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All of my extended family is in Ohio and we never see my husband's (they're not a close family). We used to do a holiday get together in Ohio each year but once all the cousins (us) got older, it got too hard to manage. We stopped a few years ago.

His sisters live in VA and MD so I'm thinking once our baby is born to ask them if they would like to do a get together in early or mid December (way before Christmas) to see each other and do a gift exchange. That would be manageable.

We did make the decision, though that we are going to stay home on Christmas once we have a little one. We will invite our family to come celebrate with us but we are not going to take our child away from home on Christmas day. Of course there will be exceptions to that if there is a family illness or something and Mom or Dad can't travel but that's the plan for now.

We almost never visit extended family for the holidays, unless they happen to be where we're going. For example, we're getting together with DH's Dad and Step-Mom the weekend after New Year's to do our Christmas with them, and I believe extended family will be there as well, but we're not seeing them on purpose, just a happy accident! And we're not seeing my extended family at all (who all live 4 hours away).

I think I'm one of the few who prefers to travel with DS than to stay home. I don't cook and we are the farthest from our families in our direction that are still within driving distance. DH's family are 45 mins away and my family is 3 hours away, both east. If we stayed home it would be just another day for us. This year, there has been so much going on, so we didn't even get a tree! This year, since it's DS's 1st Christmas, we're doing visiting both families like we have the last few years. My birthday is on Christmas, so I pull rank and always see my family on Christmas Day. This year I'm insisting on leaving Xmas eve instead of Xmas to drive to my family too. I don't feel guilty since we see DH's family most weekends.

Fri evening to Sat afternoon- DH's parents with DH's bro/SIL
Sat afternoon to Monday evening - with my parents and siblings, plus big dinner Xmas Day with ~20 extended family members.

DS is 8 months now and pretty easy going, so I am not concerned about traveling with him. It's sometimes hard for him to nap during a family meal at my family's place (usually 15-25 people) but we make it work.

I really don't anticipate this changing any time soon, unless I give birth to another child really close to the holidays. Otherwise I think we will continue to travel for the holidays.

@lovelife: after he sees how stressful it is for the baby and you it'll probably be a lot easier to convince him.

We had this issue over Thanksgiving because I made us stay over at my parents house where all my siblings and their so's were. They don't have a big house, and my lo is a light sleeper, so it wasn't good. My husband was terrified to tell me that he didn't want to stay there next year because he knows I love my traditions,, but I had already decided that before he said anything.

Things change when you have a baby, and you have to put them first whether your family likes it or not.

I really hope this is the last year we travel for Christmas. It's just too much. We are driving 10 hours for Christmas Eve in Virginia with my family, then spending another 15 hours in the car to get to Florida to visit FIL on Christmas day. It's going to suck big time. There is no way I'm doing this again next year with a LO.