What's your 17month like - Holiday with a 17 month old

[strawberrysummer19]

In the process of booking a holiday for a week - unsure where to go yet but plenty of options and flexibility

Little one will be 17 months

Tell me about how they are and their development

I know each toddler can differ from the next but not sure if to fly/drive warm/cold holiday

We really don't know how to narrow it down

All we do know is that she will be 17 months when we go

Thanks Mumsnet !

Look forward to replies 😊

I adored age 1.5, they are so cute, but it can be a difficult age. Most of them will have been walking for anywhere between 0-6 months. They love to move, but can’t walk very far and often not the direction you want them to go in. Lots of them hate being restrained. I would therefore discount anything that involves lots of time in the pushchair. A city break with sightseeing would have been completely useless with my DS at that age as his tolerance for the pushchair was about 20 mins tops.

DS was a fab eater and was happy to sit in restaurants, but lots of them aren’t and can throw MASSIVE tantrums about the high chair/food they aren’t familiar with/being out of routine. I’d therefore also avoid anything that requires eating out a lot. I’d either go kid’s friendly AI or self catering.

I would always chose good weather with small kids (but not baking hot). Mid to high 20s maybe. It makes everything so much easier, they find it easier to move about in less layers and age 1.5 was about the time DS became a massive coat/hat/gloves refuser.

Successful holidays myself/friends/family members have had at roughly that age include AI to Majorca, self catering villa in France, air bnb with big garden on the beach in Dorset and Centre Parks like resort in the New Forest. Happy planning!

@VivaVivaa that all sounds lovely! I agree with the colder places and trying to keep them warm. I saw a post earlier on skiing - someone's going for Xmas but apart from that which I thinks too adventurous for that age I'd consider anywhere.

I forgot to add it is Christmas so I wonder if most places shut? I'd be happy with a beach resort abroad or the air b@b in Dorsey option!

What about morocco? It's not too warm in Dec and looks lovely

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Or Canary Islands looks nice and bookable via tui,,,,,or I can be brave and book on air b &b and not use a tour operator ?! So much cheaper it appears x

We went to Dubai when ours was 16 months and I won’t lie it was hard work. The flights were horrific because she just did not want
to sit still at all. Threw massive tantrums. Then the overnight flight she was beyond overtired and trying to sleep in an unfamiliar place which just made her upset. Once we got there it was ok but I think you need to go in with super low expectations. She pretty much wanted tk spend 10 hours a day in the pool and couldn’t understand when we had to get out. My husband and I pretty much took shifts to take her to the pool while the other relaxed 😂

Mine could walk and say a few words at 18 months when we first took him on holiday. We train hopped around the Emilia-Romagna of Italy and it was amazing :D

We got a tiny folding travel buggy and made sure that we travelled as light as possible. Our son wears reusable nappies as well so that had to factor into our luggage too but we managed it with one medium sized suitcase, one cabin size suitcase, the travel buggy and travel cot.

I was expecting issues but honestly it was no different than travelling about at home. Our son had a brilliant time :) We enjoyed ourselves so much that we booked another holiday when we got home.

Oh I'll add this was in June when there was quite a prolonged heatwave in Emilia-Romanga. It was upwards of 30c every day and my son coped amazingly. It didn't seem to bother him at all.

I can remover taking DC2 away at that age. He wasn't a great sleeper anyway but spent most of the night either bouncing in his cot or bouncing on our bed. We did not get an awful lot of sleep 💤

We went to Portugal in October when DS was 15 months. If you’re going to fly do it at lunchtime nap time and you can hold him why he sleeps which takes up a couple of hours. Then take some toys in hand luggage (obvs)
I second the PP that says you’ve got to choose a holiday where they can move - we had a villa and he wandered around with supervision and got in the pool most days. And take snacks from home!!

We’ve been on loads of city breaks with our 18m old. We’ve had about 4 of them in the last 4 months! I’d say try and keep the flight time to 2hrs as they can get a bit cranky, and at that age changing nappies in the tiny toilets is a challenge!! We live in a city, so our child is used to it. We just do the same as we do at home, parks, walks, etc. we tend to go out for lunch and then cook in the apartment for dinner, so I’d recommend an apartment hotel or similar. They can also provide a cot to save packing and it means when they go to bed, you can have a nice meal. We’ve done Seville, Florence, Rome, Paris, Barcelona and they were all great with a toddler. Get a yo-yo pram so you can take on the plane.

In all honesty OP you just don’t know

the first op advised against city breaks and to keep buggy time to a minimum yet we are always doing city breaks because our son absolutely loves being in the buggy watching life, yet never in a million years would I book a flight that last more than 2 hours or so

they are all so different

Off to Copenhagen with our 18 month old tomorrow. His 3rd trip - Majorca at 11 months, Florida at 15 months and now Copenhagen.

You’ll have a ball! They’ll be interested in absolutely everything! Don’t stress if they have a meltdown - nobody batted an eyelid when ours did on flight to Florida…. For 9 hours!

I’m taking my 17 month old on holiday tomorrow to Thailand for 8 nights. We live in Asia so it’s not too far away. She’s really cheeky and fun, loves to play with her little kitchen, dolly and pram and given half a chance will bolt off in a million different directions when we are out and about. She loves to eat and loves a bath and is generally a lovely little girl. She also sleeps all night and has a 2 hour lunchtime nap.

@EJRB I had the exact same thing - my first loved her buggy and we used to walk and walk for hours

@Val2021 wow that's amazing! Happy travels

@Smileandtheworldsmileswithyou this sounds bliss! I can't wait for this stage

I guess every baby is different but being at home stuck in every day is also hard I feel so wherever we go I guess the key is to make it work.

All I do know at this stage is that she LOVEs being out and about

I've just said to hubby maybe we wait 6m wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to see how she is at a year and book a shorter notice holiday

We are going on a driving holiday to France in august when she will be 13 months so I guess depends how that goes we can see

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