H and I did a good amount of traveling in our childless years, but we just had a baby 2 weeks ago and I'm already craving a trip.
We have enough miles to get us to Hawaii; I was thinking of booking a week in Maui for next spring break (I work in a school). H is wildly opposed because he thinks it won't be fun and it's a waste of time/money/miles. I say he's blinded by the rough newborn days (and nights). My biggest obvious fear is an 8 hour flight with a one year old since we have no idea how she'd be on a plane.
We have been to Maui before, five years ago, so I'm ok with the trip having a different feel. I have some Hyatt points, though not enough for a full week. I'm thinking we'd either stay at the Hyatt or maybe a condo like Honua Kai for the kitchen and laundry facilities.
We've always said we wanted to keep traveling with our kids, but it seems like H thinks it won't be fun until she's 4 or 5. What's traveling with a 1 year old like?
Post by spankswife on Mar 27, 2014 15:14:03 GMT -5
DD is an awesome traveler! Her first flight was 4 mos. On long flights, sometimes a layover is nice to give them some time to run around. Traveling before they can walk is the best!
When DD was 13 mos, we went to the Bahamas, and it was fabulous! She was down to 1 nap a day, so we just napped/rested after lunch with her. We brought an infant life vest with us, and she went everywhere we did - kayaking, snorkeling (we let her float around a bit, but mostly took turns staying on the boat with her), even swimming with the dolphins. She loved the pool, we went to a zoo. It was one of our best trips!
Personally, I think that is a great age to travel!
We've been traveling overseas since my oldest was 10 weeks old, and both our kids have been all over. Does it change the way you travel? Sure, you can't do late nights or fancy dinners but that doesn't make it any less fun, just different, at least to us. They do require more stuff, but if your kid is easily adaptable to change (luckily both mine are) then we figure we would rather be somewhere else with them, seeing the world, than stuck at home waiting until they 'remember it' or whatever. Go for it, we love it (obviously, since I have a family travel blog I feel passionately about it!)
Post by muppetinma on Mar 27, 2014 20:27:33 GMT -5
Personally, I can think of 1,203 things I'd rather do than take an eight hour flight with a one year old, especially if you don't know how she'll be on a plane.
we've taken him on a lot of flights from his first at 7 weeks until now (2 years). A non walking baby is very easy to travel with. Even a new walker is ok. It's the running ones that want to escape.
I think hawaii is very doable with a 1 year old and know a lot of people who have done it. I would get a place with a full kitchen, a separate room for a napping/sleeping baby (or you'd have to be in the dark after bedtime), and a convenient location to go back for naps.
Some one year olds are still on 2 naps (9-11, 3-5), some are on one lunchtime nap. that changes right around then so you won't know until you are there. You do not want to mess with a toddler's nap.
if you go with the flow, don't have high expectations, go out for early dinners i think it will be fun.
We've been traveling overseas since my oldest was 10 weeks old, and both our kids have been all over. Does it change the way you travel? Sure, you can't do late nights or fancy dinners but that doesn't make it any less fun, just different, at least to us. They do require more stuff, but if your kid is easily adaptable to change (luckily both mine are) then we figure we would rather be somewhere else with them, seeing the world, than stuck at home waiting until they 'remember it' or whatever. Go for it, we love it (obviously, since I have a family travel blog I feel passionately about it!)
This. 100%
We have taken DD (2 now) a lot of places. It isn't the same as non-kid travel, but it is absolutely still worth going. She has flown more than 100 times, including more than a dozen long haul flights, and usually it is just fine. If she has a bad flight, which is super rare, I know that it is a finite amount of time. Even if it sucks for 8 hours (it has never been 8 hours of suck though), that is a finite amount of time.
I'm due with a baby in late July and DH and I are already planning next summer's trips. I am all for traveling with kids.
Our first big vacation with DD was to Key West when she was 11 months old and it was awesome. We had a nice system down in which DH got free time during her morning nap and I stayed in the room reading or surfing the internet. In the afternoon, he stayed in the room and I used that time to hang out at the hotel pool with a drink in hand. The rest of the time, we were on the beach or in the pool with DD or out exploring by foot. In the evenings, we would go out to dinner, then come back to the room and get DD down to sleep. Then DH and I would watch movies on the laptop with ear phones and the lights off or read with the bedside lamp on. It was a very relaxing trip.
Post by rupertpenny on Mar 28, 2014 0:59:19 GMT -5
Would it be possible to go another time, before she is one? I've heard it gets much harder to deal with a baby on a plane after they become mobile.
Anyway, we have already flown several long haul flights with B who is 7 months. It isn't fun, but when all is said and done it doesn't really last that long either. I'd rather endure a few less than awesome plane rides than put travel on hold until my kids were older.
I live overseas in Scotland and we've taken our daughter on several trips including a 7 week trip back to the states last summer when she was 7/8 months old when I did a ton of flying with her on my own. She's flown something like 20 times so far and we have trips to China/Hong Kong, the midwest and California in the next 6 months. We are slightly dreading the flights just because she hates sitting still at the moment but once we get wherever we're going, it will be fine. It was a lot easier when she was smaller for us, but it is still a lot of fun.
Travel is really important to us so we just figure out how to make it work - stay in apartments so we can do our own thing, never have short connections just in case something gross happens, travel as light as possible so it's not quite as stressful getting from place to place and just be ready to change your plans when you need to. We don't have a choice about travelling, we live in Scotland and just our immediate family are in California, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Florida so we just have to make it work!
I really do recommend an apartment whenever possible, once the baby's in bed you will have somewhere else to be so you can have a glass of wine and watch a movie or read a book or whatever. And it's really great to be able to take turns doing breakfast so at least someone gets to sleep in sometimes! At bare minimum though, I'd look at places with a refrigerator so you can at least have snacks ready to go.
Post by travelingturtle on Mar 28, 2014 3:06:51 GMT -5
I completely agree with those that do it. I've continued to travel with my kids and just changed my expectations on what we do and the time we have to do it. I love what Anna said about shifting the parent free time when he daughter was 11 months, great idea!
The only thing that's worrisome to me is that your H will think it's a waste. He obviously knows that the trip will have to be a different kind of trip, so I wouldn't try to sell it to him as this relaxing experience. Instead, I'd focus on how much fun 1-year-olds are and how lucky she'd be to have the experience. My friend recently went to the DR with her H and 1 year old and the trip was a bust. They thought they would be able to relax more than they could with a young one. I think they expected that going to a relaxing place would mean their 1 year old would suddenly be different and just want to lay on the beach or next to the pool. It was a huge wake up call. So, if your last trip to Hawaii was all about relaxing, sell it to your H that this one will be all about exploring and introducing your daughter to something you both love. Then work out a plan like Anna's to give you both some time to yourself to relax.
Post by Shreddingbetty on Mar 28, 2014 18:34:58 GMT -5
DD has been flying since she was 11 days old and she flies on a regular basis. This includes yearly trips to Europe (first time at 4 months) to see my family as well as Hawaii. Like PPs say, it changes your trip and it won't be the same as before kids but it can still be fun if your expectations are not set like a pre kid vacation. DD is a awesome traveler but it helps that she is fine just hanging in her seat and doesn't feel the need to walk up and down the aisle (even when I encouraged it). So at almost 4 we really haven't had any trouble with her flying/traveling. As far as Hawaii, if you are looking for a beach vacation it can certainly be done, a 1 y/o would probably love the pool and playing in the sand. You each could take turns at nap time and go do something for yourself. Also, our DD is pretty used to eating out and so it doesn't keep us from eating as nice places (not necessarily super fancy although we have done that also on occasion). My friend on the other hand has a a boy the same age and she is afraid to take him anywhere. Part probably due to his boy temperament and part probably due to him rarely having been out to dinner and her stressing about it. Personally I would totally go for a trip to Hawaii. But then again I take any chance to go somewhere on vacation. I take my carrier (and now a balance bike) and off we go.
Go for it. It's not that bad. It's not as peaceful as when there are no kids involved but it's still a lot of fun. We've only flown twice with our 19 month old, once at 10 monhts and again at 18 months. She's pretty active and the plane ride (both 5+ hours) were a bit tough because she can't sit still but it's totally doable especially when they nap. This next trip we're taking to Maui (renting a condo from VRBO) she will be in her own seat in a carseat where she seems to be much more tame.
That said, I would be wary of trying to schedule something for 'earlier' in the hopes of a non-mobile baby. DD crawled at 5 1/2 months, was taking steps at 8 months, and walking at 9 months. It's just not a guarantee that you won't have an early mover, and it would suck to adjust your plans for that and then have your LO surprise you.
We haven't flown with her since she's started walking but will be doing so next month (and then probably 2 cross country flights later this year). She did fine even as a very active crawler.
We went on a beach holiday with my son when he was 15 months old and had a great time. Things that helped us were that we stayed in a villa instead of a hotel which meant we could ensure he had east food to eat at times which suited him, without us being trapped into boring hotels. We just ate a nice meal after he had gone to bed at nights. We also liked having two bedrooms and a verandha to drink wine on at night. being near the beach (less than a minutes walk) was also essential as then we could go up and down to the villa/take turns sitting there while he napped etc.
He loved the beach and it was fun to see him discovering the sea.
It will be different but if you go into it with an open mind and don't expect to do much, then I think you'll have fun.
Post by carolinagirl831 on Apr 10, 2014 15:30:49 GMT -5
We flew to Grand Cayman when dd was 12 months. It was a 2 1/2 hour flight which was easy. How long is your flight to Hawaii? I don't know that i would pick that far of a destination when I can fly to many places in the Caribbean for 2 hours. We rented a condo which was great. Dd had her own room and our condo was literally step onto the beach. It was great having a kitchen and we had a porch we could sit on and drink and talk without disturbing Dd. DD is pretty flexible and not a strict nap schedule. Some days she napped in her stroller out and about. Just know it's a slower pace vacation and we were ok with that. We took turns snorkeling and stayed some days at our condo beach and other days ventured out. it was perfect!