Travel with a baby?

My husband won a trip at work for next year. We have several options, but it looks like they will all be around when our baby is 6 months old (give or take a month). They are about a week long and to places like western Europe, the Caribbean or Hawaii.
A lot of people are telling us that we won't enjoy the vacation if we bring our baby. Our options would be to take the baby, leave the baby with family or to cash in the trip (but we would get much less than the value of the trip).
Thoughts on traveling with a baby around that age? We don't have to decide yet, but we will have to decide fairly soon what we want to do.
A lot of people are telling us that we won't enjoy the vacation if we bring our baby. Our options would be to take the baby, leave the baby with family or to cash in the trip (but we would get much less than the value of the trip).
Thoughts on traveling with a baby around that age? We don't have to decide yet, but we will have to decide fairly soon what we want to do.
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When I was in grad school, I was a nanny to a little guy. His parents took him to France to do some photography work when he was maybe about 9 months old. They had a fantastic time. Of course, traveling with a baby has some challenges, but to me (and depending on your baby's personality) they're very manageable.
But, we went to Italy in December for a wedding and one of the couples had a 16 month old and a 4 month old. They had spent the week before Italy HIKING around Switzerland, then were spending a week in France afterwards.
They didn't seem to have any issues and seemed to be having a really good time!
The only issue I could see is if it were a group company trip, but with options it doesn't sound like it is. Ours is in the Carribean every year and it just wouldn't work to bring kids
Audrey Hepburn
We also traveled with him when he was 4 months. Traveling when he was starting to wean at 1 was a bit harder, but mostly because he was bigger and more active on the plane.
And yes, we enjoyed our vacation. Shameless travel photos from tobago trip here.
Here's all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid. ~ George Carlin
It actually is a company trip, but bringing the baby won't be an issue. They offer a bunch of these trips every year as incentives and have both family and non-family trips. We would obviously pick a family trip, so there would be lots of other children there. His company is pretty family-friendly; in fact, we just got back from a weekend retreat where everyone had brought their kids and the company even provided some childcare services.
I am planning to breastfeed, and I figure I would enjoy the trip a lot more with a baby than I would having to pump and dump the whole time. My mom won a cruise when I was about 6 months old and she said it was pretty rough having to suddenly wean me from breastfeeding so that she could take the cruise trip. I certainly would not want to be in that situation, or have to worry about supply issues or possible engorgement/infection from being away from my baby for a week. And I'm sure I would miss my baby and worry about her the whole time too!
I would also hate to cash in the trip because they sound amazing and they put us up in luxury resorts. Of course I would sacrifice that for my baby if I needed to, but I would prefer to try and make it work for us. A lot of the trip options are beach locations and I figure we can just lounge around a lot anyway. My husband worked really hard to win the trip too and I think he deserves a nice vacation!
Thanks for the replies. People kept telling me I would not want to travel with a baby, but you guys are reassuring me that it's totally doable.
My biggest worry was the long plane flight. We didn't buy him a ticket, so he had to ride in our laps, but he did really well. The flight there was overnight, and we were able to get a bassinet on the plane and he slept the whole way. I confess, I did (with a somewhat guilty conscious) give him Benadryl to help him sleep, but looking back, I think he probably would have slept on his own. On the return flight we actually wanted to keep him awake to get him back into a Missouri time zone. He was a little fussier, but definitely manageable.
Travelling with a toddler, is a whole 'nother story. But a non-mobile kid is pretty easy to tote around. And a BFed kid is especially so.
If you can choose, I would totally do the Caribbean resort. That would be so much fun and totally family friendly. Get up early and enjoy the beach and then spend the hot afternoon inside napping.
I would say go for it and take your sweet baby along with you. You will have so much fun.
Mama to two wild superheroes and a curly-headed baby boy :love5:
Yup! There's just no way I'd leave Dylan for a week. Not if you paid me. I'd either take him or not go at all. But like I said, I wouldn't hesitate to bring him now.
Here's all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid. ~ George Carlin
ITA. I couldn't leave my kids for a week.
A six month old baby is a piece of cake. They're not in that newborn cry alot, need to be held all the time and nurse 24/7 stage, they can entertain themselves with toys and they can't walk or say no yet. It really is the perfect age.
Take the baby and enjoy.
I keep thinking that now, and I'm kind of sad Dylan won't stay like this for long. He is just so perfect, and I can't get over how much fun he is at this age. I'm trying to savor every single moment, but I already know I'm going to miss this stage. :love4:
Here's all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid. ~ George Carlin
and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board.
-Henry David Thoreau
Even though this stage is easy and they sure are cute, you won't believe how much fun they get to be.
Lucy cracks me up every day - but I also want to kill her at least once a day too. You take the good with the bad.
I looked at your Tobago photos: Lex is just such a gorgeous kid. Pardon the antiquated term, but he will be a real ladykiller. I love his beautiful brown almond-shaped eyes. I love the way he really peers into the camera with such solemnity. The pictures of him with his papa were the best.
I would never have considered leaving my firstborn at this age, but I'll admit I am looking forward to having a couple of nights alone with DH for the first time in 3 years.
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