Holiday with 18 month old

[Everdreamer1990]

Hi

We're going away for a week next month & our daughter will be 18/19 months. We're staying in the UK & in a chalet.

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas re bed & bath? She still sleeps in a cot so should we take the travel cot? She's quite tall so doesn't have much space & over 12kg so I worry she might be too heavy & tip it. We've never tried a bed with a bed guard so I think she might try climbing that & we won't get sleep at all.

Also bath. She has one every night but the chalet is shower only & she's terrifiedd of showers. Is there something we could use that would fit a toddler so we can still bath her?

She was only 7 months when we took her away last year so much more compact & she bathed in the sink & ended up sleeping in bed with us cos the caravan was too small for her travel cot.

Also any tips on how to keep her chilled & relaxed during the 3hr car journey? She'll sleep for a bit of it but then gets bored in the car. Would a tablet with some cartoons on be ok?

Thanks

I recommend lots of snacks and drinks for the journey! Maybe a book or colouring pens. You might find it easier to sit in the back with her to be on hand. iPads are a good shout. Maybe download a couple of her favourite programs ready in case wifi is an issue.

Bath wise, can you hold her in the shower? We’ve done that. Much easier than taking a baby bath, which she might be too big for.

Take a travel cot if they don’t have one.

Take the odd toy or game too, but best entertainment is usually mum and dad at this age, plus exploring!

Last tip would be to plan your drive for around nap time. That way she will sleep most of the way.

Enjoy your holiday!

If you're worried about the travel cot tipping over then you need to buy a new travel cot, sorry. We have the nuna aire and it's super heavy with no chance of toppling. A holiday isn't the time to be trying out a big bed for the first time I don't think.

We rented somewhere without a bath- we just had to endure the screaming when we washed him in the shower I'm afraid. Someone else might have a better suggestion!

I once heard someone suggest one of those big flexible builders buckets with handles as a bath. You could just fill it from the shower and I'm sure it would come in handy for something afterwards.

I have bathed my toddlers in a tub trug plenty of times.

Have you asked the accommodation, they may be able to provide a cot.

Stokke do folding baths that you could take if you are driving. You can often pick them up quite cheaply second hand.

Blow up paddling pool for a (shallow) bath
I'd take or borrow a travel cot - my big DS just slept at a diagonal once he got too tall to fit straight down.

Watch out on the tablet in the car and car sickness..... bored child is better than the back seat and said child being covered in vomit!

We have a Hauck travel cot which I always recommend, it's larger than a standard cot size so firs larger toddlers in fine. My DD turned 3 a couple of months ago and only now weighs about 12kg but she slept in ours the other week whilst we were away. They do an extra foldy up mattress insert you can buy to put in as well to make them comfier, which we've got, and DD has always slept pretty well in it. I find a lot of places that provide travel cots on request only offer small traditional cot-sized ones which would be much too small for a larger toddler.

For washing, how long are you away for, do you need to wash her? We typically only washed DD once a week at that age anyway unless she was dirty for whatever reason - which I know is unusual but it's perfectly fine. I would just shower her even if she hates it tbh it's only a one off but I wouldn't wash her at all on holiday really unless necessary depending how long you're away for.

For the journey I'd sit in the back with her and try and time it for a time the journeys for when she'd normally sleep so nap time or her usual bed time. She should sleep most of it at that age if you do that and when she's awake yes I'd suggest tablet with some familiar TV shows downloaded on to it. Possibly some crayons and paper for drawing too but their attention spans are so short at that age. Snacks might help pass time too, things that take awhile to eat like small pieces of dried fruit in a packet or crisps or a whole crunchy fruit like an apple.

You can get larger travel cots, my twins slept in them until they were 2.5yrs (only on holidays) and they never seemed like they were going to tip!

Little blow up paddling pool in the bottom of the shower for a bath.

Journey wise - let her nap as long as possible even if it means a slightly later bedtime! We did a 3 hour holiday trip at that age and I think they woke with an hour to go and we stopped then, and at 30 minutes so they didn't have to sit still for too long at a time!

Other too - play in her room for a bit before bedtime. We didn't do this and I think the unfamiliar room definitely made bedtime harder!

Ask for a travel cot, most places have them. She shouldn't be able to topple it but you could put it in the corner with a bit of furniture wedging it in if need be.

Bathing - don't bother with everyday, I do mine twice a week. At a push, stand her in a bowl or sink and rinse off with cup of water or flannel. She won't be squeaky clean but it will be fine. Or ask for a baby bath if they have one, DD loved going in one as a toddler!

For the journey, see if you can make it at nap time, story or nursery rhyme cd for car, books or toy but they're often happy looking out of the window. Snacks. Plan a stop if need be.

Take baby proofing. We’ve just been away with my 20 month old and it didn’t feel like a holiday at all, it wasn’t relaxing whatsoever and it was because she just ran riot in our lodge in all the cupboards, trying to grab cables to the tv, playing with plugs and switches.

I wish we’d taken a stair gate to block off the kitchen part as she just kept going in cupboards and slamming drawers, we didn’t have an outside fenced bit either which some other lodges did, we should have asked to move really as we had tall concrete steps to get in them a grassed patched right by the road.

I would take a play pen if you have one, like the gate type you can get that you can spread out to block off a section of room!

Would also take a travel cot.

Great advice from everyone here. We took our travel cot so it was familiar for DS and have a Stokke collapsable bath which came in handy. We timed the journey with nap time, I sat in the back so when he woke up was ready with drink and entertainment (youtube cbeebies on my phone). Was utterly dreading it but it went fairly smoothly. I wasn't prepared for lack of baby proofing at cottage so would def recommend looking at the pictures of where you're staying and think in advance incase you need to take a baby gate etc. Have a great time!

Stickers for the journey

Thanks everyone.

Our travel cot is quite heavy but we've never had to use it. I'll trial her in it before we go & if worst comes to the worst when we're away, she'll just have to sleep with us. We resorted to that last year as there wasn't enough room for the travel cot in the caravan.

Bath wise, she has one each night. It's her routine & she loves her baths so don't want to go without. We tried a blow up travel one last year but it was awful so will probably look at paddling pool or 2nd hand folding one. Thanks.

I'd love to sit in the back with her on the way there but I get awfully travel sick in the back of the car. She's a pretty good traveller but we'll time with nap time & take regular stops.

Good shout on the baby proofing. Hadn't really thought about that much so will look at taking one of our stair guards.