Tell Asda about how your holidays have changed now you have children - £300 voucher to be won!NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Holidays can be a great way to recharge your batteries. However, holidaying with children in tow may be a far cry from the relaxing breaks you were used to before they came along.

Asda would like to hear about your holidays have changed since having children.

Are journeys that were once the exciting beginning of your trip now a time where you have to juggle loads of luggage and the dreaded “are we there yet” chorus from your DC? Maybe you’ve swapped your previous adventurous treks with more relaxing destinations or now consider the holidays you used to enjoy overrated? Perhaps your priorities when choosing a destination or accommodation have completely changed to encompass your children’s needs and entertainment?

Tell Asda about the ways your holidays have changed since you’ve had children by posting on the thread below. All who post will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Asda voucher.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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We have to save well in advance now. Where we would once go whereever we fancied, we now have to look up the locations, make sure they are child friendly and with things for the children to do.
We don't go abroad a lot as we can't afford it with children now, but when we do goner go all inclusive so we don't have to worry about spending money too much then. When on holiday we don't do things for us as the adults or things we enjoy, but we do what we think the children would like to do. They also cost us more money as we have to go when they children are off school and nursery. They are still enjoyable, and when my children are happy, I am happy. It's just more planning, more money so more saving and more child orientated

When my son was younger we ended up going on holiday much closer to home. Camping trips locally were just as much fun and it was so much easier to keep the journeys short. He was absolutely awful about going anywhere in the car and made it a misery for us all quite frankly! Even going somewhere amazing like a day out at the zoo would just be a complete moany misery about having to go in the car, anyone would think we were tormenting him! I am glad he is a grown up now!

Less reading, more chasing a toddler.

We had got into the habit of taking long haul holidays in the winter. 3 week jaunts to Cuba, Mexico and Thailand whilst everyone else was freezing at home. Now we Holiday in France in a mobile home for a fortnight. We just about manage some relaxation at the beach whilst small hands make sandcastles but otherwise you're constantly on the go/on your toes. It's just like the holidays I had as a child, different from the Pre-child luxury travels but awesome just the same

My DH & I used to. Book the time off work then sit in a travel agents really close to the dates and get a last-minute bargain for 2 weeks somewhere exotic- Cuba, Mexico, you name it. We would spend time swimming, sunbathing, diving, windsurfing, reading, long excursions to amazing places and peaceful walks along the beach. Now with 4 DC holidays are planned like a military operation, accommodation options are fewer and the focus is on finding somewhere with activities to occupy the kids. We still travel to some incredible places and love cruises, because you can take as much luggage as you want! These days We are more with whether we have packed a decent first aid kit than the latest best-seller!

DH and I have just been discussing holidays. Dreaming of a week skiing followed by a city break. And then came down to earth with a bang over the mind-blowing costs of travel in school holidays and the stress of parenting away from home. Being crammed into a same hotel room for a week is not fun. And DC are 10 and 7 so not babies. So we'll stick to our new formula of self catering breaks, with access to pools and other children friendly activities. Its different to before, bit still good. And we have a list of places to go and things to see once we are free from restrictions of school.

Holidays are a lot more expensive and a lot less relaxing than they were pre-children - but they're a lot more fun too.

Before having children we used to take lots of last minute breaks. Just deciding on the spur of the moment to drive to the coast and hope we could find somewhere nice to stay. As soon as we had children, accommodation and everything else had to be planned in advance.

Since having my little boy who is 19 months old it's changed our holidays big time! I feel our holidays are more meaningful and precious. Even though our holidays have became less relaxing and more stressful it's replaced with something much better quality family time! As he gets older it's much better as we can make bigger and more precious memories.

Holidays are like a well planned military operation now. No last minute surprises or long relaxing breaks in the sun. Holiday with my autistic son mean lots of planning and no planes just yet!

I used to do all inclusive for the alcohol and the delicious gourmet foods. Now I do all inclusive for the fact that the buffet opens the same time everyday, I know roughly what the children will eat and they have the opportunity to try lots of different things. Plus not cooking and cleaning up after is much more appreciated now!!

planning is definitely a must

Our dd is only 19 months old. We used to go on adventurous sightseeing cultural holidays. We now prefer low key beach holidays with a little bit of culture, nice and easy with a toddler who is quite happy playing in the sand all day

Holidays are a lot more erm..'eventful' now there are children involved. It takes meticulous planning and I feel I now have to have a checklist and a lot of organisation.
I feel a bit of pressure to keep busy at all times on holiday too, I can't just fall asleep by the pool or the sea anymore. Having said all that, it is really fun making these memories for our children and we feel really lucky that we can do that. Even if it's a cheap gite in Brittany for a week, it's a massive adventure.
I prefer to stay away from the normal package holidays aimed at families and find a villa somewhere that we can experience the 'real' side of the country we're visiting. I've always been that way and don't really want to change that now that I have children.

It's gone from being a nice, relaxing time where me and my half other could do what we wanted to, when we wanted to. Now it's a fine balance between trying to find enough things to keep the little one occupied without them having a complete melt down.

I'm lucky in that my children travel better than me so when planning a holiday it's about how long I want to fly for. They are both easy travellers, like museums a lot and and now that they are a bit older ( 6 and 9) we can do city breaks without any hassle. The only real difference for me is that the kids don't like traipsing around looking for a restaurant so it's either eat in the hotel or have a rough idea where to eat through tripadvisor

They are more child centred, I recently took ds to a haven camp. The whole week was mostly about him, taking him swimming, watching him play in the park, child centred entertainment etc. It was fun but I do miss the adult holidays a little when you can't ever fully relax on a holiday with a child. Still we try to go for a weekend away as a couple so that is always fun.

Since having children I have enjoyed revisiting holiday destinations in the U.K. that I went to as a child. But with a slightly healthier budget.
It has been so lovely to take them to places I loved to go to when I was small and in some ways become a child again as I remember all the happy memories and reexplore castles, beaches and forests.
I am thankful though for Food delivery to our holiday cottage saving us precious holiday time!

We used to go on energetic backpacking holidays to far-flung destinations pre DC. Now we go to a caravan in Devon for a week.

When the kids were younger holidays were seriously hard work.. We had a couple of near disasters.. They were also few and far between when money was tight.. But now my boys are older (and both strong swimmers so safe on the beach or by the pool) we have the best holidays of my entire life and I can't wait for that week when we go away this summer!!

Holidaying with the kids has had its challenges, as you have to be conscious about meal times, toilet breaks and entertainment especially with younger kids. They don't get the concept of lying in even whilst on holiday. But on the plus side, it's great exposing them to different environments, people and culture. Budget is a big deal since having kids so we are now exploring uk holidays as well as international ones which wasn't the case before.

We have 2 young dds (2 and 12 weeks). We always loved going away a lot, mini breaks, city breaks, long haul, short haul... the longest flights we have done with kids have been 4 hours, and they've been hard work. I'd definitely stick to that limit for the first couple of years.

We used to favour pretty fancy hotels, But now deliberately search for very nice but very family friendly hotels, usually all inclusive as it is so convenient with young kids, or for city breaks we go for serviced apartments which are fantastic, or a self catered cottage when we go to eg the Lake District, cornwall etc.

We still get to enjoy the city/town but have a great base close to the action, and at night we're not stuck in the bathroom drinking a bottle of wine while the kids sleep (did that once, never again!), and have a separate living area to sit in and enjoy the evening without worrying about waking them up.

We flew to Morocco when dd1 was just 1, the flight home was 4 hours late and didn't leave till 10pm, she was exhausted and screamed the whole way, the guy next to us was absolutely lovely, recognised us ( we own and run a coffee shop in a small university town, the uni surf club were on the same flight back from their annual Morocco surf trip) and we ended up giving him a part time job! That would definitely never have happened pre children!!

Firstly, they cost a lot more now! Also I don't think I would dream of jetting off somewhere with no accommodation booked, which I did sometimes before kids.
We tend not to risk going anywhere mega hot as, despite plastering the kids with Factor 50, I am paranoid about them getting burnt (they are both blond and fair, I am much darker).
It's all about pools, beaches, activities. I don't get to do any book reading.

Pre Kids our holidays were always last minute and spontaneous which added to the adventure, we would slum it, camp it and if we got lucky we would find ourselves in a decent hotel (Allocation on Arrival days!). Now I find myself planning the tiniest details, checking out the menu's in local restaurants, waiting up to prebook the seats together when check in opens, Packing weeks in advance and having a list as long as your arm. Its definitely different and despite all the planning when I see my boys playing on the beach, plashing in the pool and teasing the overgrown ants with their dropping ice cream I still feel warmer inside than I ever did.

Before DCs we did self catering on islands like Kefalonia (before the mandoline film came out). Quiet beach holidays on a Greek Island or two.

When we had kids, we did alternate years of France and Florida. Total opposite of holidays but both were self catering.

France, we did Dordogne (canoeing), Grasse (for day trips to Monte Carlo, Nice and Gorge du Verdon).

Florida, we did the parks (all of them), have a day off at the house with the kids in their pool or go shopping. After the flight out (which was the worse bit when they were small) we knew we'd be ok cos the kids would be entertained, would eat the food.

Now they are older we go camping in France, partly as I like tenting but partly as tenting allows us to holiday close to rivers which means my lot can go kayaking more.

Last year we did Rome & Amalfi coast after a few years camping in France. Italy was a pleasant surprise, fabulous food, lovely people (apart from motorway drivers), beautiful surroundings.

Kids (now 17 & 21) want to do New York (they've never been, we have , and they want to do Florida again )