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 :)

You will be able to get a passport. We drove hours away to get a fast tracked one. Made an appointment to register baby as soon as he arrived. Baby came with us to Spain at 5 weeks.

Anything is doable if you try hard enough. Enjoy your holiday! 💕

Id want baby to have had some jabs before it travels, so no I wouldn’t go.

My DD would have been excellent on holiday at 6 weeks. She was sleeping ok, feeding was getting easier, and she didn’t need any entertaining. They don’t need that much stuff at that age - clothes, nappies, somewhere for them to sleep and a sling, and your sorted.

Plus lots of grandparents to hold them, sounds great.

We had a few truly hellish car trips with her at about 8 weeks though - on one memorable occasion she properly screamed continuously from London to Oxford and back (including stops).

We didn’t have a lie flat seat though so that might be different.

How are you hoping to feed baby? Guess that will factor into it and also what you'd need for the journey etc

I guess everyone's different and you can make plans but maybe anticipate everything could change when you have the baby as to how you'll feel making that journey?

2 days is a really long time to have quite a bit of separation from baby being set down in the car seat, I know they'll be nearby but I wouldn't have wanted mine in the car seat / set down for that period of time and my baby also wouldn't have tolerated it at 6 weeks.

Also if breastfeeding 6 weeks is a big growth spurt usually involving lots of cluster feeding

Having read this in the Guardian this morning I would definitely use the fast track service

Sorry forgot the link: www.theguardian.com/money/2022/apr/09/meltdown-at-uk-passport-renewals-forces-travellers-to-cancel-easter-breaks

Not madness at all, our DC have all been abroad around that age except the 1 who was a bit later.

Babies are very portable at that age. Are you breastfeeding? If so that makes it 100x easier.
Plenty of nappies, her usual blanket/ sleeping bag and clothes. Easy.

Dh was primed to register the baby immediately and get an expedited passport for both our first and second to go travelling at 4-6 weeks. It worked great. Dh did most of the baby carrying in a caboo close stretchy carrier, and you had to allow for if you need to keep walks moderate with your own recovery in the travel plans. Take your breastfeeding pillow if you’re feeding, baby panadol so you aren’t panicking in another country if you need it.

My friend gets dh to drive to France with the stuff and then she flies with the toddler!! This might be useful even if one way! Small babies are very flight portable!

There's no way I'd have gone. My first baby was a colicy nightmare who was allergic to dairy. I'd had an emergency section and still felt dreadful at six weeks, plus baby was cluster feeding all night at that age. I've been invited to go to France when he's a year old and I'm still not sure we'll make it to be honest - maybe it's just me but looking after a baby is a lot more stressful than I thought. That's been my experience, anyway.

Which car seat do you have? Is it actually lie flat when travelling or like the cybex just lie flat when on a pushchair chassis? The drive would take forever with all the stops if you have the latter. The journey wouldn't have been an issue for myself postpartum- I think by 6 weeks it'd only be significant birth injuries or bad c secs that would be troubled by that.

Also I wouldn't be happy using a pram bassinet for 2 weeks- they are occasional use only. But also where will you put it? O the floor? Nightmare for night feeds- you'll have to get out of bed. I'd buy a moses basket and stand off Facebook when there- should only be €10 or so.

@TheTonEffect

There's no way I'd have gone. My first baby was a colicy nightmare who was allergic to dairy. I'd had an emergency section and still felt dreadful at six weeks, plus baby was cluster feeding all night at that age. I've been invited to go to France when he's a year old and I'm still not sure we'll make it to be honest - maybe it's just me but looking after a baby is a lot more stressful than I thought. That's been my experience, anyway.

that was my experience too

Thanks to those who have suggested things to bring, really helpful.
Again, not asking for advice on whether I will feel up to going - I will be able to work that out for myself when it comes to it and this doesn't effect the holiday going ahead so there's no need for us to cancel anything even if we decide not to go on the day.
We already have a lot of these things - bouncer, sling etc - but good to put on my radar to definitely bring them, and I wouldn't have thought about baby panadol!
Re: car seat, yet it's one that lies flat in the car - we deliberately got a separate car seat to our pram system with this in mind. In general our family live around an hour and a half to 4 hours away from us in the UK so it was important to get a car seat that would work for longer UK journeys as well.

Sleeping in the pram is not an issue, its basically the same as a moses basket and also handy as you can rock it back and forth to help baby sleep.
I would recommend getting a stretchy wrap that they can go in as well, not just for holiday they're just a great baby item.
Breastfeeding can be tricky in the early days so make sure everyone you're going with will be supportive of that and not complain that you're taking too long/too often/not being sociable/not letting them hold the baby enough. You may have to make a lot of stops on the way to feed baby, so try and have the car set up that you can feed them in the back seat rather than having to find a stopping place with comfortable seats. Maybe invest in a feeding pillow. I would also recommend a pillow to sit on for the car journey!

Whoever mentioned "baby panadol", paracetamol suspension is only suitable for babies over 2 months (same goes for calpol, nurofen etc)

2 days is a really long time to have quite a bit of separation from baby being set down in the car seat, I know they'll be nearby but I wouldn't have wanted mine in the car seat / set down for that period of time and my baby also wouldn't have tolerated it at 6 weeks
This is true for some babies, my first wasn't happy being put down in the basket, pram, car seat and wanted to be held a lot. She would be OK for 15 mins or so in the car and then start crying until we took her out. Not fun for 2 days straight. I really would look at getting a direct flight and DH meeting you there with the car and dog. Two hours with baby in the sling or on your lap sounds much more pleasant than a 48 hour car ride.

Thanks @DockOTheBay ! Really useful - especially the Panadol actually not being suitable 😅 I checked out flights yesterday and it's really not very prohibitive at all to the local airport so will definitely keep in mind as an alternative if baby doesn't like being put down!

I’d fly! Let DH take the car and meet you there, by the sounds of it you could just pack a flight bag and set off a day later! So much easier than driving for two days with a bay that needs feeder every 2 hours. You’ll be shattered.

Hmm I don’t recall with my babies who were born in the uk. I’m in oz and holding a box of children’s panadol that says 1m to 12m, and the gp doing my youngest baby’s 6 week vaccinations last week advised to give panadol if baby seemed unwell overnight afterwards. Panadol is a GSK brand, there must be solid data behind that usage advice. But of course don’t if not comfortable or advised against there!

I am not sure you will get registration/passport in time.

Travel depends on the baby. Both of mine were Velcro babies who didn’t sleep in the car and screamed constantly on car journeys. My son would sometimes settle if I sat next to him. My daughter however wanted constant access to boob and screamed all the time in the car.

I remember one memorable 3 hour journey - she was about 10 months old. We did bedtime routine and breast feed for evening drive and hoped she’d sleep. I ended up spending the whole journey leaning over her car seat so she could be latched on! We were in a camper so I could do this. Sounds crazy now but she would scream until she vomited and I couldn’t bear it.

We managed to drive to France for the first time when they were 6 and 8!

I can’t think of much worse than driving for 2 days 6 weeks post section or delivery with a baby! Sorry!

It could be ok if everything straightforward for you and baby but it wasn’t either time for me and to be honest I was shattered. 6 weeks is a colicky time!

However all I would take is feeding equipment, pram and a bouncer. Maybe plenty of sheets for the pram in case baby is sicky. Sunscreen and a sunshade for pram. Good luck!

You shouldn’t really give a 6 week old calpol. If they have a temp then they need to be reviewed by a doctor at that age.

Oh sorry another thing- your GP surgery will do a 6-8 week check so try and find out when that is so that it doesn’t delay it too much for baby. Sometimes they combine it with vaccinations but baby should get a top to toe examination.

Can you arrange appointments before baby is born? Go on the basis of born at 42 weeks to be safe. I imagine it’s easier to cancel than get one in the first place.