https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 22 Apr 2026 20:53:14 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1129553 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:42:03 +0000 lamariniere 1129553@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Vegmama: I think it is good to have both, but I also think it depends on how long you are out and about and if you do naps while out or need to go back to the hotel. DS never really napped in his stroller, so we always had to go back to the hotel for nap time. We always had both the stroller and baby carrier with us, except we forgot to take it to London, so we just had the stroller there. I am not a huge fan of baby wearing, I easily get tired of it, but DH could wear the baby much longer. We took our Maclaren, so it is a smaller stroller. The worst was carrying it up and down stairs in some places, especially public transit, or getting it to fit in tiny restaurants. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1129540 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:37:10 +0000 Ree723 1129540@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: @wheres_c: I must be the oddball! I did not find a pram in London to be difficult at all...different, yes, but not prohibitively difficult. Maybe it's because I lived there for several years (pre-baby) and knew how to get around easily (ie going to a slightly further away tube station that had a lift and walking to where I needed to be etc). We also just had a little umbrella pram with us so we either just carried the pram with LO in it, or if she was awake, it took two seconds to pop her out and fold the pram. It was also a super lightweight pram so I could carry LO on one hip and my handbag and pram on the other side. </p> <p>I'm also comparing to our much more recent trip to Indonesia where they don't even have sidewalks so pushing a pram there was virtually impossible! :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1129521 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:29:57 +0000 wheres_c 1129521@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we went to London at 5 months and it was the perfect age to travel.<br /> It was much easier to baby wear, as London is not stroller friendly </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1129518 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:29:05 +0000 sotofamilia 1129518@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd pick Europe in a heartbeat. </p> <p>My DH is Peruvian and there is no way I'd take LO to Peru without all of the necessary vaccinations. Kids there die from stuff we take for granted is eradicated.</p> <p>Just my two cents - have fun whatever you choose! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1129512 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:26:19 +0000 Ree723 1129512@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd do Europe. We went to Europe, actually an around the world trip, when LO was 5.5 - 7 months old and it was so easy. We went to Indonesia when LO was 14 months and it was NOT easy, albeit still super fun. I'd equate South America to Indonesia in terms of travel ease. Here's what we found easy/difficult with both places:</p> <p>Europe:<br /> * clean, safe drinking water<br /> * mostly pram friendly ETA: I should add the word 'relatively' here! More so that you actually have decent footpaths to push the pram along. I would take a small umbrella pram though - definitely not a big old monster of a pram!<br /> * facilities designed for children (high chairs, changing tables in bathrooms at some places)<br /> * easy to get baby supplies you may need<br /> * feeding baby (in autumn, your baby will be around 9-11 months old, right?) will be fine, won't have to worry about safety of food quality<br /> - long flight from PNW, although we did a 25 hr journey and it was fine. Just get a bassinet seat when you book your flight!<br /> - time zones are tricky, but LO slept so much on the flights, it only took two to three days every time to adjust to the new time zone</p> <p>South America (our Indonesia experience) - I'll just list our difficulties as SA will have totally different positives, albeit numerous ones:<br /> - unsafe drinking water makes simple tasks that much harder (washing spoons, cups etc)<br /> - depending where you are, pram friendliness is not great so baby wearing would probably have to be your go to option<br /> - certain illnesses we don't think about in the US are more prevalent in SA, possibly requiring extra vaccinations or extra precautions if LO is too young to receive them<br /> - road safety is much more lax</p> <p>The other thing I would mention is that if you could go a couple of months earlier, say when baby is 6 months or younger, you would likely have a much easier time, regardless of destination, as your LO would still be on BM or formula, not mobile, and still pretty happy to sleep anywhere. Those things really do make a world of difference!</p> <p>Anyway, I wrote a novel, sorry! I hope some of it helps though... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1129494 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:21:30 +0000 Vegmama 1129494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lamariniere: Do you think you could get away with babywearing? Or, even just a really minimal stroller + a sling (for less stroller friendly places). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1129400 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:50:25 +0000 looch 1129400@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Europe has a lot of kinderhotels, not sure about S. America, so I would pick that. The kinderhotels are usually in the resort areas, but I imagine there are at least a few in the larger metro areas. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1129394 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:48:25 +0000 lamariniere 1129394@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did 3 countries in Europe when DS was 7 months. Granted, we had family in one and friends in the other two. He was a terrible sleeper so the jetlag really wasn't a big deal, but we also went for a month, so it was easy to manage. </p> <p>@sunny: agree about some cities being less stroller friendly. But it totally depends on where you go. For example, Paris and London are challenging, Copenhagen and Vienna are awesome. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1128791 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 12:27:59 +0000 Beehive 1128791@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Definitely do it if you can! J has been to Venice (at 5 months) and London and Ireland (at 10 months). Both trips were lots of fun, and I think he had a lot of fun too, with all the new people interacting with him. He actually got over the jet lag more quickly than we did, both times! I would also suggest Europe, as I'd want to be sure to have access to Western-standard medical care, just in case. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1128767 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 12:21:53 +0000 sunny 1128767@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went to London at 7 months! It was super fun! For some reason time zones weren't a huge issue for us until we got home... LO would wake up at 4am everyday, though we did as well.</p> <p>The only caveat about traveling to Europe is that you'll probably take a lot of public transit and many stations are not stroller friendly. DH had to carry the stroller up and down stairs more than once. </p> <p>Also it wasnt always easy to find a place to change LO. Museums were usually the easiest places to find a clean change table.</p> <p>Flying at 3 months was easier than flying at 7 months, which was easier than flying at 8 months, and still easier than flying at 12 months :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1128712 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 12:07:53 +0000 oliviaoblivia 1128712@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd pick South America because I'm afraid of time zones and LOs sleep getting screwed up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1128711 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 12:07:53 +0000 jhd 1128711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've never traveled with a baby but would probably choose Europe. We rented an apt in Paris for a week for our honeymoon &amp; it was perfect. Something like that might be easier than a hotel. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1128692 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 12:03:03 +0000 MusicaV 1128692@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went to Europe for 2 weeks when LO was 10-11 months old. I would choose Europe over South America for a child under 1 year. You can check with what your pediatrician recommends, but your LO may be too young for some of the CDC recommended vaccinations. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/european-or-s-american-adventure-with-an-infant#post-1128630 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 11:41:17 +0000 Vegmama 1128630@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Are we crazy? Our LO is due in January, and we're REALLY wanting to take a 1-2 week vacation to Europe or S. America (we live in Portland, Oregon) sometime next year (probably in the Fall). Is it crazy to travel with an infant, especially overseas? I'd love to hear stories (good and bad). Any tips? Should we just plan on waiting until LO is older? </p>