6 week old baby & holiday

[mrkb]

I know that this is probably madness but it's been booked since pre-covid so just looking to see what advice is out there! A bit of a long one so TIA if you read it through! And we are going ahead with this foolish adventure so please no posts telling us it's a stupid idea - I'm already aware it will be a challenge!

My parents booked a holiday villa in France 2 years ago and, due to covid, it's now happening this summer. I'm now due to have my first baby about 6 weeks before the holiday (assuming they're on time!).

We (i.e. DH) will be driving down, as will my parents, so have a lot of scope for bringing things. We have bought a 'lie-flat' car seat and are doing the journey over 2 days each way so that we can be making plenty of stops. Our pram bassinet is safe for overnight sleep - will this be okay for the (2 week) holiday or should we also be trying to pack up our snüzpod too? We do have the space but obviously it's a bit bulky.

The other main worry I have is passports! I believe we can get the fast track service from what I've read but how fast track is this at the moment? I've seen there are nightmare delays with passports generally!

Finally, what might we not be thinking about bringing/preparing that will be relevant to the fact that the baby is only going to be around 6 weeks old?

Any advice gratefully received :)

I think your biggest issue may be the passport, because you need their birth certificate first and in some places you will have to wait a couple of weeks to get an appointment to register the birth.

We took DD away at seven weeks and it was great. The baby themselves is very portable, it’s just all the crap you need for them that takes up the space! Good luck!

I wouldn't imagine you'd get a passport in time even with a fast track. I know two people that have had to cancel Easter trips because they've not had theirs back in time. You've got to get a registrar appointment then do the passport application so guess that depends how good the service is - it took 5 weeks to get a registrar appointment for my first baby and that was in "normal" times.

I’d be concerned you wouldn’t get a passport in time. My friend had a baby recently and it took 7 weeks to get her registered. Covid has meant wait times are insane

Also 6 weeks after birth I wouldn’t have wanted to be in a car traveling so far! Still bleeding and uncomfortable. Plus if baby is late you might find it’s even harder

Maybe give your local registry office a call to find out what wait times are are like currently for birth certificate

Thank you!

I was trying to convince myself that I was worrying over nothing with the passport but sounds like that's not the case 🤦🏻‍♀️ Good advice on phoning up registrar - will do that first thing tomorrow. Good to know that (if we do make it) then the baby themselves is pretty portable/easy ish! I'm under no illusion that the car ride will be a pleasant journey for me post-partum, particularly if I've had a difficult birth! But I'm hoping it will be worth it at the other end!

Very different but we drove 2 hours north with our 6 week old and had a wonderful time - if there's scope to stop every couple of hours to feed/change/20 mins of interaction then they should manage quite well (that's assuming they'll enjoy car travel, I think most newborns do)

I think we registered our birth within 2 weeks and don't remember having any difficulty booking it (apart from the fact I almost forgot to do so in all the chaos)

Last week I had to go to passport office for fast track passport for baby and it arrived within 4 days - just need to keep checking the passport website for updated appointments, they add new ones every day. I got my appointment 1 week in advance.

Thanks @Birchtree4 I'll make sure DH adds phoning registrar to the top of his list of post-birth responsibilities 😅 glad to hear you didn't have a really long wait time, and also that you had a great trip! We've been looking forward to it for over 2 years so crossing everything that our plans don't get scuppered by forms and passports!

We had an 11 week wait for a registrar appointment which we booked in January so it’s really varying by area.

I really wouldn't plan on it happening. Overdue birth, waiting for appointment to register the birth, then the passport application, plus the likelihood is you might prefer to be at home in your pyjamas. You might have a baby that doesn''t want to be put down, so 2 days in a car might be hell on earth. So you can try, but I really wouldn't get my hopes up.

Thank you - I'm phoning the registrar tomorrow and will get an idea of lead times then. I have spoken to a few friends this evening who have recently had babies in my area and they only had two weeks to wait to crossing fingers.

I'm more looking for advice about travelling with a small baby rather than doom & gloom comments about it not happening. I'm well aware that things can go wrong and prepared to make decisions about that when it comes to it, I just don't want to forget anything whilst planning for the best case scenario.

I think you need to consider what you will do if baby is not 100% well, or you aren't. I have a 6 week old who is basically healthy, but has reflux and a mild tongue-tie, and we've had 3 different medical appointments this week looking at the problem from all angles, plus needed a prescription and had the routine 6 week check.

What are the washing/drying arrangements at the villa – does it have its own washing machine?

A fold-flat bouncer similar to the baby bjorn could be useful, somewhere besides the carrycot to put baby.

If you have access to a washing machine I don't think a new baby is that much hassle to take away, depending if your bf or bottle steriliser. I also think pram is fine for newborn. I got an appointment the same week baby was born I get this might not be the case though for everyone.

Thanks @skkyelark - good points to consider too. If anything arises medically we are of course going to prioritise the health of our baby (and/or me!) over a holiday. My whole extended family is going and the accommodation has kindly been paid for by my parents - we would only lose out on crossing fee which we are more than happy to do - my point being that this holiday is happening with or without us so I'm just trying to prepare for the hopeful eventuality that we will be able to go.

The villa is entirely self-catered and fully fitted out with kitchen and washing machine/drier etc so not worried about facilities. Also assuming that most basic things like nappies etc are as readily available in French shops as they are in the UK.

Good point about the bouncer - we've bought one that folds flat so will make sure we bring it with us!

I did it with a 10 week old, also to France. Honestly it was great, she even picked then to decide to start sleeping through the night, in the travel cot. We took a suitcase full of ready made formula, had Mam bottles that self sterilised in the microwave so no need for separate kit and bought nappies and wipes there. The only thing is that 6 weeks might be pushing it in terms of passport though, I’ve never got one back that quickly despite booking registration appointments straight after I was wheeled out of theatre following my c-sections!

Thanks @RandomQuest really helpful! Will look into the mam bottles (also because they sound generally great).

We can do fast track for a first passport (I don't know if this is new) so get it within week - it will definitely be tight but shouldn't be impossible (registering the birth depending)!

I think the holiday will be fine but personally I'd investigate flights to avoid the king car journey and overnight stop.

*long not king!

don't think the passports will be much of an issue, get your baby registered as soon as possible. we managed to get baby registered a week after he was born, but you can get him registered earlier! you don't even have to take your baby, so if convenient, leave her/him with a family member and go as soon as possible if you're not comfortable taking baby with you. i believe we sent our babies birth certificate and details to passport office on the 21st and by the 14th we had received passport. we had issues with finding someone to prove babies identity and held off this for over a week, and still managed to get the passport sent when baby was 7 weeks, so should be fine!

We were able to register the birth at the hospital - a few years ago now but worth checking if you can.

Agree the passport will be your main hurdle. It's a busy time of year at the best of times but now with extra delays due to staffing problems, a back log plus lots of people suddenly realising they need extra months validity due to brexit , especially if baby is a week or so over due I'm not sure it s realistic.

Everything else will be ok but getting the passport will be touch and go. I suggest you get everything you need paperwork wise ready before you even give birth, even the right sized envelope if you need to send documents so as soon as you get the birth certificate you can fast track the passport. I managed to get my DD's by 4 weeks many years ago and flew long haul at 6 weeks (to live not on holiday) newborns need surprisingly little especially if you breastfeed, mine slept in the pram bassinet until 6 months all the time

Also depends on where you give birth too, you can register on site at my local large hospital, you need to have your id with you and it be a weekday obviously to do this but it means you can actually register the birth on a first come first served basis and they post the certificate to your house or you collect it from the main registry office the next day (England)

Thanks all! We're taking our dog with us so unfortunately flights aren't an option but good to hear that otherwise a small baby actually doesn't require that much extra stuff. Will see if I can register at my hospital - it's a big one in a major city so maybe - and make sure I've got all my paperwork set up in advance! :)

Passport shouldn't be an issue at all, as long as you register her and have a birth certificate. I took DS at 7 weeks, last minute holiday, passport waiting times were 10 weeks, managed to get a fast track appointment at my local passport office and off we went. You’ll be fine

Covid is causing delays with passport applications at the moment so it's not as quick as usual. This how's the current waiting times - 5 weeks for a first passport for a child. Hard to know if this will be better or worse by the time your baby is born - fingers crossed for you!

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-passport-office/about-our-services

You could use the fast track service though - I didn't realise it was available for first child passports, but it is:

www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently