Where to vacation with baby? Is it worth it?

[tinkerbell2005]

Is it worth it to go on a vacation with a 8 month old baby? Or is it chaos? Can anyone recommend a spot? I was thinking about the Grand Canyon but maybe this isn't the best trip for an infant. Maybe a resort would be better? We wanted to go somewhere warm around Christmas time, preferably near San Fran, CA.

[Sal03]

We went on vacation to Palm Springs, CA when DS was 9 months old. We were coming from NY and luckily he was an angel on the flight. He loved the living desert there and the weather was beautiful and we had a great time walking around. It was definitely hectic keeping track of everything on the way and trying to keep to his schedule on vacation but overall it was a lot of fun and we were glad we went.

[HGMorgann]

We LOVE to travel and have travelled a lot with my 6 mo. DD. It can be a little crazy at times, but worth it. I don't know what your child is like, but if he/she likes people and new places and things, I think you can have a great time. I would take my DD to the Grand Canyon in an instant. She is pretty easy going and loves people and places though. We hope to start camping with her soon.

[dziner]

My strongest recommendation is to go visit friends who live someplace interesting. We have taken several trips with DD, the biggest of which was a week in Paris and Switzerland when she was 10 months old. The traveling was tough, no surprise, but staying with our friends in the mountains of Switzerland was wonderful!! During the day, we'd take all the kids to the playground or visiting a chateau, then return home for lunch. One of our friends would stick around the house with all the kids while DD napped and the other would take us sightseeing. They set up a PNP in the room where we slept and DD was able to go to bed while the adults stayed up for a leisurely dinner with wine. It was far more relaxing and easier than any hotel we've stayed in. If you do go someplace with hotel, look for a suite or at least something with a balcony so you and DH can eat dinner or just hang out without worrying about your DC hearing every peep (our DD goes to bed pretty early). Good luck and have fun!

ETA: The last trip we took was to Miami. We stayed at a big beach resort in Key Biscayne and they had a nice pool and playground, plus a small cafe that had kid-friendly food. The room was large enough to put her PNP in the corner and not feel like we were on top of each other, and she was able to fall asleep pretty easily. I'd think anyplace like that would be fine as well. The best nighttime trick I learned was in our teensy hotel room in Paris: CNN is white noise to a little one! It helped her stop listening to us whispering, walking to the bathroom, etc.

[Renrel]

Vacationing with an young baby is doable and can be enjoyable but it is different then traveling alone as a couple and takes planning, a sense of humor and flexibity.

What I totally forgot about the first time I tried a weekend away with our son was that if my baby goes to sleep at 6:30 and we have only one room we either had to go to bed at 6:30 ourselves or hang on the stoop. Our baby would not sleep if we had a light or tv on. A suite or a room that allow you to hide the baby's crib away from any light or with a balcony you can hang out on can make a big difference in how much you enjoy your evenings.

You need to think abit about where the stroller will fit easily, unless you are an experienced sling or backpacker. It can be hard to spend time peaking in and out of cute little shops with a big stroller. For example, antiqueing probably is not a good activity, a japanese garden may or may not be, depending on stairs and what kind of stroller you have.

You may need a little fridge to keep bm or formula or baby food cold. Many hotels/motels supplies these but check before hand if you need it. A ice pack may work fine, but you will need to restock on ice every day or so.

Remember your kid's nap schedule and concider how long it takes to get to the places you want to see and how long you want to stay there. This may not be an issue if you kid sleeps well in a stroller. Also remember that by the time you take this vacation you kid will be a different kid, so you may want to read ahead a bit on parenting books to get an idea of what you kid may be doing by the time you leave. You can't know if your kid will have dropped a nap, or given up bfing, or be teething, or have started or stopped sleep through the night by then, but you can take some guesses based on what the books say "most" kids are doing.

It helps to have realistic expectations. Don't envision your relaxing prebaby vacation as a model. Be open to something totally new and let it happen. Concider this an experiment so anything that goes wrong is a chance to gather inform for future trip rather then a black mark on this one. It can be a joy to share new things with you baby, but it is not likely to be a romantic getaway. It may or may not be relaxing depending on your kid, your attitude, how well you plan and if your better half is really going to help. Some dads think go on vacation and expect to be on vacation and forget that if you are going to get a vacation they may need to do more then do do at home, not less. This was not a problem in my household but I have heard the complaint from others. Doing the mommy things without out all your props and such can make the vacation more work than your day to day grind, at least this was my moms complaint when ever we went camping as kids.

So far my best vacations have been visiting the inlaw or my parents. Having two extra sets of hands so I can nap a bit, sleep late a bit and maybe take in a movie with my better have is what regenerates my spirt these days. I can go way on daytrip in a new environment with my family and come back to a room with built in babysitting/nanny care in the form of devoted grandparents.

[Sidsou]

Consider taking along grandparents or going with friends that have babies/children, if possible. This way you can have a babysitter for a night (if you are with friends you can babysit for a night too). Also, allow for the possibility that especially the first night, your baby may have trouble sleeping (new sounds etc), you might want to make the next day flexible if you and the baby need to nap.

So far we've only gone places where we knew people and it's worked out great.

[mamax2]

It's definitely worth it to travel w/an 8 month old, if for no other reason than it will only get harder! Seriously, I don't mean to scare you, but it's much harder for us to travel w/a 2 y.o. than it was w/a baby. We took DD to Paris when she was about 7.5 months old and it was wonderful - she was still pretty adaptable at that point and not having to tote bottles, snacks and entertainment made her very portable. She could still fall asleep in the Bjorn and we didn't really have to worry about 'meltdowns' like we do now.

My recommendations: I second dziner's suggestion re: staying with friends - esp. if those friends have kids - they'll understand your limitations and they may even have gear you can borrow and not have to schlep w/you. You also may end up w/babysitters! In fact, this is the reason we're going to Florida w/SIL and BIL next month - so we can take turns babysitting each other's kids and have couple time/golf time/spa time!

If that's not an option or if you just want it to be a family trip, I would just say to plan your accomodations carefully. If your kid is a great sleeper and doesn't notice a thing, count yourself lucky. Otherwise, invest in a suite type room so that you and DH have some space to hang out while baby naps/sleeps. Something w/a kitchen is very handy - so you and DH can keep your own snacks on hand and make the most of your time together even if you are confined to your room.

My other recommendation would be to plan fewer activities than you would if you were travelling alone. For instance, if you think you can visit 3 places in a day, only schedule 1-2 of those.

[twinnyme]

If that's not an option or if you just want it to be a family trip, I would just say to plan your accomodations carefully. If your kid is a great sleeper and doesn't notice a thing, count yourself lucky. Otherwise, invest in a suite type room so that you and DH have some space to hang out while baby naps/sleeps.

I agree with what mamax2 and Renrel said about a suite-type hotel. So far we've only taken weekend trips with our 7.5 month DD and most of them have been to family (which I second as a great option if you have it!). But we've also been to hotels twice with her and both times it was a regular hotel room. I won't do it again. The first time was fine. She was about 4 months for that one, and on our first night we had me, two friends, and her in the room (in a PNP); the second night, we had my mother, my sister, my 2 y.o. nephew, and her in the room. She slept BEAUTIFULLY both nights - even with the TV on, us talking, etc. The second time, she was about 7 months, and it was a nightmare. Her sleep schedule suffered terribly and it was miserable for us. We had to go to bed when she did. I definitely will get a suite next time.

As for the refrigerator, make sure you get one. We had a lot of trouble, despite repeated requests, getting one at our hotel. I had deliberately bought powdered formula just in case, and had to use it the whole weekend.

I am hoping for us to plan a trip to Disney next summer (our friend is getting married there), and convince the grandparents, my sisters and their family to go at the same time. We can spend quality time together (they live in another state) and the built-in babysitting/couple time is invaluable.

Good luck planning your trip!

[linda_loo]

Go now! Anywhere that babies are welcome.

For a couple years, it will only get more challenging to travel. I wish we had travelled more when we only had one child, and in the time before she could walk. Now, with a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old, it is absolute chaos (fun, but still...) where ever we go. I had no idea how easy I had it way back when.

;)

[catmom]

We recently spent a week in Santa Barbara with my parents... the 4 of us (5 including DD) rented a house together. I was as sick as a dog the entire time, but we had fun. It was kind of stressful because DD still has no nap schedule, and the 3-hour time change was hard. But it was really nice having all those people to help with DD, and SB is beautiful. We went out for hour + walks every day. At night, we basically had to eat takeout for dinner because DD was in bed by 5 every evening. I'm glad we went, though. It was out first vacation in 2 years (we missed our last one because I had really bad morning sickness), and DH really needed to get away.

That said, if we had been in a hotel room I don't think it would have been any fun at all. DD needs total quiet to sleep, and in a house that was no problem. But I don't know what we would have done in a hotel room with her going to bed at 5 every night.

[dana b]

yes, go now! we just went away with our 15 mo old dd and it wasn't nearly as easy as it was when she was younger. the hardest part now is eating at restaurants with a screaming toddler who wants out of their highchair. we ended up taking a lot of meals to-go and eating in our room.

[BabyD]

Go now it is the perfect time. We went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with my DS at 8 mos. It was so great and was perfect. I think if we went now at 20 mos. I would want to come home. It is so much harder when they start to walk and don't want to sit in a high chair for more than 5 min. He love to go the pool and we would lay by the pool with no problem. Have fun were you go but, just go now why you can!