I went on a cheap holiday to Rhodes pre-kids, it was awful, so so hot (no air con), ants everywhere, not a very nice beach...if we had had children there tooI can't imagine how dreadful it would have been.

With just the one DC to deal with try using a back pack if you want to go sightseeing. We found these good for getting around and far easier than a buggy.

We took our twins to Tenerife when they were 11 months and had a fab time. So many happy memories.

We went full board and so are in the hotel, but eating out would have been fine too. In my mind, if you have to make lunches or dinners and clear them up afterwards then it not a holiday! I didn't worry too much about the suitability of the restaurant food for the babies (though it was fine), as we took most of their food with us!

Our daily routine was to give the babies weetabix we'd taken with us when they woke up, so that we could potter and get ready at leisure without them being starving. Then we'd go down to breakfast, where the babies ate/played with yogurt/fruit/toast while we ate our breakfast.

Back to the room to change into swim stuff and pack for the pool, and then we all went for a swim. That wa generally enough to wear the babies out, so they would then sleep in the pushchairs for a couple of hours while we slept/read/swam.

We all ate lunch together in the restaurant, then went back to the room to freshen up and cool down away from the heat. Pottered and played in the room for an hour or so I guess. Then went out for a walk in the late afternoon, another swim, walk along the shore etc before going back to the room at 5pm ish to shower/bath everyone. Once clean, we fed the babies with Ella's pouches or similar (take a tupperwear box to fill from room kettle, submerge pouch for 10 mins until hot!) then got babies into pjs and us ready for dinner ourselves, had a G&T, watched the world go by from the balcony etc until 7 ish. Then we loaded the babies into the buggies with dummies/teddies/blanket etc and went for a walk along the beach, round the pool area etc until they fell asleep (took maybe 30 mins each night). Then we'd go for dinner, parking them in the corner.

Rinse and repeat each day!

When you describe each step like that it sounds like a busy day, but it was quite relaxing really. The babies were entertained by the new surroundings so didn't need much in the way of toys/occupying an I got a break from cooking and cleaning. I still had to wash baby bowls/cups/spoons, rinse clothes every few nights to keep the babies in clean outfits etc, but it was a hell of a lot easier than being at home and had the bonus of being sunny!

It won't be as relaxing as a pre-baby holiday, or course it won't. But you'll get time together as a family and will make lovely memories :)

We did broadly the same holiday (different place, same daily structure) again when they were 18 months and again when they were very nearly 2 years. Worked well every time. It's a good idea to bank some sun before they turn 2 years and need paying for!

An apartment or room with a balcony so you can chill out when they do fall asleep would be helpful. If you're happy to abandon routines and let them eat with you and zonk out in the buggy, it could be fine.
But key will be somewhere they can crawl or toddle and get physically tired each day.

Other than that, go where you feel like that won't be top hot. Personally I'd go somewhere in Europe and avoid the hell of a long flight, but if you really want a beach holiday go for it. You just won't get hours of uninterrupted time.

Great post Sandboy - I think I might print it out and laminate it!

Should also have said avoid long car journeys or flights at that age of your ds isn't the kind of child (such as ours) who is easily entertained. Ds was crawling at 9mo and hated having his movement restricted for long periods of time. Other than that we've had a great time on our abroad hols self catering. At 1yo we were also able to keep his routine on the whole as he was still so portable. If we wanted to go out in the evening we did his bedtime routine and put him down to sleep on his buggy. He then slept the entire evening away happily while we had some chill out time.

Thanks everyone!!

I will admit I'm being precious about the sea then - I will chill out about that

I have shown these replies to my DH who has now had a change of heart about cheap and cheerful. Unfortunately we go have to go during school holidays so can understand why he was worrying about the cost. We have agreed on a nicer resort with better reviews and a family suite which will mean DS can have his own room.

I will relax about the food and worry about it when I get there

Ah didn't know you are confined to school holidays! That would be tricky with cost. One of the nice things about preschoolers is the discount you get to go outside peak season. Late march or early sept.

This is not the time to go cheap and cheerful.

We've taken DS to appts, villas and AI since he was 3 months.

Appts and villas are great provided there are a)nice restaurants nearby b)good supermarkets. Cyprus ticks all the boxes here.

AI is great as you can just mooch up and eat, grab drinks and take them to your room. If you go hotel, make sure you've got a balcony you can snooze on whilst the baby naps and where you and DH can sit out in the evening.

We took DS2 to Budapest on his first birthday, just after DS2 turned 2.

We had a lovely time. Found a bargain on a 5 star hotel, though - didn't stay at a cheap place with small room (well, couldn't do small room with two travel cots). The DC were no more extra trouble than they usually were, but we frequently did big days out anyway, so they were quite used to that.