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International Trip with Toddler Recs
Posted on 8/22/23 at 12:20 pm
Posted on 8/22/23 at 12:20 pm
Want to take an international trip in 2024 with our toddler before starting for #2. He will be 1, so I know he won't remember anything. Anyone make any trips with kids that young that they would recommend? Somewhere in Europe or South America would be ideal.
9
Posted on 8/22/23 at 12:26 pm to lionward2014
quote:
He will be 1
quote:
Somewhere in Europe or South America
Let me know so I know not to book the same flight
All kidding aside- I would look somewhere with easy connections. London/Paris/Ireland would be easy choices.
Posted on 8/22/23 at 1:12 pm to lionward2014
Leave the kid home with a grandparent or something.
Posted on 8/22/23 at 1:49 pm to lionward2014
Europe was easy for the most part while visiting France
The flight is rough, but after that it wasn’t anything too difficult.
Here is my recent post on it
Just did 2 weeks in France with a 7,5, and 1 year old. Ask me anything
Spent 5 days in VilleFranche, 3 days in Provence, and 4 days in Paris. Hotel Crillon-le-Brave where we stayed in Provence just won French hotel of the year by travel and leisure magazine. They were FANTASTIC with kids.
Was a great time and not that stressful to be honest. Never had to get on a plane once in Europe. Rented a car and was easy 2 hour drive from VilleFranche to Provence, then took easy 2 hr high speed train from Provence to Paris. Kids could do beaches, roam the country side, then experience a big city as well. I definitely 100% would make sure you don’t have to take any flights once you are in Europe. That’s added hassle with kids
But it was expensive as frick. Don’t let anyone tell you differently
That picture was at 11pm. 7 and 5 year old still going strong. 1 year old passed out at the dinner table.
The flight is rough, but after that it wasn’t anything too difficult.
Here is my recent post on it
Just did 2 weeks in France with a 7,5, and 1 year old. Ask me anything
Spent 5 days in VilleFranche, 3 days in Provence, and 4 days in Paris. Hotel Crillon-le-Brave where we stayed in Provence just won French hotel of the year by travel and leisure magazine. They were FANTASTIC with kids.
Was a great time and not that stressful to be honest. Never had to get on a plane once in Europe. Rented a car and was easy 2 hour drive from VilleFranche to Provence, then took easy 2 hr high speed train from Provence to Paris. Kids could do beaches, roam the country side, then experience a big city as well. I definitely 100% would make sure you don’t have to take any flights once you are in Europe. That’s added hassle with kids
But it was expensive as frick. Don’t let anyone tell you differently
That picture was at 11pm. 7 and 5 year old still going strong. 1 year old passed out at the dinner table.
This post was edited on 8/22/23 at 3:01 pm
Posted on 8/22/23 at 2:38 pm to lionward2014
Nearly everything in western Europe is easy. Depending on your interests, you can land in Amsterdam, hit Paris, London, and Barcelona in one trip. Your primary issue is going to be local transportation. Not a big deal, but learning how to tell an express train from a local (which means it may not stop where you think it will,) finding the elevators (if they have them) to get the stroller down stairs, etc. Those things will be what I see as the biggest potential friction points.
Take the kid on a "test" trip to Roatan or Costa Rica or something for 3-4 days. You will be tempted to bring waaaay too much kid related crap to Europe/South America, and a short trip will be your proof of concept. Bottles, pumps, bottle drying racks, think of the fun!
Take the kid on a "test" trip to Roatan or Costa Rica or something for 3-4 days. You will be tempted to bring waaaay too much kid related crap to Europe/South America, and a short trip will be your proof of concept. Bottles, pumps, bottle drying racks, think of the fun!
Posted on 8/22/23 at 2:56 pm to lionward2014
I know everyone is different and situations vary from family to family but why in the world would you take the 1 year old?
Posted on 8/22/23 at 3:08 pm to Hermit Crab
quote:
Leave the kid home with a grandparent or something.
This 100pct.
Love kids.
Love travel.
Do not want to drop bucks on a neat trip and involve a toddler. Sounds absolutley awful.
Posted on 8/22/23 at 3:12 pm to tadman
Unfortunately, not everyone has the situation to leave their child with someone for weeks.
Choice is don’t travel, or bring them for those people
Choice is don’t travel, or bring them for those people
This post was edited on 8/22/23 at 3:13 pm
Posted on 8/22/23 at 3:24 pm to WG_Dawg
quote:
why in the world would you take the 1 year old
Why not? You can take pictures of your kid destroying a Parisian croissant that you can use at their rehearsal dinner in 25 years. You get to see the kid light up at a bakery display (in my 30s, finding the pistachio patisserie off of the Seine made me look like a toddler.) You get to see them tackle trying charcuterie cheese without teeth. They get to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night.
Parents already know how to sneak sex in with toddlers, so what is the problem? Europeans take their kids all over. The passed out toddler in a stroller is a fixture of both Disney World and Paris.
Besides, the kid is young enough that it doesn't need an airline ticket.
OP, this is the kind of defining moment where you cast yourself in the mold of 20 years of Mexico/Alabama/Florida for vacation, or being able to be comfortable taking a five year old to Morocco, Istanbul, Japan, etc.
Posted on 8/22/23 at 5:03 pm to slinger1317
quote:
Let me know so I know not to book the same flight
He is 4.5 months and has been on 6 flights already with 6 more scheduled by the end of the year, kid is a pro. Granted I understand it is a lot easier when he can nurse half the flight.
To everyone asking why would we want to take him, think it would be fun for him to start experiencing the world. We also live pretty far from family so would need a whole extra stop to drop him off.
Paris does seem like a good idea. It's somewhere I've been a few times so familiar with the city, but still lots to do.
quote:
OP, this is the kind of defining moment where you cast yourself in the mold of 20 years of Mexico/Alabama/Florida for vacation, or being able to be comfortable taking a five year old to Morocco, Istanbul, Japan, etc.
That's the goal, although given I'm in Mexico at least once a month he will get plenty experience there at non-beach locations.
This post was edited on 8/22/23 at 5:07 pm
Posted on 8/22/23 at 5:09 pm to lionward2014
my 10 year old has been to a few countries already but 1 is pretty young. Id probably want to do a quick island location like roatan where you dont have much flight time and traveling around is easy.
Posted on 8/22/23 at 7:27 pm to lionward2014
It's doable, but I'd probably keep the flight time less than 6 hours for any one leg. I flew to Hawaii when my son was 13 months and my daughter did the same trip a little older than that, which was a worse age to do it. We overnighted in California/Washington both ways and glad we did. If I was going to Europe from the south I'd consider going to NYC then over so I'm not pulling 9/10 hours on a plane.
Whatever you're doing for an infant, I'd try to keep that system through this trip. For me that meant keeping him in his infant seat that snapped into a frame stroller. Less cumbersome than the BS you have to deal with for next stage.
You don't really want to enter that 1-2 year age and the problems that arise if you don't have to. Pray your kid doesn't start walking. A kid less than a year old is 10x easier than one who is 1.5 years old.
1-2 years old is the worst age for dealing with kids in my opinion. We still did it though. Things start to get noticeably better again around 3 in our experience. If you can bring Grandma and Grandpa do that and don't think twice.
Whatever you're doing for an infant, I'd try to keep that system through this trip. For me that meant keeping him in his infant seat that snapped into a frame stroller. Less cumbersome than the BS you have to deal with for next stage.
You don't really want to enter that 1-2 year age and the problems that arise if you don't have to. Pray your kid doesn't start walking.
A kid less than a year old is 10x easier than one who is 1.5 years old. 1-2 years old is the worst age for dealing with kids in my opinion. We still did it though. Things start to get noticeably better again around 3 in our experience. If you can bring Grandma and Grandpa do that and don't think twice.
This post was edited on 8/22/23 at 7:42 pm
Posted on 8/22/23 at 7:53 pm to Teddy Ruxpin
I will say this, I 110% think a trip to the destin beach in the summer is more stressful for me than taking my 3 to Europe was
The heat at the beach and everything you have to bring so awful. I told my wife never again am I going to the beach in the summer here with the kids. The heat, waves, etc, just awful
I would definitely do Europe again though
The heat at the beach and everything you have to bring so awful. I told my wife never again am I going to the beach in the summer here with the kids. The heat, waves, etc, just awful
I would definitely do Europe again though
This post was edited on 8/22/23 at 7:54 pm
Posted on 8/22/23 at 8:05 pm to lionward2014
Serious question, is your kid sleep trained?
We can't really travel with our 1yr old right now because she so attached to her schedule. It's great because she does 2 legit naps during the day and sleeps every night 7-7 and has since she was 3.5 months old, but we are legitimately stuck until her naps are down to 1 and she is more flexible with where she sleeps.
We can't really travel with our 1yr old right now because she so attached to her schedule. It's great because she does 2 legit naps during the day and sleeps every night 7-7 and has since she was 3.5 months old, but we are legitimately stuck until her naps are down to 1 and she is more flexible with where she sleeps.
Posted on 8/22/23 at 8:10 pm to Teddy Ruxpin
quote:
flight time less than 6 hours for any one leg
Is it the length of the legs, or what time you landed/took off?
There are a lot of military families from Japan that have had to suffer from midnight takeoffs to head stateside. A 13 hour flight wasn't likely the problem, it was keeping your kids awake until 11PM (at least) before boarding.
Teddy, the flight from IAH to IST is 11h50m. It's fine. You spend 90m on each end taking off or landing, hours of meals, two or three movies, and you're good to go. Am I going to hit Istanbul to fly back to northern Europe? No, I like gay LH flight attendants that try to get me fatter and drunk. Besides, it's a 747-800, vs usually a 777-300ER on Turkish. Both are viable.
Flying Turkish gives your kid an entertainment ground (in the lounge) of stupidly awesome food, crappers, movies, etc.
Posted on 8/22/23 at 9:53 pm to LemmyLives
Never one but my 7 year old has been to Europe twice.
Europe is fantastic with kids especially outside of the major big cities, subways suck with little kids I don’t care what anyone says. Stairs, tons of people, steel, drunks, homeless, etc just isn’t great. Small to med cities are awesome.
As said, I mean a 1 year old is basically just an anchor and I travel with my kids a lot.
Europe is fantastic with kids especially outside of the major big cities, subways suck with little kids I don’t care what anyone says. Stairs, tons of people, steel, drunks, homeless, etc just isn’t great. Small to med cities are awesome.
As said, I mean a 1 year old is basically just an anchor and I travel with my kids a lot.
Posted on 8/22/23 at 10:04 pm to lsupride87
quote:
I will say this, I 110% think a trip to the destin beach in the summer is more stressful for me than taking my 3 to Europe was
I can see that because it's like 12 straight hours of parenting if you can't do other things besides the beach. My kids are both younger than 5 so there's no go karting, mini golf or anything like that. Brutal!
This post was edited on 8/22/23 at 10:22 pm
Posted on 8/22/23 at 10:08 pm to LemmyLives
I've never shied away from traveling with my kids, outside of COVID when my son turned two and the government wanted to mask him.
Two things about 6 hours.
1) breaking up the flight felt like a good idea to adjust time zones more slowly and it seemed to work.
2) My son was good 90% of the time but that one or two flights when things derailed you couldn't get me off that plane fast enough. If that happens with 8 hours to go it would be horrible
But ya, we always planned around sleep schedule when he was small because that made it real easy if you did it right.
Like I said though, this was really only applicable so far between ages 1-3. Infants <1 are cakewalks. Son is 4 going on 5 and it's been pretty good. He's not my concern anymore.
Two things about 6 hours.
1) breaking up the flight felt like a good idea to adjust time zones more slowly and it seemed to work.
2) My son was good 90% of the time but that one or two flights when things derailed you couldn't get me off that plane fast enough. If that happens with 8 hours to go it would be horrible
But ya, we always planned around sleep schedule when he was small because that made it real easy if you did it right.
Like I said though, this was really only applicable so far between ages 1-3. Infants <1 are cakewalks. Son is 4 going on 5 and it's been pretty good. He's not my concern anymore.
This post was edited on 8/22/23 at 10:23 pm
Posted on 8/23/23 at 9:22 pm to Teddy Ruxpin
Yeah if your kid sleeps well or close to it, 6-8 hour flights aren’t that big of a deal. Especially if they are used to sleeping in the car, it’s similar enough. Kids are small enough planes aren’t uncomfortable! Get the kid some good exercise before the flight/s, try to get a connection on the east coast to cut down the extra long flights, and then there’s tons of movies these days plus tablets.
I try to find an open gate and let my kids act a fool (like a kid) and run around in the airport to some degree. I try not to let them use tablets prior to boarding: play card games, toys, walk, etc. Point is just stay active before the flight.
For a kid they can fit well, go to bed at 9pm, and then wake up with dang near a good night sleep.
I try to find an open gate and let my kids act a fool (like a kid) and run around in the airport to some degree. I try not to let them use tablets prior to boarding: play card games, toys, walk, etc. Point is just stay active before the flight.
For a kid they can fit well, go to bed at 9pm, and then wake up with dang near a good night sleep.
Posted on 8/24/23 at 2:36 pm to lionward2014
Just know, he will need a passport. Getting passports for kids is a pita.
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