Graduated Elderberries

[HazleNutt]

It's time to move to Post-Natal clubs.

I need a travel cot where I can put her down asleep after a night feed rather than risking waking her up on the 3 foot drop to the bottom of a hotel cot

There is a beach in Barcelona Lol but when we were there it was very busy and the beer prices were extortionate.

E has just woken up for the first time since 7.45!

Great news cav I really hope you're coming out the other side of a rough phase now.

Hazle's right, I'm staying at a friend's villa in Spain. The plan was to cosleep with S on the first two nights (as we arrive Sat evening so too late to shop, and shops are closed on Sunday), then buy a cheap travel cot to just leave out there. However they are quite light and fold up small so I think we can bring one. cav I like the look of that one, it's heavier than the one we were looking at (we only have 20kg to check in) so I think we'll stick with this

S cried loads yesterday and was wide awake until 11pm, it was like she had trapped wind she couldn't get up or something She had a lovely day on weds though so rough with the smooth I guess.

nice work E!! Bet you feel so much better cav!

H was up at 3.30 after going down at 10, then up again at 6 and in with us at 7.30. We discovered last night tbat pink floyd, dark side of the moon proper chills him out.....very odd. He went from serious whinging to totally chilled when we put it on.

excellent work E!

Yay for E!! Hope you're feeling better after some sleep.

Thanks so much for honeymoon recommendation - will definitely be looking into that

Although it appears to be £1800 per night so perhaps not!!

I'd be mad to go to the Maldives for two weeks with a baby right? We absolutely love snorkelling there and with S, we'd have to do it separately which isn't as good and not quite as safe. I know it's a waste of money to go with a baby at 5.5k but you've got me thinking about luxury holidays now!

God no! We'll def spend that on our honeymoon, and other holidays with M - benefit of going back to work I guess. But £1800 a week just on accommodation - or £25k for the fortnight - is a little bit out of reach!

Most places would not even charge extra for babies, or some nominal fee only, so why not. Or maybe could go with friends and swap babysitting, so could snorkel together?

The problem is the snorkelling - my fave thing to do in the Maldives, it really is amazing, but it just wouldn't be as good doing it separately. Also, I just checked, looking at Jan 2015, and they seem to be charging for S which is silly as she'd still be under two! Which means it might come in over 5.5k. I guess the other problem is I'm out of work and don't know whether I can def go back in Nov, especially not full time, so it would be DH paying for all of us but I suppose that's the case wherever we go! Wonder where else we can go that's sunny in winter but a bit more child friendly, and with no mossies to bite S (they get rid of them in the Maldives)

Cross post - good idea about going with friends, but not sure any of our friends with babies would be up for a luxury Maldives holiday at the same time, tricky.

convince janey to go to Maldives for honeymoon and take M, then surprise them there
Thailand or Malaysia? Very child friendly and loads cheaper than Maldives. The time difference might be a pain though.

that's a brilliant idea - we can photobomb all their romantic honeymoon shots haha!

Love Thailand but I get eaten alive by the mossies there so I bet the bites would make S really cranky!

Sorry Janey I didn't look at the price as I knew it would be expensive and I am looking to spend as little as possible for our next holiday, but I wasn't quite expecting that much! I just looked on booking.com and 7 nights half board in a villa with private pool and 24h butler is just under 10k. But what a fantastic holiday with a full-time child carer on call so you can sunbathe or get a couples massage or get really pissed without having to worry about being sober enough to look after the baby. I have it earmarked as something to save up for in the future after hopefully moving house.

Alex with The Maldives having lots of luxury resorts would you be able to get one with your own butler/babysitter service there to solve the problem?

Or at least a resort with babysitters, would only need them for snorkelling and romantic dinner times.

There are some aspects in travelling with babies you don't necessarily immediately think about. Like the trip to St Petersburg, I was looking where to have dinner in the evenings and then realised that oh, but what about the baby? We were able to take V out to restaurants when he was smaller, he would sleep anywhere. Not any more though, he is too curious and won't sleep, but will get cranky if it's past his bedtime.

So it will be either me staying in the hotel with him or using some local babysitters - but he will be 11 months then, probably with separation anxiety and not sure if he would be even ok with a total stranger. Or if I'm ok leaving him like that - although I'm sure the hotel would use some reputable agency.

It's true hazle, it was so much easier when they were little! We went away overnight when M was 8 weeks old, and he just slept in his car seat under the table whilst we had dinner. M however refused to sleep when we were away last weekend, despite the hotel setting him up a travel cot behind a curtain next to our table, and DP ended up having to rock him to sleep in his sling and then eat dinner with a snoring baby on his front...

Cavort it does indeed look like something worth saving for, but I really fancy a two week honeymoon, not one, and £20k is beyond ridiculous! Gah. Maybe I should just win the lottery this weekend? If I has millions in the bank it would be slightly easier to justify I'm sure!

Haha love the idea of you secretly joining us on honeymoon though! I think DP would be delighted though - remember when we went to the pub when you came back from Spain, and you told me you'd had a lovely time just the two of you, and your DH said he wished we had been there so he could have played golf with my DP . Men!!

Janey could you do a week there or similar and then move somewhere cheaper for the second week?

I completely agree that baby's bedtime now causes problems when trying to socialise. If we give E a late nap we can stretch her out until about 9pm but that's her absolute limit. This is why I want to go on holiday somewhere a few hours ahead of the UK so her normal 8pm bedtime becomes 10 or 11pm.

Miles literally can't cope past 7pm so maybe my initial thoughts of Mauritius might be good - they're 4 hours ahead. Having said that, that would mean a ridiculously early rising time, so perhaps we're best just trying to adjust his body clock whilst we are away...

Oh no, it would mean a lie in!!! Amazing!!!!!

Mauritius and la Reunion, week each?

Argh help I've been really trying not to moan but...S won't stop screaming! Most she'll stop for is ten minutes. Been two days of it! It's like a flashback to the early days and it is TOUGH!

I'm even starting to wonder about what SIL and MIL keep nagging me about saying about leaving her to cry sometimes. But I really just can't do it, especially when she's so distressed she sounds like she's choking all the time