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! 😊

It's entirely doable! Lightweight buggy that fits in the overhead locker, plenty of supplies and spare clothes. It will be fine. It won't be super hot in October. I can't see how it would be more trouble than a week in wales looking out the window at the rain.

Oh sorry misread your dates. July would probably be both hot and busy so would be worth thinking the destination through carefully. Still doable though !

We took our granddaughter to Greece for a week when she was 10 months old, it's doable just needs planning.

Entirely depends on you and your baby. We did a weekend away in British countryside chalet with 7 day old baby; Italy at six weeks; Malta at three months and several family Uk visits between 5-7 months. My daughter is now 8 months as we are on a month long trip in France - it’s not any different than having a baby at home. She is very portable and just loves being with us!

We did holidays based around the needs of our Dc at that age. Not Rome. The UK.

It might be possible depending on your dc, but we wanted to keep things simple and stress-free.

Going on holiday with a child is just parenting in a different place I.e it's not really a holiday 🤣

Don't get me wrong,there are good bits but, be prepared for it not to be as nice and relaxing as you might picture.

8 months is a prefect time!
We travelled to Texas (first flight 2 hours, waiting 6 hours in London and the second flight 11 hours ---there and back).
It was so easy for me. She wasn't crawling yet so just had to entertain her through the flights which I found doable.
We took an other trip with her when she was 15 months- she started to walk plus the tantrums so for me, it was much harder.
She's 18 months now and I definitely won't do it. She's too small to sit in one place for longer than 30 minutes but now big enough to run around.

Travel before they start crawling, especially before walking!

Now I wish we took more trips when she was around 8 months!

Going away is fine at that age. But my Dc is 8 months and our easiest days are those where we focus on doing baby things - ie swimming, baby classes, swings. My Dc gets bored at lunch. And bored in the pram for too long. I wouldn’t take her on a city break tomorrow for these reasons personally, but I would take her on a holiday like sani where I can do things my Dc enjoys.

I have been to both of those cities and neither are buggy friendly. Rome is also rammed with tourists most of the year and you’ll be a prime target for the abundance of pick-pockets because you’ll have a big distraction. Most old cities are not going to be buggy friendly.

We've always had regular holidays with our DCs and never had any issues, either abroad or in the UK. Some places are more baby friendly than others but you just research it well and adapt and prepare. We use buggies most of the time but usually travel with a carrier in case it's not buggy-friendly (we live in London and use the tube a lot, so used to doing things that way). City breaks have been great - it won't be like a city break pre-kids, but most cities have parks, museums, galleries, interesting shops and markets, and babies like seeing new places. I think one thing we've been keen to avoid is anywhere too hot though - so somewhere like Rome I wouldn't go in summer, but maybe autumn.

We love taking our dc to new and interesting places - we've done the week in Wales type holiday and felt very bored and frustrated by the end of it.

Doable but probably won't be fun. So much logistical faff and to be honest I found 6-12 months a nightmare stage. Not content being your arms but not developed enough to be independent. Personally I'd cut your losses on the abroad holiday and plan a belated trip in a few years when you can all enjoy it. In terms of getting baby used to staying away, I went away for 1-2 nights to stay with family regularly while on mat leave and our daughter is still a good sleeper when we're away now. We used her travel cot at home a bit so she got used to sleeping in it.

It will be absolutely fine! We have traveled with our children at various ages. It’s busier and needs abit more planning but you will still have a lovely time!

Pick your accommodation carefully - sime places can be a nightmare with a crawling baby, and space makes life easier. Pace yourself. Be flexible. Plan some child friendly activities a couple of times a day but remember that can be as simple as feeding ducks/being pushed on a swing/ watching boats/diggers for 15 minutes.
We always talked to my DC about what we were doing/seeing. I don't suppose they were really interested in the importance on inland waterways to the industrial revolution/ the development of art in the renaissance period/2nd WW aircraft but they liked hearing our voices.

I wouldn't booked until they have been born and I wouldn't do a city break.

Perfect age for flying though.

My family were a 6 hour drive from me when my kids were small, I started doing the journey by plane instead when youngest was 2 months old, eldest 13 months old - I was on my own, aside from the boarding bit (as had to use the stairs carrying them both) the whole airport thing wasn’t really any different to being anywhere with 2 very young ones. We did Italy when youngest was 10 months but hubby was with me, no problem at all, the only issue we had was discovering the twisty roads made eldest car sick so the car journeys not pleasant. We took them to Florida the following year and have been somewhere every year since. I never found it any different whether I was looking after them somewhere new or somewhere we went regularly, so I would say book your holiday and enjoy it. My one bit of advice is buy a really really good changing bag, with lots of compartments and put lots of thought into packing it. That is the one thing that would of gotten me very flustered is not being able to find what I needed while on a plane, queuing, in a restaurant etc. That bag had everything I could possible need and I could find whatever I wanted in seconds

It's absolutely fine there is no difference lookong after a baby at home or on holiday in its simplest form (I bf both so both very portable with minimal stuff)
We travelled for 3 months with DS1 from 9 months old in New Zealand and other then a few adjustments we had a amazing time!

DS2 has been going abroad since 3 months old no problems!

Adjustments to consider is getting a something with self catering option, having lunches out and cooking or getting a takeaway in the evenings. We keep ours in their routine as much as we can for sleep and food but ours needed a routine some babies are chilled and can cope with staying up later or eating later etc.
A good carrier or backpack rucksack for getting them around is way easier then a pram and they can come with sunshades. The screw on highchairs are handy but don't fit all tables we find a mini camp chair which can be attached to chairs better and lighter to carry. A pop up travel cot tent packs small and is easy to transport.

I went to ibiza with an 8 month old. Buggy to the gate and lots of finger food snacks for the plane.

We had a wonderful time and if anything it was great for his development.

I've travelled all over with babies/toddlers. Went to Marbella with a 9 month old. Had a great time. Went to Australia with 2 children under 2-now that was harder with the double buggy and long flight but fast forward a few years and 4 squabbling pre-teens are much harder than a baby. As others have said- babies are portable. Go to Italy and make precious memories. Just be prepared to carry more than usual. Good luck 😄

Great age to travel in my opinion! We went to Lanzarote when mine was 7 months old, he started crawling while we were there which was very exciting. I was still mostly breastfeeding which made things easier. The heat didn't bother him at all. He was on 2 naps at that stage which made things significantly easier than travels we did when he was younger.

We did also go to Italy with him when he was young, although a bit older than your baby. We went to Northern Italy when he was 12 months (he had his 1st birthday and started walking while we were there) and South Italy when he was 20 months. No issues at all.

We haven't really done city breaks (other than 4 days in Dubai) just because it's not what we're interested in ourselves. We normally do day trips to nearby cities though. At that age I really don't think it matters where you go, choose anywhere you like, you'll probably be planning holidays around kids soon enough.

Have always travelled with my now 3yo on long haul flights and long drives to grandparents who live 250 miles away. Very daunting at first but now my daughter is completely used to flying to the carribbean frequently and although there can still be testing times 8 months is a nice age because as long as you continue to meet all their needs and take enough to keep them occupied they’ll be happy!

I wouldn't spend a load of money on a holiday like that with a baby to be honest. It's just such hard work.

Either go locally in a self catering cottage or just go away for the night and leave baby with relatives

We took our babies on summer holidays and skiing trips, also long haul flights when they were both tiny and they were completely fine. We tended to plan flight times for nap times.