Travel to Europe with 9 month old

[Anonymous]

What’s an unsuccessful trip? You accidentally leave the kid behind, “Home Alone” style?

[Anonymous]

It’s easier travelling when the child is a baby than a toddler as they are not mobile and little legs don’t get worn out when walking a lot. Easier still if you are breastfeeding as you don’t have to worry about preparing bottles of milk.

[Anonymous]

I traveled overseas with a 4 month old but we went to stay with family for a few weeks and for baby to meet grandma. Flight is doable and we made days short with lots of time for naps - but we also had lots of family help.

I probably wouldn't go just for fun as I'd not enjoy as much. We did do a lot of trips with babies to visit family, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to go against the naysayers. Baby won’t remember (obviously) but you will. Plus, our babies were always incredibly portable at that age.

We went to Paris with an 11-month-old. We have great memories of him napping in the baby carrier while we did the lourve, drank champagne in Reims, and doing other adult things. After that trip we started doing more kid-friendly trips, so it was nice to have one last hurrah for things that were adult-focused.

OP here- we are going to Paris in early December. It’s nice to know you had a great time. Ds sleeps very well in a carrier. We’ve taken him to Florida and Montreal and he did well.

Bad idea

[Anonymous]

We travelled to Greece to visit family with our 7 month old. He was a pretty demanding baby, so we did end up spending a bit of time walking up and down the plane aisles with him during the flights. Overall the flights were pretty good with him - we requested the bulkhead seat with the bassinet for the red-eye on the way to Europe. He slept for maybe a total of 3 hours during the flight, but it was better than nothing. The flight back was daytime, so he only took a brief nap, but he did fine otherwise. He was always a cruddy sleeper, so it really wasn't much different while he recovered from jetlag, which he did quickly. While there, we took him around in a stroller, went to the beach, and generally had a great time. We have lovely memories from that trip.

[Anonymous]

We did it and it went well.

Advice:

Doona is excellent for this, but also bring a carrier because European streets and cobbley and there aren't elevators and ramps everywhere like in the US.

Stayed at an airbnb with washer/dryer, used detergent sheets and it worked well

Brought our own pack and play. I requested a pack and play at each of the airbnbs too and it was helpful to have another place to put the baby (one had two levels) but they were definitley not safe for infant sleeping (made up with loose sheets etc) and one was really dirty and I would have been unhappy being stuck with it had we needed to use it for sleeping. They also weren't compatible with US pack and play sheets.

I used disposible changing pads and poo bags for changing diapers at the airport/on the plane.

A tush baby carrier was perfect at that stage for carrying her around.

I didn't bring a tub or anything, I just washed her in the kitchen sink or in the shower. Still bring johnsons baby soap, the cheap hotel soap is too harsh on their eyes and skin.

The biggest challenge was all of the luggage. For the next trip, we will make a couple of changes. I bought a large XL rolling suitcase to be the family suitcase for future trips (fewer, consolidated bags would be been easier) and I would also plan to buy diapers and formula there (depending on location of course, but europe is going to have these things).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will be immediately recognized as US-tourists, because no other tourists drag their babies through european cities.

1. Who cares
2. Not true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will be immediately recognized as US-tourists, because no other tourists drag their babies through european cities.

1. Who cares
2. Not true

What? Except for… all the Europeans going to other European cities with their babies? I’d actually say only Americans make this much drama about travelling with their babies. Babies this age are portable and easy to travel with, and it’s not about the baby remembering the trip, it’s about the parents living their lives and having fun. Do it OP, I did it many times and it was always great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will be immediately recognized as US-tourists, because no other tourists drag their babies through european cities.

1. Who cares
2. Not true

What? Except for… all the Europeans going to other European cities with their babies? I’d actually say only Americans make this much drama about travelling with their babies. Babies this age are portable and easy to travel with, and it’s not about the baby remembering the trip, it’s about the parents living their lives and having fun. Do it OP, I did it many times and it was always great!

+1 Europeans airports/airlines and travelers all tend to be far more family/baby friendly than American equivalents.

[Anonymous]

Breeders on the road. Gross.

[Anonymous]

Rent an apartment and you can enjoy going to French markets and eating well at home. We took an 11 month old to Paris—with my parents, which was helpful for adult child ratio. We took the boat down the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and that was a baby friendly adventure. We did a small museum or two like the Orangerie. And we did a lot of walking around—pretending to be French. Markets, playgrounds, cafe with baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will be immediately recognized as US-tourists, because no other tourists drag their babies through european cities.

I used to think that Americans in France were identified by their white tennis shoes. Visiting there last month, all my French relatives and most other French people I saw were wearing tennis and running shoes, so that's changed.

Our friends brought (dragged) their very energetic toddler to a restaurant too. The kids' menu had tomatoes and olives as an appetizer, which I thought was adventurous, but then the kid refused to eat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rent an apartment and you can enjoy going to French markets and eating well at home. We took an 11 month old to Paris—with my parents, which was helpful for adult child ratio. We took the boat down the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and that was a baby friendly adventure. We did a small museum or two like the Orangerie. And we did a lot of walking around—pretending to be French. Markets, playgrounds, cafe with baby.

If you have grandparents helping, that is not the same trip as parents traveling alone with a baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did it and it went well.

Advice:

Doona is excellent for this, but also bring a carrier because European streets and cobbley and there aren't elevators and ramps everywhere like in the US.

Stayed at an airbnb with washer/dryer, used detergent sheets and it worked well

Brought our own pack and play. I requested a pack and play at each of the airbnbs too and it was helpful to have another place to put the baby (one had two levels) but they were definitley not safe for infant sleeping (made up with loose sheets etc) and one was really dirty and I would have been unhappy being stuck with it had we needed to use it for sleeping. They also weren't compatible with US pack and play sheets.

I used disposible changing pads and poo bags for changing diapers at the airport/on the plane.

A tush baby carrier was perfect at that stage for carrying her around.

I didn't bring a tub or anything, I just washed her in the kitchen sink or in the shower. Still bring johnsons baby soap, the cheap hotel soap is too harsh on their eyes and skin.

The biggest challenge was all of the luggage. For the next trip, we will make a couple of changes. I bought a large XL rolling suitcase to be the family suitcase for future trips (fewer, consolidated bags would be been easier) and I would also plan to buy diapers and formula there (depending on location of course, but europe is going to have these things).

This is all really good advice, especially the last bit. It is far easier to travel with one big checked rolling bag and 2 30L backpacks, plus stroller and pack n play and, if needed, carseat, than a bunch of little carry-ons. One backpack has all the baby things (diapers, change of clothes, medicines), one backpack has changes of clothing for parents & other essentials.