Sleeping arrangements for newborn on holiday?

[Tweetypie95]

Hey Ladies,

Looking for some advice as a first time mum. Am I right in thinking a travel cot isn’t really suitable for a new born? As my mum didn’t really see a problem in it...

After suffering infertility for 2 years and putting off holidays due to “maybe’s” last year we thought we bloody deserved one and booked one for September 2018.

We really considered cancelling as we thought it may be just too overwhelming but It’s a family thing with lots of hands to help so we decided to persevere. We have Flexi booking so if I have a flap closer to the time of the birth we can defer.

Anyway. We are going to a lovely resort and we had already booked a larger room. Baby will be in-between 4-6 weeks depending on there arrival.

Has anyone been on holiday with a new born and what did you do about sleeping?

Also if you have any other advice it is greatly welcomed.

Thank you so much.

Check your pram, ours was suitable from birth for sleeping so little one stayed in that overnight when we went away the first time. She has been in a sleepyhead on the floor, travel cot at in laws and regular cot in resort.

Newborns can go in a travel cot safely. You can also get pop-up bassinet type things if you want something smaller.

If it were me I'd bring the bassinet with the pram. Not all are suitable for overnight sleeping though.
I'm not sure I'd bother with a "holiday" with a baby quite that small. Unless you have other adults travelling with you? You might not have much of a break, tiny babies are pretty full on. Will you be able to get a passport that quickly?

You can get travel cots with newborn basinette inserts

Travel cribs are ok for newborns and fold up really small to take with you.
Otherwise they can sleep in some prams (eg uppababy is fine overnight).
If you are co-sleeping at that point you can get folding bed rails to take with you so baby can’t fall out of the bed.

I prob wouldn’t rely on the hotel’s travel cost for a baby that age, some can be a bit worn/mucky.

We have got a bedside crib that folds into a travel bag and would be quite easy to transport. A lot of pram carrycots are also suitable for overnight sleeping now so it might be worth looking into this when choosing a pram.

I was still bleeding 6 weeks after giving birth, my stitches were still uncomfortable and I had only really just got the hang of breastfeeding. I had a really really easy straightforward birth on my due date. If you have a C section your GP may be reluctant to sign you fit to fly before 6 weeks.

Going on holiday wouldn't have been something I would have found particularly relaxing at that point to be honest. I definitely wouldn't have been in a position where I was wanting to put a swimming costume or a bikini on.

We couldn't get an appointment to register the birth until DD was 2 weeks old so I would have been quite anxious about then having to get a passport in a very short time scale.

But if you do go a travel cot will be absolutely safe for a new born in theory. In practice however, in those first few weeks they quite often only want to sleep on one of their parents anyway and they often feed every few hours through the night and people find that wherever the baby was supposed to be sleeping doesn't get much use in the end...

Anyway, hope it all works out for you OP, sounds like you've had a bit of a rough time the last year and need a holiday. Glad to hear it's as flexible as possible for you.

You should definitely go. Babies are very portable at that age and you can often do things like go out for dinner with baby who will hopefully sleep. A travel cot is fine as long as it has a firm mattress with a well fitting sheet. If it was me, I'd probably take my own rather than rely on the hotel's in case the mattress is well used etc.

At that age both of mine were sleeping in the carrycot of the pram, even at home, as I couldn't get them to settle in the crib. I think they preferred the carrycot as it was more enclosed. I moved them into the crib around 6 weeks.

When DD was 6 weeks old I was in hospital having a deep abcess removed from my breast. Even without that there is no way I would have been able to contemplate going on an overseas holiday, let alone actually enjoying it!

Have been overseas with a very young baby and it’s been fine. A couple of things to think about though:

Will you get a passport in time? You’ll need a birth certificate which could take a week or two to organise depending on appointment availability. Then you’ll have to do the postal application (no option to fasttrack a first passport). I think they say to expect 3 weeks processing, but it could take longer if there’s a backlog from the summer applications.

If you have to have a section, you might still be recovering 4-6 weeks on. You would probably have to declare the c-section on your travel insurance if you fly before your 6 week check.

Just to add a positive experience I had a 3 day failed induction then Csection, scar was healed and stitches out by day5 and was driving by day 10 and pretty much back to normal. DD slept consistently in 3 hour blocks, newborns can (CAN!) be very sleep/eat/repeat in which case you absolutely would enjoy your holiday. I would take a pump with you and maybe you can have a break if family are there to help. Nice supportive cozzie of your tummy and you'll be fine! My DD slept on a babymoov cosydream on the sofa for the first few months when downstairs so something like this if the room has a big chair could work.

OP there are quite some incorrect information on here.
You CAN fast track a 1st passport. It is something around £87 as compared to the regular one of £46.
And the registration can be done on the very next day and you get the birth certificate on the same day within minutes or couple of hours depending on where you live.
Do your research and you will find it is not all that difficult in terms of these technicalities.
I am planning to fly with my newborn when she will be 6 weeks (6 and a half hour flight to Dubai) and have found out about all the technicalities and re confirmed with the registration office and the passport office.
Goodluck with the rest

Here ya go.

With my second I travelled at 7 weeks and it was great. He'd started to get the hang of bfing and slept a fair bit during the day - not so much at night, but no different from at home!
Hotel travel cots are probably fine but if you are a worrier I would strongly recommend the BabyBjorn one, which is great quality, very safe, super easy to assemble and folds up small enough to fit in a suitcase. And definitely do make sure you have good travel insurance so that in the unlucky event of complications you can get your money back. Happy travels!

Also bring tons of muslins on the plane, great for accidents, draping while they sleep or feed and tucking over any unsanitary looking surface you have to put them on. 😊

I'm all for travelling while babies are young and portable but tbh this sounds like madness to me. If baby is late, would that not mean they are only a couple of weeks old? As PPs have said you could well still be in quite a state from the birth and just want your home comforts. If you're breastfeeding then it's unlikely to be easy going by that stage and you may also have to ff - with the best will in the world it doesn't always work out. But the main concern I would have would be taking a tiny brand new baby on a plane with all the germs flying about, before their immune system is anything like up to scratch What is the healthcare like where you're planning on going in case baby gets poorly? I don't want to be all doom and gloom but for me, a foreign holiday in the first month of a baby's life (possibly earlier) is madness and borderline irresponsible if it can possibly be avoided.

Pop up suitable from newborn? I got one and never used it!! Think from Verbaudet.

I think it's a little harsh to call it borderline irresponsible to travel with a baby. They do have babies abroad, unless they're heading out into the wilderness I'm sure there will be adequate healthcare provision, should it be required.

We took our sleepyhead anywhere we went so she'd go in that in the travel cot.
Hope all goes well and you get a nice break

I don't mean it's irresponsible to travel with a baby-as I said, I'm all for it when they're small and portable. But there's being small and portable, and then there's being possibly two weeks old. I just can't see how foreign travel at that point is going to be great for mother or baby, but obviously it's totally up to the individual. Just think it all through.

Just to add a positive experience - we went abroad when DC1 was 5 weeks old. Registered his birth and applied for his passport when he was 8 days old, it all came back with plenty of time. We just booked back to back appointments with registry office, passport photo place and post office on one morning and it was all fine. I had an instrumental delivery but by day 8 I felt grand - if I didn't I could have stayed in the car and let DH do the bulk of the work.

On the holiday he slept in the pram carrycot (the Uppababy Vista is approved for night sleeping) and he slept really well - some 6-hour stretches, which we put down to him being very tired through lots of new sounds/people etc. I had family there so it was easy. I was very lucky though as breastfeeding went very well from day 1. I hope you go and enjoy it!

Maybe a poddlepod or pop up moses basket from munchkin is an option?