AROUND THE WORLD WITH A HIGHCHAIR

Denise Wallin - 27 Jul 14

When I was pregnant with my first son a male colleague told me to enjoy the week away I’d just booked with my husband as once you have kids holidays are out of the window and the only way to survive them is not to see them as holidays but merely ‘time away from home’.

I remember feeling horrified and reluctantly adding it to my ever-growing list of the things parents had told me would change when the baby arrived, things like going to festivals, lie-ins, wearing stain free clothes, sex in the afternoon, listening to music which wasn’t a nursery rhyme or orchestrated by Disney to become an irritating earworm to be played over and over on car journeys and boring on about the contents of a baby’s nappy rather than moaning about your boss over a glass of wine.

I was the one in the NCT class who declared having a baby wouldn’t change me and especially all the things I liked doing.  And going on holiday was something I liked doing.  A lot. And by the grand old age of three he has also been on more holidays than I had been on in my whole childhood in the UK and abroad and we have shared a couple of ‘firsts’ including a stay in a caravan on the Isle of Wight and experiencing a business class flight to Dubai.

Obviously going on holiday with a baby/toddler can be a bit different to a child free holiday but it doesn’t have to be different in a bad way and a lot of the things you did on holiday pre-children you can still do, yes… even sex in the afternoon!

A family-friendly hotel isn’t always swarming with kids
If the thought of a hotel full of other families fighting to get a good spot at the evening entertainment show fills you with dread then don’t book to go there.  If you are used to luxury hotels book one. Lots of luxury hotels have worked out that parents still want the nice things in life even with a messy toddler in tow so if they sell themselves as ‘family friendly’ don’t necessarily let that put you off.

Babies are perfect holiday companions
When midwives are manhandling your boobs showing you how to breastfeed for the tenth time they should also be insisting you repeat the mantra ‘I will take my baby on holiday before they are six months old’  It should be in the red book as a development milestone.

Babies tend to sleep a lot, especially when they have been fed, which makes them the perfect holiday companion if you want a relaxing break.

Now that I have a three year old I look enviously at the parents who are just looking after a baby as unless they are at the crawling stage they stay in one place, sleep a lot, don’t throw tantrums and barely make a mess.  The parents with babies are always the ones who look the most relaxed.

Only take extended family if you really like them
If your in-laws irritate you at home then chances are they will do the same on holiday.  It sounds like a great idea to take extended family away with you as you have ‘babysitters on tap’ but if you do that, the holiday becomes more than ‘your holiday’ – it’s everyone else’s too.

Some days you may want to do something just with your partner and child, make this clear before you even book.  If it looks like it will be a problem then don’t book the holiday. Make sure you don’t have every meal together too.

Talk in advance about babysitting and get everyone’s expectations about what they are prepared to do.  Some grandparents may be happy to babysit every night, others may only want to do one night or none at all.

No matter how well you get on with your parents or in-laws be prepared to bite your tongue or count to 10 while you are away.

Try to avoid overpacking
We packed the highchair when we went to France with our son.  Why???  Only when we got there did we realise how crazy we had become, it wasn’t even a travel highchair (such things do exist and are much more compact than a Baby Bjorn highchair folded down into your case).

Some holiday providers offer a service which lets you pre-order items from them for your arrival such as nappies and other services are standalone businesses which do this such as Jowsa.

We have learnt from experience that baby wipes can be quite hard to find in supermarkets abroad and when you do find them they are really expensive so it may be worth forgoing some of your luggage allowance for a few packs of wipes.

Be flexible on routines
The most well scheduled baby or toddler can go off track when you’re on holiday. Naptimes and meal times may not follow the same pattern as home but try to go with the flow.  It’s unlikely that you are following the same routine as you do at home so why should your child.

I’ve always been pretty flexible on this while we’ve been away and it has never thrown anything into disarray when we have got back home.  The routine of being at home as well as going to nursery and parents being back at work has meant things go back to normal straightaway.

Afternoon naps are important though so you get time with your partner.  Although the timing of them may change try to knacker your child out in the morning.  When we went on a Greek cruise we used to take our son for a run around the race track after breakfast so that we could guarantee he would have a sleep for at least an hour after lunch.  It meant we got to have a ‘siesta’ ourselves sometimes too.

Book the most spacious accommodation you can
As much as your budget allows, book the roomiest accommodation you can so that when your baby/toddler is asleep you don’t have to be.  I’ve heard tales of people who used to sit in the bathroom so that they didn’t disturb their sleeping child while they were on holiday.  If you can find accommodation with separate bedrooms or at least a separate living area space then you won’t need to be in bed at your child’s bedtime.

Try something different
Since having children I’ve been to places and on the types of holiday I always turned my nose up at.  We’ve stayed in a caravan on the Isle of Wight, admittedly we booked a luxury caravan and it was really roomy, but it was still a caravan.

We’ve been to Center Parcs with our extended family which I thought I wouldn’t enjoy but it was great, again take advantage of going during term time while you can.  I imagine it would be a bit crazy during the school holidays.

We’ve been on two cruises, and I always vowed I wouldn’t go on a cruise until I was at least 60.  NCL have a ‘freestyle’ policy meaning no set dining or any of the nonsense you can get on some of the other cruise lines. We had a brilliant time on a Greek island cruise when our son was two, definitely recommend it.

Keep a sense of humour
It’s easy to say but the best advice is to keep a sense of humour.  I always remember coming back from a holiday with an almost 18 month old who just wouldn’t sit still on the flight and ended up sat in the middle of the aisle near the front of the plane wailing. My husband picked him up and held him aloft for all to see and asked him what the matter was then went into this whole loud speech about how he was showing his daddy up in front of all these people and there must be something really wrong for him to be wailing like he was.  Within minutes passengers were smiling and waving at him, the crying had stopped and tranquillity returned (well almost)

….. Happy Holidays

Denise Wallin

Denise Wallin (Mrs Atwaah) runs Around The World with a Highchair, a family travel blog about going away with babies and toddlers. She also writes for Family Traveller. Her background is in marketing with over fifteen years experience working for leisure and entertainment brands. She lives in London with her husband, their son Master Atwaah aged 3, and Mini Atwaah 4-week old baby. Follow Denise on Twitter @atwwah

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