Honest opinions on travelling with a baby?

[Loulai]

Hi all. I want to book a holiday for July 24 for my 30th birthday, my first baby will then be 8 months old (I’m due late October). I’d like to go somewhere special, Rome or Vienna etc for a few days but some friends have advised that travelling to a foreign city with a small baby is a logistical nightmare. I’d be happy with a week in Wales but am a bit disappointed.
Also my family live 2+ hours away so I want to get my baby used to being away from home for a few days at a time, not all the time obviously.
what we’re your experiences travelling abroad with an 8 month old? If it’s not doable it is what it is, but I don’t know if my friends are being negative or I’m just being naive? Thanks! 😊

We took our oldest son to Athens at 9/10 months. It has its tricky moments but overall was a great experience.

There were some parts that were not buggy friendly at all, so we used our baby carrier on those days.

I'll echo previous posters that staying in a self catering apartment / villa makes things much easier. Access to a basic kitchen means you can easily prep / clean / store bottles and food. Not impossible to do in a hotel room but much less faff.

We stupidly didn't take enough nappies with us, and wasted a few hours hunting them down. I'm not sure why the shops closest to us only had newborn sizes, so we had to try a few different shops, but we found some eventually. Try to avoid situations like this if you can, be prepared as possible.

We chose restaurants by whether or not they had high chairs; these tended to have baby change stations too. Public baby change stations were non existent, but possible we just missed them.

Try not to overload your schedule. Just pick one or two things you aim to do in a day and be flexible.

Have fun!

I agree that Rome in July is probably a bit too hot. But that’s just personal preference really.

In principle a city break with a baby that age is fine 😊 just adjust your expectations accordingly. It won’t be the same as pre baby holidays but that’s okay. I’d maybe look at an apartment rather than a hotel room? So that when baby is an asleep you and DH can still have an evening rather than all being stuck in 1 hotel room but it depends how well your DC sleeps in the buggy and how strictly you want to keep to the usual routine.

We had a holiday in the U.K. when baby was 3 months, 2 more holidays around 8 and 9 months and then went abroad for 2 weeks, doing a city break for half of it and a beach holiday for the other half when DC was around 14 months. We had a great time all round!

I would probably book it just a few months before though once baby is here rather than now.

We did it when DC was 6 months. Flight was 3.5 hours. No issues at all, we had a lovely time! Best doing it when they are little!

I went to Stockholm when DS was about 6 months, and it was fine. DH was at a conference, so I amused myself during the daytime.

Hotels will provide travel cots, high chairs etc. At 8 months, they’ll probably eat a little bit of the breakfast buffet and if you aren’t breastfeeding you can either buy pre-made formula.

Buy a decent carrier, and at 8 months they’ll be content to sit in it (and hopefully nap) while you sightsee. You will need to have some breaks where they can get out and crawl about (or go back to the hotel room for lunch and let them play for a bit then).

Pick a hotel with a rooftop bar or something, where you can sit with a glass of wine in the evening while your baby naps.

Rome would be perfect.

You honestly can't tell till you've had baby. Some are easy, some are unbearable, you'd be an idiot to make plans now

go for it! I went to London for a week with an 8 month old on an 8 hour train journey, travelling was obviously not as relaxing as not having an 8 month old but we had a good time. I did Tenerife when he was 12 months too and that was actually harder as he was a lot more mobile and able to run. And the thought of a city break with the a 2.5 year old I have now that runs at any opportunity he gets actually makes me want to vomit so honestly go for it at 8 months.

We did a lovely holiday in Corfu when DD was exactly this age. We took a beach tent and she played and napped in there beautifully, luckily she didn’t master crawling until a week after we got back! It was fab timing and I even read a book while she napped! She was happy in her buggy or sling on a few days out too but was late May so not so hot as July. The sling was fantastic for trips and getting on and off the plane too. Not sure if a full on city break would be as relaxing though.

I think you'd be absolutely fine tbh. Id avoid intense heat tho.. we made the mistake of driving all the way to the south of France with a 3 month old in August in a car with no air conditioning and I can tell you that was not fun.

Took same child to Venice when he'd just turned 1 and that was lovely.
Took my 6month old to Seville . Absolutely fine. Bit more baggage to carry with nappies etc but not really that stressful.
Imo its travelling with children aged around 2-3 that is the hardest. The stage where they've got it together enough physically to be running about and climbing all over the place but not yet reached the stage where u can remotely reason with them!
Babies are fine its just that they need extra baggage and also you need to factor in your sleep will probably get broken so don't plan anything that is a full day starting early.. take it a bit easier and go and see one thing in the afternoon per day

I think travelling with a baby can be fine but it depends on the baby! Some are more adaptable than others.

We went to Cuba for a couple of weeks when dd was 3 months and backpacking in South America for a month when she was 11 months old.

We had to take a bit more stuff with us than in our pre-child holidays but both holidays went well.

It would be a total pain in the arse to schlep a baby buggy around a foreign city that may or may not be wheelchair or buggy friendly.

At 8 months your baby might be crawling, very restless in a buggy, and inclined to crawl in the hotel or air BnB or wherever you were staying, with all the issues of safety that would entail.

You would be tied to nap times and bedtimes and you might find yourself unable to bring the baby to the sort of nice restaurant you'd prefer.

I took DS to Singapore and Tokyo at 7 months, followed by a drive to south of France. All on my own. It was fine. DH was working and I was able to spend mat leave travelling. DS was a very easy baby and most difficult thing was buying suitable food for him in Tokyo. He survived!

To add to all the good advice - I would have found it difficult at this age in terms of what the baby eats. My baby was really getting into food by then but would not take anything off a spoon so was all BLW and in restaurants this maybe have been tricky to find things for her to eat although I suppose you can ask for a side of plain veggies in most places and buy your own fruit
They may not be onto full meals by then - but as others have said who really knows.

Holidays when they are little is still parenting...just in a different place. So if you don't have a great sleeper, you're away from home without all the normal comforts (ie rocking chair for us!) It could be more stressful. I'd try to go earlier when baby is younger and more portable if you can. My son was crawling at 6 months and wouldn't have done well being confined in a pushchair in a hot city all day.

It's impossible to tell really, totally depends on what your baby is like!

"It's impossible to tell really, totally depends on what your baby is like!"

This is spot on. With PFB there was no chance I could have enjoyed a holiday. Didn't sleep, had silent reflux, was bottle fed, hated being strapped to me.

DC2 on the other hand was a breeze. She got taken to Amsterdam and Paris before she was one. She loved being in baby carrier, was EBF, slept well and was extremely chilled.

I'd wait and see before booking anything. And I'd avoid July.

I've done hotel stays with baby from 4 weeks old to 18 months every couple of months, including in quite a few European destinations. I disagree about the villa thing, hotels are so much fun as can have room service, delicious drinks and food delivered and no tidying. It's really fun and easy but gets harder work as they get older. I'd definitely recommend it. Take a portable, rechargeable fan in case baby gets too hot and choose somewhere with a nice pool for swims.

We took baby DCto Berlin at that age,it was brilliant. Hand luggage only so no baby stuff to move about. We had her in a foldable pushchair which the airline were happy with. She was small enough to be happy napping in the pushchair as we looked around museums etc and took her out for dinner with us. Loved it!

I think if you're breastfeeding and have a baby that will happily sleep in a carrier it's actually a really good age for this sort of trip. Certainly easier than with toddlers and small children. Did all sorts of outings with mine at that age.

I'd wait and see what sort of baby you get first though.

I went away last august to Spain with a 3 year old dd and 8 months old ds and tbh it was fairly stress free, i think it will depend on how easy of a baby you have, my ds is pretty chill I gave him a bottle on takeoff and he slept the whole flight, I did have some activities packed if he hadn’t. The only thing that’s really a hassle for me was when we arrived in Spain having to walk all the way to baggage claim carrying ds and bags to get the buggy ( I’ve since found a buggy that is the same size as a cabin bag and can be taken on the plane, which I recommend)

I wouldn’t do a European city break in July, even without a baby. Risk it being very hot and busy.
id definitely try it what’s the worse than can happen, but go earlier in the year, and be very prepared to spend evenings in the hotel. Or if you want July., consider self catering by a beach as that’s easier with baby

Italians have kids people it's fine to take them to a warm country. OP I wouldn't do Rome in July as an adult, it's packed with either school trips or the start of the school holidays. What about Venice? We took DS to Lanzarote at 9 months so he could play in the pool and we could relax I don't think a city break would have been as enjoyable.

Have you considered a cruise so you get the best of both worlds? Hotel holiday for little one and the chance to see some sites for the adults?

It is hard work. I would looks to get an apartment/villa over a hotel room. Also Europe will be VERY hot at that time of the year so I wouldn’t recommend it with a baby I’m afraid

Absolutely fine for us (but I know every baby and parent is different), just get to know your baby really well so you know how to keep them happy on the journey and while you are there. We have been on 19 flights with our now 9 month old and he usually sleeps better on them than at home! While away we make sure we factor in time for things he would enjoy rather than just trailing him around touristy things eg now we bring out a picnic blanket and give him some time crawling about in the park and playing with some toys to break the day up for him. We even went away for a five week multi city trip booking the next stop as we went - still found it absolutely fine. Definitely book somewhere for your birthday!

We have a 14 month old and have been on a number of trips, some city breaks and some beach/pool type breaks.

If you are going on a hot city break I recommend bringing:

A good quality fan that clips onto the pushchair
Plenty of snacks
Some new/different toys

We've always had a great time travelling with our little one and he's always enjoyed it too (and he sleeps sooo much better on holiday compared to home)

Have fun!

Agree with this! The older mine gets the harder travelling seems!

I think travelling with kids all depends on your attitude to be honest. If you're a very rigid person and expect your kids to be in a rigid routine then it won't work. But kids are pretty good at going with the flow especially at that age!! I like travelling with my kids!

Honestly go for it. We maxed out free flights with a baby under 2. By the time she was 2 she had been to Cuba, Washington, Canada and Greece.
We love to travel and would never have wanted to stop unless we had to.
Yes it is more complicated but if you are a planner then it is fine, you work out what you can and can't do.
Do it now before they cost money and trust me travelling with a toddler is a different ball game