vacation ideas

We are hoping to get a few insights/vacation ideas for this coming Sept or Oct. We are wanting to go away with our girls and would like a few recommendations from other's who've heard of or had good holidays w/ babies in tow.

 

I would say the best vacation is one you can drive to in less than an hour from your house. :laughing:

Seriously, that's what we did (though we didn't take our first vacation until the girls were almost 2) and it made things so much easier. We rented a house and even took two cars (and my parents) so we could bring everything we needed. It was like we just recreated our house in a different location, but the change of scenery was great for everyone.

With babies that age, I don't think it matters where you go as long as you can make things feel fairly familiar to them, and try to stick to your schedule, more or less.

 

We are hoping to travel with the babies when they are about 18 months old, so I'll be very interested in the replies. We done little mini trips here and there, but nothing on a plane yet.

 

We just did a trip with our 8 month olds, and it went way better than I ever would have expected. We drove six hours to Chicago, and then we did another five hours to Wisconsin, and then back to Chicago. I was pleasantly surprised by what the babes could handle! They ended up sleeping and napping pretty well in the pack n plays.
What we learned:
The first leg of the trip we decided to get up at 4 a.m., feed the babies, and go, so that they would sleep another couple hours and then be up and then take their first nap. This just made for very tired parents at the end of the day. So the next leg we tried letting them sleep until they normally wake (about 6), get in the car by 7, and go. They did great! They took two naps, which ended up being more than half the trip there. We also fed them bottles while driving to take up some time and made sure to have some toys and books (obviously) to entertain them. When they started to get fussy, I just put their car seat visors over them, and then a thin blanket over that for a bit of darkness, and they fell asleep pretty easily. We actually only had to stop once or twice per car trip to let them get out and "get their wiggles out." We were still pretty vigilant about naptimes. We planned trips out around them so that they were usually pretty well-rested.
We learned to just go with the flow. The trip back was probably the toughest car ride (that happened today) because we left a little late and they did not nap very long in the car. We ended up stopping more than usual. A ride that is usually only 5.5 hours ended up being 7. And we put them to bed very early tonight. But all in all, not bad.
Take it moment by moment, day by day. And be sure to have a few things in mind that will make it feel like "vacation" to you that you want to do. It is a LOT of work to travel with babies, but fun to change things up a bit and get a change of scenery.

Good luck!

 

we drove 12 hours to michigan when the boys were 10 months (8 1/2 adjusted) and had mixed results. the trip up was fine, the trip back was a nightmare. are you planning on flying or driving? i've got experience with both and can tell you exactly what we did wrong.

 

We've already flown to Australia with the girls at 14 weeks to visit our family back their and to introduce them to the girls, so we are not concerned at all about they flights, as they've already been on 6 to get their and back...

We are more looking for things that will be fun for us/easy for them where we can keep a similar routine. Def. won't be changing time zones more than 1 hour cause it was difficult with the Aus trip coming come and getting them back in to a routine.

I'm thinking a beach holiday?

 

here's my #1 car tip: if you're going to be going more than a few hours consider doing it in the evening when they'll be asleep. that will allow you to cover the most distance without stopping for feedings, and it will keep them from getting restless and screaming their heads off.

 

Before our twins were born we always headed to Floridas Gulf Coast and loved it, but with the oil spill we changed our minds this year and are heading to Hilton Head. Will let you know how it goes.

 

We went on a 14 hour trip that took us 16 hours....we went for GA to PA. (7month old BB twins and 2-1/2year old son)
We left after lunch so the kiddos would take their late afternoon nap during the first leg of the trip. Then we stopped for dinner.....back into the car and drove straight through the night. It was not that bad. I would say if you go anywhere in a car just relax and realize / accept that little stops are going to take longer, due to feeding and diaper changes. My husband kept stressing out about how much time it took just to get gas!

I would also recommend if you are going on a trip where you are not going to visit family look for kid friendly hotels or rent a house....you will have a lot of gear ....two pac-n-plays and what not.(I even brought a bounce and walker) The beach could be fun!

 

Ok, so we are half way through our vacation at the beach and I am going to be honest, its hard work. I think i was naive thinking it was going to be relaxing, even my husband said how hard it is. The girls have yet to go to the beach as its to hot, they did great the drive here (7 hours) but I realize that they like there schedules and sometimes its hard to keep to them.

The one thing I would suggest is making sure stay somewhere which gives you all your daily needs. We are in a hotel and I wish we were staying in a condo or beach house, where I would have access to a dishwasher and laundry machine.

All though its hard work its been fun so far though and my older boy is loving it. We trade off going to the beach with him.

 

Right--a beach vacation is not that easy with young kids! We just got back from our trip to the beach (12 hours away) and it was good and bad. The trip was definitely challenging but mine are a lot younger than yours (10 weeks at the time of trip) so it's a totally different ballgame.
Ultimately, we decided to just look at it like not a vacation but rather the same stuff but in a better setting. Every now and then when we were having a tough day, we would look at the sea and beach and think that we could be at home looking at the city and pavement and that it was much better where we were. Of course, there are comforts of home that you are missing but I think sometimes it's good to get away to have a change of scene and also to appreciate when you come home!
I hope the trip home goes well for you. Our trip home was...challenging. Everyone was super cranky when we got back but nothing we couldn't recover from in a day or so. Try to enjoy the rest of your time at the beach!

 

I didn't catch the age of yours. We drove 17 hours when ours were 7 weeks (took the Amtrak one way), 10 mos, and 1 year (we had a sick Grandma we just couldn't say goodbye to enough.) We flew at 14 mos and are driving again when they are 18 mos. I have to say, the PP who suggested the timing is right. We would leave mid-afternoon, stop for dinner, drive until 10 pm, then get up and leave at 5 pm and in by noonish where family could take them while we catnapped. Or, we would leave at 4 am, then stop by noon, have the day at a hotel, leave very early next morning. I can't do the driving all night thing anymore - too exhausting. But I am not saying these were vacations...heh heh. I would plan to get about 6 hours out of town if there is something interesting within reach. I would also try to rent a house rather than hotel it. I think there is a site called www.homeaway.com that you can find good deals on, hopefully find something with a yard and some space. Good luck!

 

We did Italy! :laughing: Not by choice! LOL! I would go with somewhere semi close-but possibly different. At that age-any place will be a vacation from the walls you stare at all day! :laughing: I would look into Marriott Residence Inn's. LOVE LOVE LOVE them! They are essentially mini apartments-complete with a small kitchen-with everything included, a small living room, and then sleeping area. I will stay there now that we have kids. You can't beat it! Wherever you go-have FUN!

Oh and as for the beach-we went at nine months old with the boys when we were in Italy. We only went that one day and they did fine. Nicholas JUST started crawling and Anthony wasn't quite there yet. So they were semi mobile. Moving babies and a beach I would imagine wouldn't be all that fun. But if they haven't reached the crawling stage-you might be able to get away with it...

 

Thanks for the update!!! How old your twins? Let me know your thoughts on the total trip when you return!!

 

My twins have just turned 5 months and personally for us, I think it would have been easier to travel with them when they were younger as they slept more.

The girls have just turned 5 months, I will sure let you know how the rest of the vacation goes when we return