Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to have a nice vacation with an infant? I'm thinking of surprising DH with a vacation this winter for his birthday. Ideally, we'd go someplace warm, maybe the Caribbean. It would be us, our then 10/11 month old DS and hopefully my mother to give us some help. Can anyone tell me about vacationing (not counting visiting family) with their infant? Where did you go? I'm completley open to all suggestions and opinions (including that this is a bad idea)

If you want this to be a romantic and fun vacation, it won't be with an infant.

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to have a nice vacation with an infant? I'm thinking of surprising DH with a vacation this winter for his birthday. Ideally, we'd go someplace warm, maybe the Caribbean. It would be us, our then 10/11 month old DS and hopefully my mother to give us some help. Can anyone tell me about vacationing (not counting visiting family) with their infant? Where did you go? I'm completley open to all suggestions and opinions (including that this is a bad idea)

My very best tip is the same no matter where you go: get a suite. Without a separate room for baby to go to sleep in, you'll either be going to bed or whispering in the dark after your baby's bedtime. With a separate room, the adults on the trip can visit, have room service, relax, etc. I'd pick somewhere that's a single and relatively short flight away - enjoy it!

Traveled to Florida with a 4 month old and Europe when he was 9 months (Amsterdam) and Portugal again when he was 18 months. We had a pretty good time, especially for the last two. DEFINITELY stay in an apartment like place with some kitchen facilities, a tub (no shower only places) and an extra room for the baby to sleep. You are trapped back home sometimes for naps, though despite what I thought, our son DID nap in his stroller in Portugal. I was surprised. Just took his lovey, blanket and bottle of milk, and he was good to go. It was a bit shorter nap than usual, but better than the alternative. Otherwise, you are back at the hotel/apartment for those naps and in the evening, so that's why it's extra important to have an extra room or two. Also, we were able to get out at night because we hired babysitters a couple of times. That was awesome (our son slept through the night and never suffered from jetlag), so it was pretty easy. And paying $50 night or so was way easier via the babysitter route than paying for a relative to come. Also, then we didn't feel responsile for the happiness of another family member. But if your mom can stay out of the way, and if you won't feel guilty leaving her with the kid, go for it. A place with a washer/dryer is also really good. If you go somewhere that there's less to do at night, it might be easier to go somewhere beachy because you won't feel like you really want to go out like you might in a city. We have our son on a pretty rigid nap etc. schedule and stayed that way all through vacation, and I think it was those strict "now is the time to eat/sleep" routines that kept him from jet lag. Good luck!

I actually had a wonderful cruise vacation with my then 14 month old DS. We had no one with us (just my DH, son, and I) and we had a ball. He slept well, loved exploring the ship, and we met several other families with similarly aged children. I would do that again in a heartbeat.

It highly depends about both of your attitudes regarding travel and the kind of trip you want to take.

Me: Love traveling and think the 'journey' is a part of the story, adventure
DH: Likes traveling, but hates hassles

I took a trip, by myself, with our 16 month old at the time. We got hassled by customs, delayed, etc. BUT we got to play on the beach all day, in the pool, walked to the store to buy food. He slept o.k., but he never really sleeps well. I had a fabulous time even chasing a toddler around on the beach because it was so beautiful. If DH was with us? He would have had a TERRIBLE time and probably would have said the trip wasn't worth the hassles.

If you pick a place pick a resort where everything is within reach (place to buy food, beach, pool, etc) and plan on doing nothing but hanging out. I also agree with Club Med or other places that will help you watch your kids if need be. If you understand it won't be relaxing (in the same sense as before you had kids) then you will have a much better vacation too.

Make sure you stay somewhere with full home like facilities - kitchen, separate bedroom, crib. Some sun and a view from the balcony or a patio (say, of the ocean!) is nice for the many hours when someone will be stuck at the unit with the sleeping baby and a monitor.
We visited family on the West Coast with the comforts of home and helpful parent friends, and rented beach houses near DC, when our kids were that young. I would have loved to do a nanny-all-inclusive but I'm pretty picky about my snorkeling.

OP here, thanks for all of the comments, especially the pp who mentioned the horrible cruise vacation -- that was one of my ideas!

the two times i vacationed with an infant when we were not visiting family, one time was on a cruise to the caribbean at 8 mos, and another was to san diego at 12 mos. the cruise was a bit of a disaster. my mom and aunt were there and watched LO for a bit, but it was mostly tons of work. think of being a caregiver at home, but now at a different place where i didn't have all the usual things to keep LO occupied or feed her. san diego was much better b/c our hotel room had a kitchen, and friends in the area lent me tons of toys. i also had plans every day, so she slept like a champ at naps and nite time... much better than at home! in fact, this trip was one of my favorites b/c LO was still in her infant seat, and i snapped her into a stroller base whenever she fell asleep in the car, and i still kept going.

We have brought my parents along for vacations and it's been great. Yes, you give up some privacy, but you gain a wonderful freedom to take some time off from parenting in small doses (afternoon at the museum, day trips, etc) without missing the big daily rituals and no worries about unfamiliar caregivers. On one vacation when DS was 15 mos and waking up around 6am, I would nurse him upon waking, hand him off to grandma, and then DH and I would get to sleep in for another two hours - heavenly! Definitely get separate rooms or apartment-style housing, of course.

We've taken a bunch of vacations with our kids, but hands down the worst one was when my twins were 10 months old. They were cruising and starting to walk (one took her first steps on vacation), and into EVERYTHING. The hotel wasn't childproofed and it was a nightmare.

If you think you want to do it, definetly talk to DH about it before hand. I'm not sure many people would think that a vacation with their MIL would be a great way to celebrate their birthday.

I can't complain. As an infant, they don't "know" they can throw a tantrum As long as you feed them and let them sleep on time, it is all good. Bonus if you have a kid who sleeps in car seat or stroller. We did 2 west coast and 1 east coast trip by plane. Everything went well and when DC is 9 mts old, we are going on a big international trip. We went to big cities and national parks. Did lots of hiking. I will say we did not do as much or as fast as we used to do in pre-kid days but we were both pretty happy with our trips. Ergo/kelty is also highly recommended. Be prepared but not over-prepared where you take everything incl kitchen sink. Just tell yourself you will learn from experience and then try to relax and have a good trip.
Some may suggest you go w/o baby. For us, it was a non-starter. There is no family nearby and we can't just send the infant off to grandparents. We were apprehensive before our first trip but took the plunge. It turned out pretty good and we gained more confidence that we can handle the minor glitches. If you never do it, you will never know. If you can pay for it, buy a seat for the baby. Also, we did these trips with 2 carry-ons + 1 backpack + car-seat (bought baby a tkt) + stroller/Ergo. So plan well and just go. Enjoy!

Club Med (DR or Florida) or Beaches (Jamaica or Turks)! Then you will actually get a break (for however long you want, even if it's just a few hours every day). The infant care is wonderful, you can have adult time - relax, spa, tennis, golf - whatever. Highly highly highly recommend that sort of vacation....

Our first vacation with our 9 month old DS was San Diego. It was December and the weather was cloudy and chilly. However it was wonderful. He was jet lagged so for the first 4 days he got up at 3 am and had a hard time falling back to sleep. We got up when it was light out and went for long walks on the beach. Back to the hotel for a nap (mom and baby). A little sight seeing and back to either walking in Balboa park, along mission bay etc. We did a lot of walking, sleeping and relaxing. Don't have a lot of expectations. If you are finger feeding make sure you bring what your baby is use to. Sleep when baby sleeps. Also I found that airplane traveling really dehydrated me - I was still breastfeeding at that point and had to supplement with formula to get enough for DS to drink. It can be a lot of fun.

Our first vacation with an infant was to Florida, Amelia Island Ritz Carlton, when my son was 9.5 months. It was fun to be together as a family, and to not have to work. However, if your expectations are for a relaxing trip, you might be a bit disappointed. Our issue was that he did not sleep well in the hotel, which led to sleepless nights and tired early mornings. However, we did get to nap as a family twice a day so I won't complain. It was also a bit tough because we had to be back in the room by around 7 for bedtime and then basically locked down (no family came with us). Still, I got to go to the spa, husband got some golf in, baby liked the pool, and lots of happy memories

Is it possible to have a nice vacation with an infant? I'm thinking of surprising DH with a vacation this winter for his birthday. Ideally, we'd go someplace warm, maybe the Caribbean. It would be us, our then 10/11 month old DS and hopefully my mother to give us some help. Can anyone tell me about vacationing (not counting visiting family) with their infant? Where did you go? I'm completley open to all suggestions and opinions (including that this is a bad idea)