Post by DotAndBuzz on Mar 13, 2014 17:24:34 GMT -5
A. A thousand times, A.
The kid might suck at sleeping. They might get sick. They might be super clingy and only want you. They might suck at taking a bottle and thus need to be attached to you 24/7 if you're nursing. Then lets get into all the baby shit you have to pack to travel with a kid. Laundry is INSANE with a baby, so unless you're going to have easy access to a laundry facility (and thus be willing to do laundry on your "vacation") you're going to be packing a crapload of stuff for the baby.
You won't be able to keep the baby on the beach for long periods of time. Here and there, sure, but I took both my girls the the beach at around 4-7 months old, and it was basically an hour getting the kid out the door (me nursing, pumping, sunscreen, pack up their shit, change the diaper, pray they don't crap in the swim diaper, haul the crap to the beach). Then sit there for an hour then take the baby back in for a nap and to get all cleaned up from the sand and sunscreen. Meanwhile my boobs got bigger and bigger w/ milk, so I had to go in anyways to deal with that situation and feed the kid. It was a constant rotation of people taking turns to go sit inside while the baby ate/slept. WAY too hot to stay out with the baby for hours upon hours. It was fine, but it was NOT a vacation, and I was fucking exhausted by the end of the week.
Go while you're pregnant. No, you can't get your drank on, but you won't be doing tons of that anyways when you've got a baby to tend to. It is SO much easier to do stuff while the kid is inside, vs outside.
Definitely A. We went to Hawaii for a wedding when DS was an infant and it was awful. DH and I barely got any sleep and were both in terrible moods. I would go while pregnant so you'll be able to relax.
I had an unplanned c-section, so I was not up to par the first 6 weeks post partum.
I traveled about 20-21 weeks into my pregnancy, and that was a great time. I had just gotten over my morning sickness, but I wasn't so far along that my ankles were swelling.
Post by missmaddie on Mar 13, 2014 23:43:30 GMT -5
A. We went to a wedding at an AI in the Dominican at 6 months, and I enjoyed myself much more than I expected.
DS was great to travel with as a baby, and still is as a toddler/preschooler, but there's no relaxing and making it about you anymore. DS was great on our cross-country flights at 4 and 7 months, but the time changes were hell since we had a bit of a routine by then. You know what doesn't make a family group dinner fun? A baby who thinks it's bedtime (not the same as nap time) at 4pm. It was also a pain to worry about car seats, packing strollers and PNPs; DS never latched and were were pumping only (so frozen and extra milk on the plane...because God forbid we had a delay) - things always went smoothly and he impressed us each time, but not for lack of planning and effort on our parts.
I went to Hawaii when I was 10 weeks pregnant. There were many many very obviously pregnant women around us at the resort. I felt great for my whole pregnancy, just got tired easily. Things took a complicated turn around month 6 where even though I felt fine, I wasn't allowed to travel further than 1 hour from home. Then unpredictably the baby came at month 7. So Hawaii at 7 months would've been a bust for me.
Now, with a 3 month old at home, I don't even want to think about trying to fly 10 hours to Hawaii with her. That highly portable breast feeding thing didn't quite work out for us so I am tied to my pumping gear every 4 hours to feed her. The pumping process could be made portable, but not with additional hassle. On top of her waking every 3 hours like clockwork. I don't see much relaxing sand and cocktail time with this schedule I currently pull.
Then again, I saw a FB friend's (full term) baby that was born the same day as mine was laying on the beach in Hawaii at 8 weeks so there you go.
To be honest, if this is a big, "once in a lifetime" trip, I'd consider holding off TTC. At least long enough so that I wouldn't be in the later months of pregnancy.
If this is a trip that happens every few years and it wouldn't be a big deal to miss it, then I'd continue w/ my plans.
It's not a once in a lifetime trip for us because we travel a lot, but my parents have been trying to arrange it for a long time now since it's so hard to get everyone in one place at the same time. I definitely don't want to miss it.
At the same time, we've already put off TTC for years for various reasons and we're finally ready so we're not going to hold off any longer on account of a vacation. We will be going regardless, and it may not be ideal either way.
inmeant once in a lifetime based on the people going, not the location. Because while you intend to go no matter what (and I hope you do!) - you just never know what kind of pregnancy you're going to have, or baby. If you have any complications, you may not be allowed to go.
Post by mariafromnj on Mar 14, 2014 13:02:46 GMT -5
I am 5 months pregnant now and long periods of time sitting in the car or at my desk make me very uncomfortable. The vacation part sounds great but not the flight after 6 months of pregnancy.
Then again I would never want to go with a newborn either. The baby would have to be a little older for me to be comfortable.
Why not hold off a few more months. If you were less than 4 months you wouldn't be able to drink but you would be much better on a long flight and more comfortable over all.