European Travel with a toddler?

[winecheery]

DH just booked us for a trip to Europe after Christmas!  Yaaaayy!  We will be at DH's family's place back East for the holiday, and then leaving for Europe the day after Christmas.  We will be hitting up: Lisbon, Madrid or Barcelona (undecided…any suggestions there?), Paris, and then London before coming home.

I've only been to Europe pre-baby, so now I am trying to plan for it with a new perspective.  Any resources to recommend??  And for those that have done it, or who live in any of these places, what's the best gear to bring along?  I heard there are essentially no high chairs in Paris, for example, and a collapsable high chair that attaches to the table was recommended, but I wonder if it's necessary.  

And she's walking, but I'm sure we'll want to have a stroller still, and the car seat is coming because she gets her own flight on the plane, and because we'll need it when we're with H's family in the states beforehand.  But would an umbrella stroller suffice?  Or is it better to take the regular one because she might nap better in it??  ETA also w/r/t the stroller, are the cobblestones as prevalent in these cities as in Italy?  Because then I wonder about a stroller.  But I DO feel we'll need one...

Any toddler/family friendly activités in any of these cities you'd recommend?

I'm clearly planning way ahead, but I like having the time to really pack smart, and plan well.  TIA

[sent]

I don't recall Barcelona or London being particularly cobble-stoney.

No advice except I secretly want to do the same next spring/fall but am not going to verbalize this because my husband will start booking stuff immediately. I'm thinking we fly to London and take the train to Paris or vice versa. This was the first trip we did to Europe as a couple and it was simple, so I think it would be simple enough for us to take DD there this time.

[dulcemariamar]

That sounds like fun. Lisbon is my favorite city in the world and I use to live in Madrid.

How old will your LO be?

I found Paris to be a bit of a PITA in terms of traveling around the city with a tot. Do you have a baby carrier? That would work best. I found that Madrid had more escalators/elevators in their metro so it is easier with the stroller.

[fbf2006]

There seem to be babies and strollers all over London. I prefer an umbrella stroller because not all tube stations have elevators and when I'm alone with my son, I just easily carry it up and down stairs. It's also easier to get on the bus without folding it.

[Deleted]

We went to London last year (also the day after Christmas!) with my then 20 month old.
It was great! We had the Britax B-Agile which worked really well- get the rain cover!!

We didn't take a car seat because virgin Atlantic does not let you use your own car seat (she had her own seat but they have special child seats)

She did better than expected with time change, we just kept her as close to her normal schedule as possible.

The main sucky thing is the stroller in some tube stations because they don't all have elevators. We had a big group (8 adults - so my husband and BILs just carried the stroller up and down)

The Princess Diana memorial park in Kensington is great!! Also the science museum was really fun for her.

Dress warm!!

If I think of more I'll come back and add it- here are some pictures! PrincessDiana playground, VERY crowded tube ride (not always this bad), carrying down stairs.

[Deleted]

Bundled up!!
The ergo was nice to have too (in front of the tower bridge)
Abbey Road

[potatopie]

How will you be traveling around Europe? If you're going to be taking trains a lot, then hauling a car seat could be quite cumbersome. But if you're renting a car, then definitely bring your own since the standards in Europe are different (not much extended RF) and rental car seats are never great.

If you don't want to bring a car seat, you could get the CARES harness for the plane ride.

[holly116]

We took the baby to Germany last month and it was great! I don't have specific advice with where you're going but I found the entire experience to be far less stressful than I anticipated, just in general. The car seat situation had me freaked out since the standards are so different so I'd spend some energy trying to figure that part out.

Also, we flew AirBerlin and they had kid seat belts which I hadn't seen before while traveling domestically.

[frlcb]

We travel to Europe all the time with our kids (going to prague and the UK at Christmas) and have since they were born, my son was born in London actually. London isn't cobblestoney and we were there in June with our city mini and it was fine, we just had to fold it up
Going up and down stairs on the tube or lift it. London has so many great things for kids, same with Madrid and Barcelona.

You will have a great time!

How old is your child? The car seat regulations are different but as tourists you are fine bringing yours over. Depending on her age I would skip it on the plane - and on internal European flights they may not be as open to you bringing it on anyway.

[rupertpenny]

I haven't traveled to Europe with B, but we have travelled a lot.

I will ditto the rec for the CARES harness. Buy a Cosco Scenara for your visit to the inlaws. Have it delivered to them and leave it there. You do not want to tote around a car seat unless you will be renting a car in Europe.

I would bring an umbrella stroller, but I would also plan on not using it much. Get well acquainted with a carrier and practice a back carry. I know Lisbon specifically is very hilly and full of stairs and generally stroller un-friendly. I wouldn't expect anywhere in Europe to be as stroller friendly as the US.

I would not buy a clip on to the table high chair, but rather a cloth harness thing that attaches to a chair like a tot-seat or gro chair (this is what I have, not sure it's sold in the US but it's 10 pounds on amazon.uk). The clip on ones might be too cumbersome to carry around all day, the cloth ones fold up to fit Inside any purse.

I'd also invest in a travel crib. Hotel cribs are hit or miss. I also prefer to rent apartments in Europe and they probably will not be set up for babies. With so many destinations, plus time change, any consistency you can muster will be good for your DD. I am happy with my Phil and Ted's traveller crib.

[frlcb]

FWIW, we never had a problem getting a highchair in London, Barcelona or Madrid in restaurants. I wouldn't bring a high chair at all. I would either bring a crib like a Phil and Ted's or Bjorn one, or use a baby rental place when you get there. We also prefer apartments to hotels. But we have never had an issue getting a hotel crib in Europe.

[grosnl19]

We live in Madrid right now and previously Barcleona. We didn't have DD in Barcelona, but I was pregnant when we lived there so I started noticing things :-)

I recommend an umbrella stroller as many of the metro stations in the city center don't have lifts. Plus you can fold it up in a restaurant as many restaurants are small and won't have room to accommodate a full sized stroller parked in the isle between tables. Also, buses are only allowed to accept 1 stroller so if there happens to be one on the bus you are out of luck. If you have a umbrella stroller you can easily fold it up and still get on the bus.

I would bring this like pouches, Cheerios as pouches are hard to find and we don't have Cheerios here.

Traveling with children here in Europe
had been pretty easy overall.

[winecheery]

Wow. Thank you thank you all so much. This is a great start for me. ladybug thnx for the pix! Awesome Beatles recreation lol

Ok, so to answer/address a few things:

-DD will be 15 months (almost 16 by the time we get home) at the time of the trip.
-The car seat thing…may have been missed by some in my op but we will be staying at my in laws for Christmas and then flying on from there. If I bought a Cosco Scenara to leave in PA, then I'd also have to buy a CARES harness for the flight home, because we purchased DD her own seats. I want to buy as little gear as possible…not sure about this…?
-I think we'll be more likely to stay in air bnb's or smaller hotels, as that is how we prefer to travel. So then travel crib is a must??
-I believe we will be taking trains/walking for the majority of our transport overseas. We're only renting a car when we visit my in laws in PA.
-We do have a beco gemini which we haven't tried the back carry setting yet, but I froth carried DD for a quick grocery trip yesterday and omg she got heavy so I don't love the idea of carrying her that way.

Too many decisions!!! eek! I'm so excited. And also…kind of like, whoa wtf are we doing lol? All these considerations yo.

[frlcb]

I would not bring a car seat if you are not going to use it. It will be a huge pain to travel with. You can rent a CARES from ebay, and the Scenera is cheap. It would be so much easier. Or rent a car seat at your ILs.

[thejen626]

We took DD1 to Madrid when she was 11 months old. If you end up deciding on Madrid, let me know and I'll share recs!

[Mushe]

We took DS to Spain and London when he was 21ish months, and it was great!

We brought an umbrella stroller, and it was fine. I definitely liked having a very light one, so we could lift it to get on trains, etc. We bought the Uppa G-Lite, and wish we'd done the G-Luxe for the recline, even if it's a few pounds heavier.

Our car portion was such a small part of the trip that we rented a car seat. Made me nervous, but I wasn't going to haul a seat for a month just to use it 2x, and I wasn't sure about securing the US seat.

We found some pouches in Spain, but they were not really like what we use in the US, really just fruit, so I'd stock up and bring them, and maybe ship a box ahead of time.

We brought a collapsible travel high chair seat, but really only used it at our lodging; they had highchairs everywhere else.

[qcinoct]

We went to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia when DS1 was 15 mo (and I was 14 wk pg with DS2). It was summertime, and we rented a car in Vienna and drove down to Dubrovnik for the 3 weeks. We got a car seat from the rental place as European car seats are a bit different than Canadian ones. Just some thoughts from our experience:

We didn't get a seat for DS on the plane and that was a BAD IDEA. Flight there was a red eye, but it didn't leave until 10pm. He was way overtired by that point, and a mess. Flight was full, so we had to have him on our lap the entire time. Makes me shudder just remembering it.

We brought the Phil&Ted clip-on highchair but only used it once. DS either sat on our lap during meals or in a regular chair (or, places had highchairs). Most tables weren't able to accommodate the clip-on (the tables weren't sturdy enough) and it was more of a PITA than anything

We brought an umbrella stroller, and I wore DS in an Ergo. He was an early walker (9 months) so he was quite confident at that point. But, I was still glad to have the stroller. It wasn't the best for the old streets but we were glad to have something that folded up small in restaurants, and was easily maneuverable in crowds.

Sleep went out the window, and it was hard nursing him there since the time difference (plus my pregnancy) did a number on my supply.

DS had a hard time with the milk they had there. Everyone said it was pasteurized and homogenized but I wonder. If you can, bring some probiotics along with you for your LO in case of GI upset

[lolo]

Lmk if you want to talk through recs for any of your city choices except Lisbon.

[sent]

Aug 27, 2014 11:45:31 GMT -5 qcinoct said:

We went to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia when DS1 was 15 mo (and I was 14 wk pg with DS2). It was summertime, and we rented a car in Vienna and drove down to Dubrovnik for the 3 weeks.

How cobblestoney is Dubrovnik?  What did your DS eat there like in restaurants and stuff?  This is actually where my husband wants to go but the not-adventurous-anymore mom in me just wants to go to a metropolitan place like London.

[anna7602]

My advice for Paris if you go with a stroller is to avoid the metro and take buses instead. You don't need to fold up a stroller on the buses there and besides, bus routes are very clearly marked and go everywhere the subway does. There are so many nice parks and activities for kids in Paris. I haven't looked at all the previous responses, but there are tons of books and news articles and blogs recommending what to do in Paris with kids, so just poke around for suggestions.

heres a blog post of my own about Lisbon with a kid: malangababy.blogspot.com/2012/09/oh-lusitania.html

[frlcb]

Aug 27, 2014 14:47:58 GMT -5 sent said:

Aug 27, 2014 11:45:31 GMT -5 qcinoct said:

We went to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia when DS1 was 15 mo (and I was 14 wk pg with DS2). It was summertime, and we rented a car in Vienna and drove down to Dubrovnik for the 3 weeks.

How cobblestoney is Dubrovnik?  What did your DS eat there like in restaurants and stuff?  This is actually where my husband wants to go but the not-adventurous-anymore mom in me just wants to go to a metropolitan place like London.

My friend took her then 18 month old (or so) and 5 year old to Croatia last year - she posted on my family travel blog about it, here is her dubrovnik post. they loved it with their kids:


passportsandpushchairs.com/croatia-with-kids-dubrovnik/

Also check out this blog:


www.chasingthedonkey.com/

[qcinoct]

Aug 27, 2014 14:47:58 GMT -5 sent said:

Aug 27, 2014 11:45:31 GMT -5 qcinoct said:

We went to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia when DS1 was 15 mo (and I was 14 wk pg with DS2). It was summertime, and we rented a car in Vienna and drove down to Dubrovnik for the 3 weeks.

How cobblestoney is Dubrovnik?  What did your DS eat there like in restaurants and stuff?  This is actually where my husband wants to go but the not-adventurous-anymore mom in me just wants to go to a metropolitan place like London.

It's quite cobblestoney (let's see if I can put in a couple of pictures...). We did use our umbrella stroller for walking around the city walls, and because it was quite a hill climb back up to the condo we were staying in from the main part of town.

That said, Dubrovnik is a very touristy place and you can eat anything there. When we were there, DS1 was 15 mo so he was still an adventurous eater (unlike now at 4.5 years!) IIRC we ate a lot of fish. But, we also did get some food from supermarkets that were more familiar to him. It's a beautiful, beautiful city and I'd highly recommend it!

[qcinoct]

sent ...

not just seafood, as apparently DS 'ate' pasta in Croatia.

[urbancowgirl]

No advice, just wanted to say hi! And that sounds like such a fun trip!

[winecheery]

Aug 27, 2014 21:03:43 GMT -5 urbancowgirl said:

No advice, just wanted to say hi! And that sounds like such a fun trip!

Awww, hiiii!  And I hope so!  I think we will definitely have an adventure.  I actually think vacationing with DD has lowered our expectations in a very good way, so that we are not so let down if we don't have a *perfect* itinerary, and a *perfect* dining experience every meal, etc.  It lets us just kind of exist.  I am especially bad at this.  So I am grateful to her lol

Hope you guys are well!

[winecheery]

lolo and thejen626 thank you I will!

(lolo I figure we'd chat about this at our next gtg?! ok then!)

[rupertpenny]

winecheery this is the high chair thingy I have: www.amazon.com/Go-Company-Chair-Harness-Aqua/dp/B009AVS4K8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409198742&sr=8-1&keywords=gro+chair+harness

You might not need it, but it takes up almost no room at all in a bag.

[winecheery]

Aug 27, 2014 23:09:57 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

winecheery this is the high chair thingy I have: www.amazon.com/Go-Company-Chair-Harness-Aqua/dp/B009AVS4K8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409198742&sr=8-1&keywords=gro+chair+harness

You might not need it, but it takes up almost no room at all in a bag.

THAT'S COOL! thank you

[lolo]

winecheery, that's what I was thinking. Which, btw, we need to have soon, before you get all busy with your gig.

[winecheery]

Aug 27, 2014 23:17:32 GMT -5 lolo said:

winecheery, that's what I was thinking. Which, btw, we need to have soon, before you get all busy with your gig.

Truth.  Ok, I'll text you here shortly...