LO is 6 months old and still takes 3 naps a day, so I don't really want to go on vacation yet because she'd nap most of the time we were gone. We're only a 2 1/2-3 hour direct flight to Mexico (Cancun/Riviera Maya) so we'd love to take her to an all-inclusive resort at some point as our first vacation as a family. What do you think would be a good age to do this?
How old was your LO when you first took a vacation together? Do you think he/she was too young or was it a good age?
bananas / 9899 posts
I think we'll start going on road-trips when our LO reaches 1-2, but I'd save all inclusive stuff for when they are a bit older and can enjoy it more, personally.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
DS was 8.5 months when we went to Myrtle Beach (2 hour flight) last August. He was great! Our flight there was around 10am (his first nap time, he was on two at this point), so we nursed on the way up and he slept for most of the ride! 
And so did 17 other infants on that flight!!
He slept like a dream at the condo resort we were at and we really had a great time! We took him to the beach, minigolfing, down to the boardwalk, etc. DH and I cooked our dinners and watched movies, but it was still nice to get away and sightsee as a fam! I highly recommend it!
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
A vacation like that, to me, wouldn't be fun until probably 3 or 4....but we started traveling with lo when he was 2 months old and travel all the time. Camping, road trips to see family and friends, beach trips (closer to home) have all been fabulous! I personally just wouldn't have as much fun on an all inclusive trip having to plan around a nap schedule. If I am paying that much for a plane ticket I want to be able to make the most of every minute.
nectarine / 2878 posts
We took DS on a cruise at 11 months, he did great and seemed to have a good time (they had a huge FP playroom). However, I would have preferred if he was walking and could be more active. We are taking him to an all inclusive resort in Cancun (Azul Beach) this April, he will be 18 months and I think he will have a blast!
GOLD / pomegranate / 3688 posts
We took DD across the country at 3.5 months to visit/stay with my parents. The trip itself was a breeze - she slept most of the flight and was still little enough to take everywhere. Staying at my parents' house was easy, too, because we had built-in babysitters and she had her own room.
At 7 months, we went to Europe. That was also pretty easy - DD could sit up on her own, but wasn't mobile yet. She was pretty good on the flight and still took most of her naps in the Ergo or stroller. She loved having her "own" seat on trains and exploring new foods. Sleep was a problem, because she only wanted to bedshare (which we had never done before) when we were sleeping in the same room.
At 7.5 months, we went to the Caribbean and that's when things started to go downhill. She was starting to move around, so she was much more anxious and cranky on the flight because she had to sit still. She was starting to transition to a more regular schedule, so she wasn't thrilled with stroller/Ergo naps, and she was teething. 
The sleep issues we saw in Europe continued, and it took us another few weeks at home to get her STTN again.
We haven't gone anywhere since. I am planning to her (by myself!) across the country again in a couple of months, when she will be 14-15 months old and I am completely dreading the flights and schedule changes.
Basically, my experience has been good. We love to travel, so it was a given that we would travel with kids. I am pretty amenable to changing the way we travel, dealing with a crying baby on an airplane, etc., but the sleep issues we encounter when traveling with DD have been really hard on me. It's hard to enjoy a vacation when your baby is up 3-4x/night and you are tired.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I took my son to the beach for a week when he was 8 months and it was a great trip. It just required a lot of planning and gear.
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
We're going to an all-inclusive on Feb 16. She'll be 6 months then...I'm a little nervous, but I'll let you know how it goes.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
@lilyann: Please let me know how it goes! We'd like to take her while she can be a lap infant and fly free. I checked and a flight to Cancun is 2 hours, 15 minutes from our airport, so I think totally doable with a lap infant. We're thinking early December, so she'd be around 16 months old then.
pomelo / 5469 posts
Before LO arrived and even up to a couple of months ago, when she napped all the time in the ergo, I would have considered going at 6mths or so...before she became mobile. But now with this nap schedule, knowing how cranky she gets if we stray from it, I'm seriously wondering if we can ever go on a proper holiday before she doesn't need to nap anymore! Or maybe just one nap per day...that might be doable!
coconut / 8498 posts
LO's first trip was at 4 months. It was a breeze. We've travelled (flight or 5+ hour road trip) every 2.5-3 months since.
GOLD / pomegranate / 3688 posts
@illumina: I think once we are on one nap/day we will start traveling again. We have friends who recently went to Croatia and Hungary with their two kids, both of whom take one nap. They said they had a fantastic trip because they didn't force it - they knew there would be naptime every day, so they just scheduled their days so they would be back at the hotel/apartment for nap time. The parents used that time to also rest, read, whatever. Sounds ideal!
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
We took DS to Vegas and San Fran over Christmas for a week. He was 5 months old. He did great, and if you hung out with us, you wouldn't have known we had a baby with us! DS hung out and slept in the Ergo all day. I would pull him out of it to stretch for diaper changes or if we're sitting down somewhere to eat. I'm about to take him to visit my parents in 2 days. Hope he does well again!
nectarine / 2134 posts
Our LO hasn't arrived yet, but we plan on traveling from pretty early on. It's important to us to take a vacation to a new place every year (preferably internationally) and we want to continue that tradition with kids. I would really like them to grow up traveling and be comfortable with it from a very early age. We are tentatively planning on Hawaii over Christmas/NYE with my parents when LO will be 5 months.
pomelo / 5469 posts
@septca: yeah, I would do it at one nap if we went to a beach/all inclusive place where we could go back to the room around lunch time. That way we'd still get to make the most of being there as well as catering to LO. I wouldn't attempt doing a more sightseeing trip until she has stopped needing to nap though.
GOLD / pomegranate / 3688 posts
@illumina: Yeah, my feeling is that anytime before about 5-6 months is GREAT for travel, but then you have a not-so-hot travel gap until about 2-3 yo. Now, if only my husband understood this! We are supposed to go to Hawaii with my parents next year at this time - DD will be 2 and I hope we have a small baby by then. I think that will actually work, given the two extra sets of hands.
kiwi / 689 posts
We took LO on her first vacation to Seattle at 10 months. It took a fair bit of planning, but we all had a blast! Babywearing and figuring out places to visit where she could safely crawl around were key.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@septca: I totally agree with this, except I'd probably extend it to a year. Travel has been the most challenging most recenrly, between ages 2 and 3.
bananas / 9227 posts
I think the ideal time to travel with a baby is when they're just starting to crawl. It makes long flights easier to handle.
grapefruit / 4400 posts
We've never gone on a long trip with LO, just 3-day weekends and 2-3 hour car rides to get there. I was hoping for something this summer (she would be 2) but LO#2 is due in May, so I think it'll be at LEAST a year until we go on a real vacation with both kids.
squash / 13208 posts
I took DS to Aruba with me and my mom when he was 16 months old.
We had a great time! When it was nap time I would stroll him around until he got sleepy and then park him under a tree while I sat on the beach and read. Or we napped together in the hammock
Flying was tricky with customs and all our stuff but we managed! I had his car seat with me and lucked out on 3 of the 4 flights and got him a free seat - he did MUCH better when in his car seat vs on my lap!
squash / 13764 posts
@lawbee11: we are going to mexico next week! Lo is 15 months old...I will report back on how it is
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
@hilsy85: Awesome! Have fun! And if you like your resort let me know which one it is...I definitely want to find one that's good for kids.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
we went on a huge la/philippines trip when Olive was 9 months. she was on 2 naps then and pretty easy because she just slept a lot.
i think it's easiest when they're a young baby, content to sit in your lap and sleep a lot. it gets harder the more mobile they are and before they are into tv. that said we've traveled at 9 months, 13 months, 22 months, 2 1/2 years, and 3 1/2 years and we survived. 13 months was probably the hardest.
pomegranate / 3768 posts
DD's first flight was when she as 7 months old but that was to visit family in Jersey so I don't count that as a real vacation. We are planning our first real family vacation later this year. I think a good time is after they start walking so I don't have to carry her everywhere!
grapefruit / 4703 posts
@lawbee11: we went to a place in Playa del Carmen in Mexico last year and they had huts on the beach. There was a family with a baby and a toddler and we would see them lounging on the beach with the baby monitor while their babies napped in the hut 10 feet behind them. It's semi all inclusive (food, not drinks, but you can charge everything to your room).
squash / 13764 posts
@lawbee11: I will! I don't think the place we're going is super kid friendly but I have heard it's amazing so I'm excited anyway
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