When did you first take your first baby abroad?

[Lauraloop1516]

Just that really - I'm pregnant just now and me and dh keep reminiscing about a lovely holiday we had in France a few years ago where we essentially lived on baguette and cheese. Baby due in January - when do you think they would be most suited to a week in France? We were thinking of going maybe September or October.

[Haworthia]

Still haven’t - she’s nearly 8

[saywhatwhatnow]

At 9 weeks we took him to France, we drove down and were self catering. It was great! He slept and fed and we were there with lots of family so he got lots of attention. We did nearly run out of formula though

Took him to Spain at 3 months and he was very good too. Plane was fine. I found keeping him cool a bit tricky and ended up either inside or in the pool a lot.

Since he's been walking holidays have become slightly less holiday-ey, totally agree with the 'go before they are mobile!' advice.

[PrincessMargaret]

4 months we drove to France for a week. 8 months we flew to Italy. Both were a doddle, but she was a very good baby.

[Hugtheduggee]

First was 9 m second child was 6 weeks.
Both absolutely fine but the second time with the new born was much much easier.

I'd def recommend travelling in the first 6 months (preferably earlier than this).

[Charlottejade89]

11 months and it was a nightmare to be honest! she was crawling and almost walking, and wouldn't nap on the plane so i spent 2 hours walking up and down the aisle with her holding her hands. She was also teething badly and didnt adjust very very to different sleep times as we are I such a routine at home and have set naps and bedtime. So in short, she was tired, hot and miserable pretty much the entire week. Never again

[CottonSock]

4 months ish with both. First time I was very stressed and it wasn't a great holiday. I would wait and see before booking what type of baby you have and how you feel. It went better when my dd2 was 12 weeks. We had travelled a lot by this point.and knew what worked (villas or apartment not hotel). We had other fabulous holidays when they were 10 months ish. Much more fun.

[CottonSock]

I think I'm the only one that enjoyed 10 months hehe. I had pnd with both and felt much better by that point. So probably why it felt easier in comparison!

[youarenotkiddingme]

6 weeks.

We came back to uk for a weeks holiday to surprise my mum for a milestone family party she was having.

Stayed in a static caravan in October for a few days too whilst there. Ds was use to hot temperatures only!

And we nearly gave mum a heart attack

[SayOohLaLa]

3 months. She was a much younger sibling though so had to fit in with a half term holiday for our older one. Fed her on the plane and she was fine. Howled all the way to the hotel though, so glad we had a direct transfer rather than a coach.

[Mummyshark2018]

6 weeks for first flight- still uk but to visit family.
3 months family holiday to Italy.

[Mumoftwoyoungkids]

With dd (first child) we didn’t until she was 2. But then realised it was much easier than we thought. With ds he was 4 months and it was very very easy. He was fully breast fed so I just fed whenever he wanted throughout the flight - he thought it was his birthday! We had a lovely holiday as he just wanted cuddles, food (which I could provide an all inclusive 24 hour snack bar for), more cuddles and sleep. Dd was 3 and adorable and pretty easy as well.

Didn’t fancy going abroad between 6 and 12 months as was concerned about bottled water and mineral content.

Took him again at 12 months and he was really really hard work! Wanted to walk everywhere but couldn’t walk!

Got easier each time after that.

[Screamanger]

We traveled when DS was 4 weeks. We came back to the UK for 10 days.

[MarshaBradyo]

6 months it was much easier than recently at 18 months

[SpeedyShutter]

My dc are 7&8 and they still haven't been abroad

[gil66]

We took our 1st on a 3 week road trip around New York State, Canada & NYC at 4 months. We took our 2nd to Cyprus at 4 months with big sister (2.5yrs).

If you’re used to travelling, having a baby is no real stress. Get good travel insurance to alleviate any worries about accessing medical care.

[PerfectPeony2]

Honestly it depends what kind of baby you get (and birth too). I’d wait and book last minute.

Our lives were pretty difficult until about 11 months when DD could walk. We went on holiday when she was 10 months and to be honest, it sucked because we just couldn’t do anything.

[MrsBertBibby]

Mine was born January, took him to Mallorca in May, which was awesome. And Florida in June, which was bloody hellish (I hated Florida, it was crazily hot and I didn't want to go. )

Much easier than when he was a toddler!

[stucknoue]

6 weeks, but I was relocating, couldn't fly on the proper date due to be heavily pregnant so followed on ASAP

[thisisthetime]

3 months. 2nd at 8 weeks. They have both flown many times now and those were the easiest holidays by far. Before they could move

[HobbyIsCodeForDogging]

First flight was at about 6 weeks, I was on my own with the baby but it was fine. That was for visiting family though so not a holiday really.

First holiday was 5 months. Daytimes were easier than I expected, evenings were harder - ours was not a baby who'd sleep in her pram while we had a stroll or dinner etc (she'd cry a lot in the evenings if not asleep) so we ended up either with takeaway on the balcony or eating a bigger lunch or having early evening tapas rather than going out for dinners.

[Timeless19]

9 months still bf and she wasn’t crawling. It only felt like a holiday because we ate out All the time and it was a nice hotel, flight was 3 hours. I was just debating going to the USA with her at 13 months whilst my husband is there with work and I can’t be bothered. I will be on my own for a week and with all the kit you need, navigating the airport and transfers it’s more hassle than it’s worth. Europe is fine but will wait until she’s 3/4 to go long distance.

[IWouldPreferNotTo]

3 months then again at 4 and 6. Three months was easier. Much less wriggling and wanting to get onto other people.

My tip is to book flights around sleeping time, get them into a milk coma and if all else fails stand near the toilets where the staff may chat to you if they have somr free time. We did Ryanair on all the flights and the staff were lovely

[sue51]

3 months short flight and 8 months long haul.

[youngestisapsycho]

DD was 7 months when we did a 32 hour trip to New Zealand... she was a very good baby though!

[MeadowHay]

DD is 13.5 months now and we took her to southern Spain at 8.5 months. 3 hour flight. No bother on the way there, cried a bit on and off on the way back which was a little stressful but I travelled with 3 other adult members of my family on the way there and 4 on the way back, so we could pass her around. And I had tons of help carrying stuff and managing all the luggage all the time. The holiday itself was fairly chilled as we kind of had to fit everything around DD so we didn't do tons but it was nice enough. She screamed hysterically for 3 hours in the middle of the night on the first night and my DPs took turns to try and help me during it as I was alone in a hotel room with her. But she slept not too bad the remaining 6 nights. Sorting formula was a bit faffy having to wash and sterilise everything in the bathroom sink every night and not daring to boil a kettle in case she woke up as she is a light sleeper. With hindsight I think an apartment would have been better so could put her to bed in a bedroom and then sat in living room with my other relatives rather than on my own in the hotel room in dark and quiet.