First vacation with your LO?

[redheadk]

I'm 38weeks pregnant and SO ready for a vacation.

We do want to travel with our DD. We don't mind flying (she will be getting her own seat).

We're thinking about Hawaii (specifically Kauai) because we've been numerous times so it would be an easy location for us and we know that it's fairly child-friendly. I was thinking of going around late February (so 7 1/2 months). It would be hard to go much earlier due to my sister's wedding plus wanting to wait until DD can use sun protection.

At what age would you/did you start traveling with your LO? Where did/would you go?

[jr009j]

We're flying with DD for the first time when she's six months for a wedding but her first real vacation will be Maui at 11 months.

[Deleted]

DS1 was around 6 months, DS2 was 3 months, and DD will be 2 months old when we take her on her first trip.

All three were for beach vacations and short flights (2-2.5 hours).

Honestly, I don't mind traveling with babies. They're pretty adaptable. It's the 1-2.5 age group that I have trouble with. My kids have always been highly dependent on their routines though and very prone to cranky/tantrum-y behavior when they get off schedule at that age.

Have fun in Hawaii! It sounds like a great idea.

[McGavin]

We haven't done any flights yet but we took DD1 on 7 hour car ride when she was 5 weeks old. She slept the whole time.

I think Jenny1980 went to Hawaii with her DD but not sure how old she was then.

[atouchofklasse]

I would highly suggest a long flight before baby is mobile. IME once a LO is mobile flights are way more difficult. 7.5 months should be a great age. Have fun.

[drloretta]

We did a weeklong roadtrip when DD was 4 months. She rocked it.

We didn't fly until she was 16 months. No specific reason other than that was the first opportunity. She's flying twice again this year as a 2yo

I think 7.5 months would be fine to go to Hawaii.

[rootbeerfloat]

DS went on his first flight at 9m and DD at 6m. We weren't waiting for anything; that's just when we had a reason to go somewhere. IMO, it's much easier to travel when they're under a year old and immobile.

[h]

We flew (about a 3 hour flight) with DS1 at 3 months and DS2 at about 2.5 months but both of those trips were just to visit my ILs. We went on a week long beach vacation when DS2 was 7 weeks old, but it was just a four hour drive. We took ski trips (2 hour flight) when our kids were 4 months and 9 months, and a beach/Legoland vacation when DS2 was 15 months.

All of those trips were fine, but in general I find flying with a non-mobile baby to be much easier than traveling with a young toddler. About 9 months to 2 years has been the toughest age for us in terms of traveling. I think 7.5 months will be fine.

[mollybrown]

DS first flew at 18 months, DD at 9 months. For us, the trick is buying a seat and using the car seat on the plane. DS always went straight to sleep. He never even tried to get out of his seat at ages 1, 2, and 3. Our hardest was the flight with DD at 9 months. She wasn't in a car seat, and wasn't interested in sitting still. It was really hard to keep her from grabbing the people in front of us. It was no picnic, but it wasn't bad enough for us not to travel with a baby again. We just had to be really vigilant about keeping her busy.

[fortmyersbride]

We took DS in his first flight at 5 wks, his first beach trip at 7 mos. DD was 6 wks on her first beach trip. At 6 wks I just stayed in the shade and read while she napped on me. When we took her to the beach again at 7 mos she was able to sit in a little beach tent and play with sand and toys, and splash in the pool in a baby float. I think it's a great age for a warm weather vacation.

I never got seats for my kids before age 2, but we also never had any flight longer than 2.5 hrs.

[frlcb]

Both my kids had their first flights by 8 weeks, ds had his first international trip at 10 weeks, dd was 8 months for her first international trip but had been on several flights before that. The earlier flights were by far the easiest.

[mollybrown]

Jun 23, 2012 14:08:06 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Jun 23, 2012 10:24:34 GMT -5 McGavin said:

We haven't done any flights yet but we took DD1 on 7 hour car ride when she was 5 weeks old. She slept the whole time.

I think Jenny1980 went to Hawaii with her DD but not sure how old she was then.

We've taken her to HI twice--once at 3 months and once at 18 months. She did great both times.

Personally, I'd never pay for a separate seat for a baby/toddler until you need to at 2 years. DD did fine on our lap and the airline will give you an extra seat for free if they have one available. We found Alaska Airlines to be really child friendly.

Our last 3 flights were full, so no options for a free seat. If you don't buy a seat, be prepared to hold the baby since it seems like airlines are really flying full these days.

But this brings up another good point...check how family friendly the airline is before booking your flight. We most recently flew with United and US Airways, and both eliminated early boarding for families. That sucked with 2 kids and a shit ton of stuff. You'll want to find an airline that still does a pre-board for families (if you can), and that lets you gate check the stroller/car seat/pack n' play for free.