Any suggestions for travel with a 9 month old?

[kfindley79]

My wife, 9 month old, and I are looking to take a mini vacation around April or May. We feel that driving would be best so we are looking for some "toddler friendly" destinations. Any suggestions?

 

[growing_older]

Go someplace that you want to visit. Plan to see whatever you go to see at toddler pace. There's no need to target a toddler vacation, a nine-month old will be happy to go anywhere and see anything as long as you are there. Do you like beaches? hiking? boat trips? zoos? science museums? sporting events? relatives you want to visit?

You can probably rule out theaters unless you have baby-sitter help, but most things can be toddler-friendly if you are willing to adjust from adult pace. Do what you like to do.

 

[kfindley79]

It will be an adult vacation...just don't want to go somewhere that would be a challenge with such a young child.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I think it would be torture for a toddler to be in a car seat for a road trip vacation. Find some place close to you that you can get to during the time the baby takes a nap.

Take a grandparent with you to babysit.

 

[W2R]

I have nothing but anecdotal ramblings so those who don't like them can skip on to the next post....

When I was that age, my parents took me to Cuba (by car to Florida and then by air for the last part of the trip). They also took along my 6 and 7 year old brothers. This was not a memorable vacation for me at all, and I'm sure I would have been better off at home. However, according to family lore/stories, they had an absolutely wonderful time, supposedly we were all "good" (yeah, right), and apparently Cuba was a wonderful get-away in those days.

Traveling with a baby was not my cup of tea as a parent. Almost every weekend we drove to visit and stay the night with my ex's family, about 2 hours away, and my daughter always slept the whole way but was difficult to handle once we got there. So, I would suggest just trying a day trip instead of overnight. I did not fly with her until she was two, when I took her home to Hawaii for a visit at my parents' house. That seemed much easier to me.

 

[Keim]

Plan your days activities around nap time. Don't try to mess with nap time-it is disastrous!

 

[Nords]

My wife, 9 month old, and I are looking to take a mini vacation around April or May. We feel that driving would be best so we are looking for some "toddler friendly" destinations. Any suggestions?

We thought we were pretty bold driving from our home a whole 20 miles to Waikiki to spend a couple days in a hotel. We wanted to see if we could do it and whether we'd thought of everything.

IIRC we filled the entire car with the baby support system. We still forgot stuff. We learned that hotels will provide an in-room crib if you give them advance notice, and maybe even a formula fridge. Everybody wants to coo over the [-]ignorant[/-] intrepid parents and their new baby.

We learned to estimate how many diapers we'd need for a particular trip. Then we learned to double it and add six more.

If you take a baby to a restaurant, have an abort plan for fussy/crying baby. Diaper changes and breast-feeding are no problem (well, unless you try to do them simultaneously) but screaming & crying get you all the wrong kinds of attention. Even if it's the baby doing it.

We spent most of the time poolside or at the zoo. I managed to backpack her all the way up the Diamond Head lookout trail without smacking either of our heads. But then we got to the top and she wanted to crawl around. It was a tough hike coming down...

As our kid got older, she got attached to Barney the Purple Dinosaur. We learned to have the "regular" Barney and the "handy travel size" Barney. Big Barney stayed home to guard her room while Travel Barney helped her stay safe on the road. It's all in how you market the deal.

 

[JakeBrake]

We took our less than 2 year old son on a road trip to Colorado. This was a 3,000 mile round trip for us. The only problem I can recall was that he locked DW and me out of the motel room on one occasion. A couple of years later we took our son who was about 4 years old and our daughter who was less than a year old on a road trip to Gatlinburg, which is about a 1,500 mile round trip for us. No major problems that I can recall. We simply did not go anywhere that was not appropriate for small children.

Bear in mind DW was a stay at home mom who had no use for daycare or babysitters (even grand mothers or aunts). DW breast fed both of our children until they were weaned. They never used a baby bottle. Wherever we went, the kids went. So, a road trip was no different.

Honestly, IMHO, it is much easier to travel with infants than with teenagers.

 

[Moemg]

The absolute best things for car trips is a portable DVD . We plug in a video for my grandson and he watches it until he nods off . We have been traveling with my daughter ,son-in-law and grandson for the last few years . We have separate rooms but we provide an extra pair of hands plus free babysitting at night .They also take a beach vacation in the summer and my grandson loves the water and the sand . I travelled with my children since they were little and it wasn't an adult vacation . More like a family trip together . When they were a little older we started doing Club Med . That is the perfect vacation . You get adult time and they love the kids clubs .

 

[Bestwifeever]

Although we took our preschool age kids (who were generally well-behaved) on road trips, we didn't do it when they were >1 year old. It was fun when they were old enough for singing, little toys and activities, snacks, listening to Peter Pan on tape (no videos back in the dark ages ); not so much for our kids when they felt confined and were at the age when their gross motor skills were developing.

But for the OP, looking for suggestions for an adult vacation place that is toddler friendly--where are you? How far do you want to drive? What do you like to do? Are you looking for hotels that can arrange babysitting?

 

[Nords]

Honestly, IMHO, it is much easier to travel with infants than with teenagers.

Absolutely, even if they refuse to talk to you! (The teens, not the infants...)

 

[obgyn65]

Hello. Your priority is your child's safety.

Travel - Tips for Travel with Young Children - Babyzone.com

My wife, 9 month old, and I are looking to take a mini vacation around April or May. We feel that driving would be best so we are looking for some "toddler friendly" destinations. Any suggestions?

 

[MichaelB]

My wife, 9 month old, and I are looking to take a mini vacation around April or May. We feel that driving would be best so we are looking for some "toddler friendly" destinations. Any suggestions?

We went out a lot and traveled frequently with our children, and started them at <1. Parents and children need to learn how to do this. We started with weekends at a beach hotel an hour from home and grew from there. Too much too soon is stressful, especially with the first child.