Having a baby can be very stressful and after a while you might find yourself feeling like you need a little holiday. This is a fantastic opportunity to take your baby for their first trip while also getting that break you are looking for. But the prospect of taking your baby on holiday for the first time can be daunting. Don’t let that put you off – it is still easy to have a lovely holiday you just need to do a few things differently. Here are some of our top travel tips for travelling with a baby for the first time.
Limit travelling time
Naturally one of the major challenges with holidaying with a baby is the travelling. Having a miserable baby while you are travelling can make a relatively unpleasant journey turn into something almost unbearable. So just be aware that any kind of holiday where you keep the travelling to a minimum is best.
In an ideal scenario you would avoid any kind of prescriptive journey where you wouldn’t be able to take a break for hours at a time – like a plane. That’s why it can be best to opt for a holiday somewhere in the UK, ideally fairly close to you. Consider a short drive to a seaside resort town for your first try.
It’s also worth noting that you should leave yourself more time for the journey than you think you need – this goes for all travelling you do on the holiday. With a baby in tow you never quite know when you’re going to need to pull over.
Choose a well-known family friendly destination
Don’t be tempted to get too creative with where you go for your first holiday with baby. Many parents like to go somewhere unique and different with their child to create a memorable experience, but the trouble is that if you go to a destination this isn’t very well equipped for families you can be making it very hard for yourself.
There are plenty of locations around the UK that are perfectly suited to family holidays. Seaside favourites like Camber Sands, Weymouth and Newquay have the hotels and landscape that’s suitable for young families, with hotels, facilities and activities that are designed to allow families to have fun together.
Yes, you might want to create a first holiday that you will remember forever by choosing somewhere special to visit. But what makes a holiday memorable is not necessary the location, but the fun that you had – and it’s much easier to have fun somewhere that is built for families.
Really research the accommodation options
While going on holiday as a couple can be quite easy and you can follow recommendations or reviews for places to stay, when you travel with a baby you need to think more carefully about the kind of place that you want to stay and whether it has the appropriate facilities that you need to have a great time.
For example you might look at a hotel and see that it offers a kid’s club. This might sound great but it could be the case that there is a specific age limit on the club. It may also be the case that the club is just effectively somewhere for children to sit and watch TV and adults are expected to supervise their own children.
Before you commit to booking, make sure you understand exactly what you are getting and that it will be suitable for your child.
Don’t forget your own fun
Of course as your first holiday with your baby your priority during your time away will be to spend quality time together as a family. But remember that this is your holiday too and while you have a young baby you can take advantage of their sleeping pattern to be able to enjoy yourself. For example, when they are napping in the shade you can spend some time on a sun lounger with a good book.
A holiday needs to be a break for you as well so that you can feel like the trip was worthwhile. This can be easily done with a younger child, so don’t miss out.
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