Do it! The benefits of going, seeing family will totally outweigh some potential, temporary issues.

I agree with others that they're more likely to be jetlagged when they are older (depending on child, of course). The naps help even out the weird sleep changes.
I've done it a couple times with little kids. THe last time, we stayed overnight at a airport hotel with pool to break it up. (But it was a pain to get the luggage.)
The first time I did it with no break, and I think my kid spent the last hour crying "Turn the plane around. I just want to go home.") Luckily, we had such crappy seats over the super loud engine that I don't think anyone could hear her -- I was about 6 inches from her and could barely hear her it was so loud. That was before ipads, though.

We did exactly this, except with no family. It was AWESOME. Go!!!!

We took five month old twins, then returned with our then-15 month old twins and again when they turned four.

The only time they got jetlagged was the time they were four.

Even then, we got to enjoy a lot of sunrises and just all went to bed early. After the first half of the trip we gave up "switching" them and just stayed largely on the early end of east coast time.

They loved the aquarium at Waikiki (running around the place pointing at all the ISH - for some reason they never put the F on the word) and the beach. My favorite picture ever is one of my girls speed-crawling away from us and into the Pacific Ocean. We ran to get her after taking the picture, of course

They did NOT like the luau we tried to go to when they were 5 months (at Hale Koa), so we didn't even try it when they were 15 months. It was WAY too loud. They loved it at four, though. Decide on your own about the luau depending on how your child does with loud noises.

I'd avoid taking your son to the USS Arizona memorial until he's older. It's just not a good place for little kids to be running around. It would likely destroy the mood.

Go to the Aloha Stadium swap meet - we still have the leis we got for our girls there. Artificial, but they look good. And we still have books we bought at the Exchange and the ABC Stores that are specifically about Hawaii. In fact, before you go, get a hold of a copy of Geckos Surf. There's about five books in the board book series, and they're really cute. OH - and if you or your family have access to the military exchanges, do your souvenir (and Aloha wear) shopping there. Especially at Pearl.

Now I've told the girls they have to figure out how to use a snorkel before we go back (probably in two or three years). I want to go back to Hanauma Bay. Kids can go there and looked like they were having fun, but I didn't want to go back before the kids are able to participate. Taking turns on shore didn't seem like fun, but if you can get family members to help too it might work for you.

This might be a really fun age. If you have family there then at least you have an extra set of hands. Will you stay at a resort? If so, playing in the pools or in the sand will be great for toddler and then will have a an awesome nap. I took my 2 year old to Puerto Rico and it was awesome. Granted no time change but she had fun in the pool and beach and we just relaxed and ordered lunch/dinner pool side. In the evenings we walked around the neighborhood and found a little playground and she played with other kids from the neighborhood.

Go!! We took a 19 month old to Italy. Sure, she was up until 2 am the first couple of nights, but totally worth it. It's easier when they still nap, I think. Toddlers tend to like the beach, too.

If your son is mellow, the travel should be pretty easy. He may be able to watch cartoons on the iPad, although at 18 months he may not quite have the attention span for this yet. The secret of our success with a non-mellow toddler is cartoons on the iPad and breaking up the travel with an overnight stay in California.

The overnight stay makes the time adjustment easier, at least for us. A lot of people flying in from the mainland are on an early to bed, early to rise schedule in Hawaii, which lets you take advantage of the daylight hours for outdoor activities and also minimizes jet lag. Also, couldn't your family help a bit with your DS? That might make things easier.

We've always found jet lag going east to be much worse than going west, so be ready for that when you return.

Take sun hats and rash guards, and be prepared to apply sunscreen thoroughly and often. The Hawaiian sun is very intense.

Have fun! We've gone with each of our kids when they were toddlers, and we had a blast. You can't do everything you could before you had small kids, but if you slow down a bit and give them plenty of time to do things they enjoy, you all will have a great time. You can also look forward to going again in a couple of years when your son will be older - it will be so much easier!

Is you kid already a little monster/pain in the ass? We have 3 grown kids who have all been to Hawaii yearly ever since they were born. We have never had troubles and in fact loved every minute of our trips. Luckily our kids never gave us problems. Long story short, a family trip to Hawaii is a lot of fun.

Go! Have fun!

Even if it's not completely fun, nothing ever is.

GO anyway.

Opposite direction but we went to England with a 20mo old and she did fine. She was tired that first day but then went to bed at the right time there and woke up at the new time with no problems.
With any vacation with young kids I always say to make plans but have very low expectations, Then you will be happier ( as will your kid) than if you have high expectations that you and he cannot meet.
I would go for it.

Not HI, but we went to Portland, OR, with a 2 YO and it was fine. We did have some early morning wake-ups, but if you are SAH parent, you can start adjusting his days a little before you go to make it easier. If in day care, it's much harder, but we managed just fine.

Anonymous wrote:We have family there, and they're pushing hard for us to bring DS out for a visit. We'd do it in about six months.

We'd go to Honolulu and also to Maui.

My concern is less the plane flight, since we could break it up at LAX, than the six-hour time change. I feel like it'll basically be hell in paradise, but it's hard to say no. And it has the potential to be awesome.

DS is a pretty easygoing baby and has traveled in the continental USA without too much of an issue.

Because of what you wrote that I bolded, I'd say give it a go. If it turns out badly, you'll have a good story to tell.

I did Hawaii with a 13 month old last summer. It wasn't bad at all. In fact, I have little memory of how the time difference affected him. We had a great time, and I'm so glad we went!

How long are you planning on staying?

Honestly, I would wait, or only go if you can stay for a few weeks. The adjustment is going to be hell going and coming.

We have family there, and they're pushing hard for us to bring DS out for a visit. We'd do it in about six months.

We'd go to Honolulu and also to Maui.

My concern is less the plane flight, since we could break it up at LAX, than the six-hour time change. I feel like it'll basically be hell in paradise, but it's hard to say no. And it has the potential to be awesome.

DS is a pretty easygoing baby and has traveled in the continental USA without too much of an issue.