my daughter took pur granddaughter on her first holiday at 9 months.. all i would sujest for your first trip try and keep it short [say under 3hrs] dont forget babies dont get a seat so they will have to travel on your lap
and also the restrictions on liquids etc..

wizard

I found it stressful enough going on holiday in this country with a baby, let alone abroad.
I know many, many families do go abroad with their young babies but I personally wouldn't have done so as it wouldn't have been much of a holiday for me and I don't think babies particularly enjoy either flying or very hot weather.

Each to their own though

Pippy

Have to agree with Pippy on this one. I waited until my children were out of their pushchairs before we started going abroad. Just found that there was enough to carry without taking all the baby stuff as well. Leaving the house to go to Granny's (just up the road) used to be like moving house. I admire those who do take very young children abroad but its something I never comtemplated. Used to holiday in the UK when the bairns were really small which was more convenient for us.

JimnLiz wrote:

Leaving the house to go to Granny's (just up the road) used to be like moving house.

So true! I waited until my kids were about nine and eleven before taking them abroad.

Hi Daisy,

We first went to Portugal with our granddaughter when she was 3 months old (daughter and son-in-law came along too!) and it was fine. Everything was available in the shops, although you might not be able to get the exact same type of baby milk so might wish to take your own. She was fine on the plane, and was welcomed everywhere we went - the Portuguese, in common with most Mediterranean people, simply adore children so there's no problem in that respect with eating out in the evenings. This first trip was in January, she has now been to Portugal 3 or 4 times at different times of year, and the only problem is getting her out of the water! Our son-in-law has honed his sandcastle-building skills to a fine art.

There are lots of places to go where the weather is beautiful but not too hot in June. Be sure to slap on the baby sunscreen and you might like to get a sunsuit to protect more of your baby's skin. You can also get these great semi-circular "tents" where your baby can lie in the shade when she's not pole dancing!



I see your Mum is going with you - a brilliant idea, as she will be a third pair of hands (important) and a ready made on-the-spot baby sitter (essential) for the odd occasion when you and your husband can go out and enjoy a lovely meal in a romantic setting ..... but I bet all you'll talk about will be your lovely little girl!

So if you want to go abroad in June I would say do your research, go to a fairly well established resort and keep your fingers crossed that she won't bawl her head off the whole journey - only joking!! You think it might be a problem flying with a 7 month old? Wait till she's in the Terrible Two's, and then you might have a point!!
Have a lovely holiday

We've been going to France with our own car since our older daughter was born in 2000. We do Eurocamp type holidays which gives us the freedom to either make our own meals or eat out as the mood takes us. When the children were younger we used to feed them at their normal meal time and then once they were in bed sit outside the caravan with a bottle of wine and have a relaxing barbecue. Even in Northern France we've always had good weather in June apart from 2007.
My trick was to take enough nappies with me for the whole holiday because it always meant I knew we had space for bringing back lots of wine (one year we had 2 in nappies - that's a lot of nappies for 3 weeks!).

we took both our kids abroad as babies, only problem we had was some jobsworth working for olympic at zante airport telling us we had to much in our hand luggage, apart from that we had no problems what so ever

Been on holiday when eldest was 18 months and youngest was 5 months & again when he was 9 months. It's not so much a holiday as changing the location of what you normally are doing (ie changing nappies, feeding & entertaining kids) .

This was Mojacar in Spain, Ibiza and Lanzarote. The later was just too far on a plane with a 2 year & a nine month old for a week, particularly as we had a 7 hour delay at Gatwick.

You need a realistic expectation of what it will be like and that you will be quite restricted. I am glad we persevered but I can understand why some just dont bother as it can be hard work. They have probably been abroad about 30 times now and are very confident when going on school trips to France, Italy etc.

Take your own nappys and formula if they are still on it. Disposable nappies abroad are not good quality for the money compared to ours.

Good Luck.

Hi
Been traveling with mine since they were 9 months old.No problems and they both coped with the flights really well. But as others have said not that much of a holiday more a change of scenery. First few times my parents were with us to share the work and entertainment duties. We found Menorca the most child friendly and short haul as well
Lally

hi daisy, we went when Tom was 9month old and wish we had waited. It wasn't a holiday as such, more of the same routine but in a hotter climate, he got chewie in the heat and so did we. Looking back we wish we had waited till he was a year older. Then again, some people sail through it all but you will have an extra pair of hands so maybe you could have a break one or two nights/days and let mum babysit.

Go for it. Your baby is part of your family so of course you must take her. We took my son at 5 months then the other two at similar ages long haul many times. You just have to be organised and make a list of everything you need. Once complete this can be your template for all your family holidays and can be modified as baby gets older.Most of your luggage allowance will be taken up with baby's things but hey ho...many years will pass before you can take your own stuff You will most probably be allowed pre boarding on your flight which is helpful and you can take your push chair up to the departure gate. A tip for the plane. make sure you have a clean spare tee shirt or top for yourself. Nothing worse then arriving at your destination with sick on your shoulder.

LOL to hbrac and 'sick on the shoulder'.

Not sure if it's changed but you used to be able to put your buggy in the hold as a kind of extra on top of your normal luggage. You didn't need to hand it in until it was at the gate, and then they seemed to be off loaded first so to family type destinations you get a lot of buggys going round on the belt.

I took both my children abroad as babies and personally I think it's easier than holidaying in this country.

They're welcomed everywhere and not just tolerated as is often the case here. The warmer weather also means that you know what to pack and makes walking with the pushchair a real pleasure.

Ok you perhaps need to be organised before you go, nearer the time think about what she would normally eat and then take some of it to supplement what you know you will be able buy easily there.

I think Menorca or Majorca or Algarve are a good bet, not too far to fly and popular with british families so familiar things will be available and I always went self catering.

I also took my own cot bedding and their cot toys so that they slept in familiar surroundings and I kept to their routine as much as possible, usually bathing and feeding them as usual in the evening and then putting them in the pushchair instead of the cot so that we could go out for a meal and it was never a problem.

It's true that you will still have all the usual work a baby brings but that's parenting.

So I'd say go for it, with a little bit of planning you'll have a great time and when she grows up you'll find that you can remember the holidays as if they were yesterday.

Hi Daisy
I took my now six year old on his first holiday when he was 4 months old (and every year since) and I didn't find it stressful at all - different maybe!! No late nights etc etc. So long as you plan what you need to take. You can buy sterilising bags from major stores to clean the bottles etc. I also brought a baby ring (which you blow up) for him to sit in.
We flew to Cyprus from BFS which was about 5 hours and coming home it was a night flight but he slept the whole time.
I took my youngest to Florida this year and he was 18 months and again I found the flight ok with him.
I would definitley recommend taking your little one away

There is a thread HERE with some useful tips Good luck! I never took my kids abroad until they were school-age.

Why not skip a holiday for a few years and save up for a really good one when kids are old enough to enjoy and remember different sights, sounds and experiences. As others have said, babies don't like hot weather, flies, mosquitos etc. and mum & dad have the same jobs to do as at home with babies.

In my opinion, babies and small children are best off in the familiar surroundings.

Cic

Could never pluck up the courage to go abroad when they were very small, we had some lovely holidays in Camber Sands, Chesil Beach and on the Isle of Wight and the eldest still remembers what fun she had. Went to France (took our own car and pics of the loaded car!) when the youngest was 5 and spent the next 7 years doing this, all the children enjoyed themselves immensely at a variety of campsites in France and when they were slightly older had quite a lot of freedom. Just make sure that if you do go abroad its not too hot for the little one, that was another reason for us not going as I teach and this meant we could only go during the hottest time.

The tip about taking Baby's own bedding is a really good one and I found that this helped settle my wee ones alot easier when we went away anywhere.

I think alot depends on the baby's temprement (sp?) too. My two boys were easy, happy contented babies who would go anywhere and just fit in. My daughter (the youngest and made sure it stayed that way) was a real screamin demon. We really struggled to cope with her constant grizzling and screaming and it really wouldn't have been fair to inflict her on fellow passengers, hotel guests and tourists. She is now 9 years old and alot easier to cope with, although she still has her moments, and has been all over Europe.

My advice is if you are thinking about it just go ahead and do it!! As others have said though bear in mind your holidays will never be the same again! I first took my son abroad when he was 20 months old, and it was hard work to say the least. You'll probably find it easier with your baby to go next year when she'll still be at that 'baby' stage, when they start moving is when the hard work starts (in my opinion). It's a good idea to have a relative with you to help out and perhaps give you a night off.

My son is now 7 and I have a daughter who'll be 3 when we go abroad next year..this'll be the first time for her though and she keeps telling me she doesn't want to go on the plane because she might fall out, so that'll be fun! She's convinced we can drive to Menorca at the moment! We've had some lovely hols in this country as well over the last few years but last summer's weather has persuaded me to go abroad again. You still have to be really organised whether you go in this country or elsewhere. The main thing I worry about when going abroad especially with the children is the lack of control you have...flight delays for instance,I've experienced some pretty bad ones in the past and they were a nightmare without the children.