Travelling without baby

[Penny]

I bought my 4 months old baby to australia few years ago, the flight takes about 9 hrs iirc and is very tough, i have to carry him all the way on the flight (he cries when put him on baby crib) and the only time i can rest mealtime and going to toliet.
Honestly i didn't enjoy the trip, all the while is taking care of my baby and very tiring, i prefered to stay at home haha!!!
So until now we didn't go to any long holidays except for short trip like bintan, will only travel far when they get older.

[suimama]

i felt that its a waste of money and efforts travelling with children under 3 years. They are too young to enjoy the travelling experience and would have no memory of the trip when they grow up. Unless its for good reasons like visiting relatives who reside in foreign countries, else better off travelling without them.

[Shoo]

I brought my dd to Aussie when she was 13th mth, Bintan @ 21st mth. The trick is to go with your family (extended) if you can afford it.

My dh, dd and I went to Aussie on our own and we have no extra help like carrying stuff (baby bag, stroller, our luggages..
During the trip, I lost her mittens (it was cold then), my hat and her cup. I got scolded my my dh (he is a perfectionist and he can never imagine travelling w/o my dd). The trip was tiring and not enjoyable. My naughty girl refused to be buckled when we were driving (she is not trained to be restrained in car seat) and I have to carry her when dh was driving at 90km/hr and we are seated next to the driver seat in front.
She was too young to appreciate the birds, nature, surroundings we noted that we should have brought her to Aust now. We couldnt travel far to places we like to visit due to the dangerous drving arrangement. We stayed in city for 7 days and were counting down to going home.

My recent visit to Bintan was a diff story. There was no much lugguage to lug, my parents and brother helped to babysit, feed her when we eat and she enjoys swimming in the pool.

My lessons learnt:
1) Do not have too much expectation of the trip when travelling with little ones.
2) Do not overpack
3) Do not spend too much money on the trip if your liitle ones are too young to enjoy. (Aust is ex to travel with the high taxes)
4) Arrange a family vacation with your extended families so you have extra hands. (Malaysia or Thailand or Hong Kong is just as good.)

[tamarind]

Shoo,
I agree with you. When I went to Hong Kong in Sep with my 3 year old girl and 2 year old boy, I got to bring along my maid. Otherwise it will be so tiring for me.

But when I think about the extra costs, I don't feel like planning another trip next year.

[Shoo]

Tamarind, so go to a cheaper country if really need to travel . I still believe in exposing children to sights and sounds.

[gajahgirl]

I've been on 4 holidays without my 17 month old and 2 with him. The breaks without him were well needed rest holidays with dh - the only pain was having to pump and dump to keep up supply. We took him to perth when he was 14 months and to HK when he was 16 months. Each holiday (if you can call it that!) was for just under a week. It is definitely tiring travelling with a baby / toddler. The most tiring thing to me is that we're always "on" - having to think about him, plan for him and worry about the next meal, nap, sleep, play session. But he definitely did enjoy both trip - in Australia, he loved the parks and animals, and in HK it was the public transport like the tram up the peak and cable car ride at Ocean Park that fascinated him.

It helped that he's a real trooper - he'll sleep in the stroller without fuss when he's tired, stays in the car seat, and is happy to eat any strange food we put in front of him. And even at home i take him out all the time and i know he enjoys it. But we had to make sure we gave him breaks from the stroller to run around and play and explore - its not fair to expect him to sit in a stroller or car seat all day while we do our own thing. also make sure the sleeping arrangements are made ahead of time. In one of the places we stayed in Perth, he was given a travel cot with just a hard cardboard base to sleep on, and while we improvised with blankets, it wasn't the most comfortable thing.

is it worthwhile to bring him? probably not. i'm sure he won't remember a thing when he grows up. But it all goes towards his development and exposure so the benefit can't really be quantified. And all in all, it is dead tiring, but its also fun to have him around, and he really bonds with his papa on these trips.

I think our next holiday will be sans child so we can have a real break, but we're already talking about bringing him to Bali for the next family holiday - rent a nice house and maybe bring the maid along to watch him while dh and i go for yoga and have some nice meals.

[camelot]

Hi, I just came back last month from a two week holiday in Prague/Holland without my 10 month Daniel. I was in Holland to attend my best friend's wedding and took the chance to visit Prague with friends as well. My hubby and I missed Daniel terribly and also missed his first babble of 'Mama' and his first steps in the playpen and subsequent cruising but we really, really enjoyed our break. For once, we slept through the night without any interruptions. I think we spent our entire 2 weeks in Europe mainly catching up on sleep! We watched tv and played board games without interruptions. We felt absolutely refreshed and recharged when we went home.

Now, we feel a little braver and am gonna plan a trip to nearby Bali or Phuket next year with Daniel and possibly my parents-in-law so that we have extra help.

On retrospect, I do think it's good to go away for a while without baby and just catch up on each other, on your sleep, with friends or whatever. You feel happier, less resentful, less harried and generally more energised to continue the 'battle'