Travel with a baby?

iris427

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.

cosmicfly

When I only had Maxwell, we traveled quite a bit, and it was always fine. I'm not sure how you feel about leaving your baby when she's 6 months old, but I wouldn't want to do that for more than overnight (the pumping would be a nightmare, are you breastfeeding?). I'd rather take the baby than forego the trip.
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.

CurlyCanadian

Personally, no!

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

RedCatWaves

Traveling with a 6 month old is pretty easy, especially if you've only got one kid...they're very portable. I'd MUCH rather travel with a baby than a teenager.

webjockey

Lex was 6 months when we went to Tobago for a week. It was really easy. We flew in the morning so it was easy for him to take his nap. Also, he wasn't so big, so it was easy to breastfeed without his legs flapping over the edge bothering the person next to me. He was relatively light, so I carried him pretty much everywhere, making the stroller we brought pretty much useless. Eating out and such was really no issue as he was breastfeeding most of the time, and enjoyed having some of the fresh fruit. We co-slept so we didn't need to ask for a crib. And since he was so young, he got in for free at museums and such.

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.

Kaia

We haven't gone on any long trips, but I think we could very easily go with Dylan at this age. I already tote him around with me wherever I go, and he's usually really good. He's still at an age where if he's sleepy, he can fall asleep anywhere, and he really likes to look around and charm people when we go places.

iris427

CurlyCanadian wrote: »

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

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.

sarah42

We took Connor to England and Scotland for about 3 weeks when he was 6-7 months old. We had a fabulous time, and he was really good to travel with overall. He hadn't started crawling yet, so he was content to be in a stroller or sling a lot of the time. I think if he was older and more mobile, it would have been more difficult.

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.

iris427

Webbie, great pictures! It looks like you all had a great time!

mad scientist

iris427 wrote: »

People kept telling me I would not want to travel with a baby, but you guys are reassuring me that it's totally doable.

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.

curly_keltie

I've travelled with DS at 3 months old, 6 months old, 11 months old and 16 months old. I found the hardest trip was when he was 11 months - but that was mostly because he had a cold on the way home.

I would say go for it and take your sweet baby along with you. You will have so much fun.

PixieCurl

Go and bring the baby. Especially if you're breastfeeding and cosleeping, you won't be able to be away from her. I've come to learn that it will be a long while before we leave Sol overnight - since he's so used to sleeping with us, it wouldn't be fair to him or whoever's caring for him.

iris427

mad scientist wrote: »

iris427 wrote: »

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.

Our top choices are all beach trips, which I would love! I envision it pretty much how you describe. And babies are so cute splashing around in the water

We originally were supposed to go this summer, but they let us defer the trip because of my pregnancy. So we may not get our top pick because of that.

Kaia

iris427 wrote: »

And I'm sure I would miss my baby and worry about her the whole time too!

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.

Jenny C

Bailey422 wrote: »

iris427 wrote: »

And I'm sure I would miss my baby and worry about her the whole time too!

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.

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.

Kaia

Jenny C wrote: »

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 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:

realistic

We traveled with Jules a lot when he was a baby. When you book your seats try to get the bulkhead seats (the ones in front w/no seats in front of them). It's great for extra legroom and letting the baby play.

Jenny C

Bailey422 wrote: »

Jenny C wrote: »

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 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:

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.

Usoda

webjockey wrote: »

And yes, we enjoyed our vacation. Shameless travel photos from tobago trip here.

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.

Amneris

I travelled for a performance with JJ last month by myself (no husband along) and he was fantastic. I'm planning on going on a couple more solo trips with him this summer. At 6 months he was a lot less mobile than now so I think it would have been even better. I would NOT leave a 6 month old baby, especially if nursing - there's no way I would be able to enjoy that. But I know people who do it and seem to be OK.

mad scientist

I'm going to be leaving my exclusively breastfed 7 month old for 3 days later next month to attend a wedding. I am sure it will be a PITA to pump throughout the trip, not to mention that I am currently pumping milk to leave with her. 3 days is the absolute longest that I would be willing to go. A week of pumping does not sound like a fun holiday to me.

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.

nynaeve77

I travelled with Danae when she was 4 months old by car and 6 months old by plane, and she was great. She pretty much slept the whole time, and when she was awake, she was babbling to everyone on the plane. I just held her in my lap and brought a few toys and books along. Even now, she's a pretty good traveller. We just drove back from Florida and she was a star. As long as she has toys and coloring books, she's happy.

velvet paws

We travel all the time with Lucas - we've spent up to a week away with him, but so far, they have only been car trips. We're taking him to Mexico for a week next month and although I have some concerns about the flight, I think the trip is going to be great. I wouldn't hestitate to plan your trip and bring the baby - you'll have a great time.