Hellobee Boards

We went to Miami just before E hit 3 months old (b/c I didn't want to deal with a passport so early) and the Bahamas at 15 months (when I sucked up and applied for a passport). We like to take a longer warm weather vacation in February and then do shorter vacations scattered through the rest of the year. So far traveling with E has been pretty easy. I would highly recommend taking your first vacation as a family of 3 being just you guys, but I am an introvert who has a complicated relationship with traveling with others. I would also invest in a good quality carrier (loved the lilliebaby) both for carrying through the airport and so you can still do some more adventurey type stuff at your destination without worrying about weather or not your stroller can get someplace. As for destination, pick someplace that sounds good to you and your husband. Depending on how good of a on the go napper your baby is you might need to make a few changes to how much you do in a day. Similarly if your baby needs their own room for sleeping I recommend 2 room suites or air bnbs. E tolerated being in a room with us in a hotel until about 8-9 months and then started to have a really hard time with it.

At that age, just keep in mind you'll still be doing several naps a day. And some kids are better napping on the go than others. We found that beach destinations worked better for us after we were down to just 1 nap a day, otherwise there's too much in and out of swimsuits and clean up, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're considering. We also prefer to have a 1 bedroom suite with kids who nap. Even if they sleep in the bedroom with us, we can still have the living room to hang out in while they're napping or if they go to bed earlier than we do. Our daughter tends to have a harder time falling asleep when we're all in the same room and Mommy and Daddy are reading or whatever while she's trying to sleep.

@karenbme: The first time was just before I went back to work after maternity leave and it was really great to be someplace warm as a whole family. It kept me distracted from the reality of the logistics of going back to work and pumping and allowed for some good quality time. It also helped remind me that we would still do the things we had always done. We are outside of Philly so winter weather can be iffy but probably not nearly as iffy as yours in New England.

@periwinklebee: oh yes we wanted to keep our flights at the 3-4 mark for a reason. And are only now considering 5ish hours.
Also if you can afford it cough up the money for a seat, they cant lose your carseat if your kid is in it in a seat and it gives you a place to place the baby. E stopped being good at chilling in my arms at around 5 months.

We personally have felt that traveling with our son has been a breeze. We went to Belize when he was 4 months (3 flights in one day ), Europe when he was 10 months and Mexico at 15 months. Lots of domestic trips in between. No regrets. We've had a blast on each one and he did great - even with the Europe time change.

My key has always been sticking to wake times. So on our first day in Europe he just had an extra nap in order to extend his bedtime to be more in line with their night time hours. Before a year their naps are typically fairly quick so we'd usually do one in the crib and one out and about in the stroller (with it covered with a blanket). The Tula carrier (with a hood) is also awesome for on-the-go naps and sleeping on the plane. We always stay in AirBnB's. Hotels are just trickier because he can see us and then we all have to go to bed at the same time. Plus you will really want even a small kitchen to wash bottles, keep little snacks, etc. Sometimes the first night in a new place results in a lot of crying, but it's always sorted out. We usually go with my parents so the baby to adult ratio is quite high . Plus we switch off having date nights. I actually think our hardest trip was Mexico (even though that was just lots of pool time) because he was just learning to walk so someone had to follow him constantly, but also had no attention span to sit and play at a restaurant. Now that he's 2 he can sit for a longer period, watch a movie on a plane, listen to directions, etc. Is it harder than traveling with just my husband? Of course! But absolutely worth it.

I agree with many others- go where YOU want to go. The nice thing about babies is you can take them pretty much anywhere. You can still go to museums and nice restaurants and it's no big deal because they can be in a stroller or carrier. Once they get a little older that gets harder (toddler/preschooler age); then by elementary age you end up taking their interests into consideration as well.
We have traveled with our kids at all the different ages...by far travel with one kid is the easiest, and the trips we took when our first was a baby were the ones we got to do basically everything we wanted to do (within reason of course).
Also, and this is just a general tip...we have had all kinds of sleepers- good/bad/ crib only/stroller only and everything in between. They all figure it out somehow when we are traveling. Worst case, they get super over tired and get back on routine when you get back. We've done that too and everyone survived.

If you can do it in the 3-6 month age instead I would. My second was crawling at 6 months and walking at 9. It was not a good age for travel. Both mine were harder to entertain at that age. It was much easier when they were just a little swaddled dumpling.

@karenbme: You still totally have enough time to wait and book until you see what she's like. Sounds like most people do just fine traveling with their babies and they adjust and sleep well/as needed. I think mine is an especially awful sleeper and fussy (unless everyone feels that way sometimes) haha. But seriously, I would have never survived any sort of site seeing trip... I've had to leave mom meetup groups cause he wouldn't stop screaming from being over tired but not being able to sleep a few times when he was 5-10m old nevermind trying to enjoy a museum or meal with that. If he'd been a easier kid at home to start with, I probably would have tried.

Just fair warning when booking when baby is really young:

Babies tend to reach a peak of crying around 6-12 weeks. You can find graphs online that show this. My first screamed for hours everyday around this time and it was really challenging. The amount of nosy people who commented to me: "Oh does he have colic?" with such pity in their tone was so annoying. It was over by 3-4 months and he became so much more manageable and has been pretty darn easy since. All this to say that if you do wait until baby is here to book trips, you never know what they will actually be like once the trip arrives. Don't get too scared in those early weeks because things will get so much easier. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet, book that trip and hope for the best!!

I’d go between 3-6 months and book a place that has a separate space that you can enjoy while baby naps. So this might mean a balcony/patio/terrace etc. there is a lot of napping at that age and you want to be able to relax, not stare at each other

We travelled at lot while both kids were (are? They still are) young, including living abroad for several months.

We are east coast based also

Jet lag for babies is real and sucks in both directly; you might also consider going north or south to avoid it. If you are going for less than a week....I wouldn’t even try to set a schedule.