Holiday with toddler

[FarleyRusk]

dirty boy said:

Not going to judge, but I can't see the point of taking children on holiday and then offloading them somewhere, even if for a few hours.

I think the sentiment of your post is right, but ignores certain practicalities -
If you fly somewhere then of course you have little space in your baggage for toys to keep your kiddies entertained. A good hotel creche / kids club on the otherhand should have heaps of things to keep kids busy including ball pool, trikes etc. As well as unlimited drawing, painting and sticking materials. If you think you are doing your child a favour by keeping them by your side with a limited scope of entertainment facilities and no other kids to play with - then go ahead!

Also how would you do a ski holiday with toddlers then? Only one parent gets to ski whilst the other entertains... ?

[tricky69]

dirty boy said:

tricky69 said:

dirty boy said:

Not going to judge, but I can't see the point of taking children on holiday and then offloading them somewhere, even if for a few hours.

Really !!!! But they are a nightmare......

I can understand why parents drop their children off at a creche, but it's a cop out surely?

Like I said, keep them happy, and you'll be happy.

At the resort we stayed at, there was a pool with a sand beach. My kids played in the sand and water happily for hours, we didn't need to play with them often as they and other children amused themselves.

If we saw they were getting bored, we simply got dressed, got on the little noddy car train up to the theme park and watched a parrot show, took in a couple of rides, then wandered back, got showered, had an evening meal then headed to the hotel entertainment lounge, for a magic show or show etc.

Kids mini disco was great, even though I ended up on stage most nights, much to the delight of other parents. Kids usually fell asleep in their buggies, we'd wander down to the outside decking/bar area and have a few glasses of wine in peace.

Perfect.

Not one tantrum in the whole two weeks.

Always works differently child to child... I know i want to spend as much time with Annabel when we are away cause i work long hours and don't see her much... But she is 18 months old so still needs to nap, plus want to spend some quality time with the missus as well.... It is a tough juggling act between, relaxing, time with the baby and time with the missus... She looks after her 24-7 so needs a bit of a rest too...

Have never been away with her before so just thought creche would work well... she is in the creche at weekedns at our gym and loves so hope it will keep everyone happy...

[jesusbuiltmycar]

hornetrider said:

jesusbuiltmycar said:

My nightmare begins on Friday - off to San Francisco with my 18 month old daughter sat on my lap for 11 hours.....

Having travlled flown with her on 5 pervious trips I know she will be bored and grumpy by the time the plane takes off....

Why would you put a child (and your fellow passengers) through it? There's is NOTHING more annoying than a baby bawling on a plane.

Are you suggesting that people with children should not go on holiday?

[hornetrider]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

hornetrider said:

jesusbuiltmycar said:

My nightmare begins on Friday - off to San Francisco with my 18 month old daughter sat on my lap for 11 hours.....

Having travlled flown with her on 5 pervious trips I know she will be bored and grumpy by the time the plane takes off....

Why would you put a child (and your fellow passengers) through it? There's is NOTHING more annoying than a baby bawling on a plane.

Are you suggesting that people with children should not go on holiday?

I'm suggesting that it's ill-advised to take an 18 month old child with a penchant for being 'grumpy' on flights, on an 11 hour flight to San Francisco.

When we have children we'll holiday in the UK for a few years until the children are old enough to appreciate the destination.

[dirty boy]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

hornetrider said:

jesusbuiltmycar said:

My nightmare begins on Friday - off to San Francisco with my 18 month old daughter sat on my lap for 11 hours.....

Having travlled flown with her on 5 pervious trips I know she will be bored and grumpy by the time the plane takes off....

Why would you put a child (and your fellow passengers) through it? There's is NOTHING more annoying than a baby bawling on a plane.

Are you suggesting that people with children should not go on holiday?

San Fran is a fantastic place, but hardly paradise for a toddler?

Get premium seats if you can, space for them to sit on the floor and play in front of you.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

She has generally been good in the past on flights - even on an 11 hour flight from Bournemouth to Paphos (which included 5 hours sat on an Italian runway with no aircon)...

The trip to San Francisco is for my brother-in-laws wedding and is certainly not my ideal holiday destination....

[SGirl]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

My nightmare begins on Friday - off to San Francisco with my 18 month old daughter sat on my lap for 11 hours.....

Having travlled flown with her on 5 pervious trips I know she will be bored and grumpy by the time the plane takes off....

Get a video iPod and put her favourite films on it. Works a treat with SBaby, and has done for quite some time!

Mind you, at 18 months she might decide to just have a nap for at least a couple of hours. If you're lucky.

[PhantomHumper]

hornetrider said:

jesusbuiltmycar said:

My nightmare begins on Friday - off to San Francisco with my 18 month old daughter sat on my lap for 11 hours.....

Having travlled flown with her on 5 pervious trips I know she will be bored and grumpy by the time the plane takes off....

Why would you put a child (and your fellow passengers) through it? There's is NOTHING more annoying than a baby bawling on a plane.

What if terrorists took over the plane and decided to crash it into a building? Think I would prefer the crying child.

[Tycho]

nogginthenog said:

You need a Mark Warner holiday :

http://www.markwarner.co.uk/

I used to run a mile from package holidays, preferring to do my own thing, but last year went to Corsica on a Mark Warner and it was excellent. The main attraction is the childcare which you can do for mornings, afternoons or both. The children are really well looked after and taken swimming, walking, playing in the creche, so it isn't a case of 'dumping' them - they really enjoy it. They have a night creche as well so you can have a meal & beer without worrying what the kids are up to. For your budget you could get a week in the Egypt Mark Warner, which apparently is their flagship destination - it's in a Hilton Hotel. There is a Portugal option, but this is the one that Maddeleine McCann went missing from ( cue the childcare jokes... ) so that might make you think twice about going just because of the vibes.

We went to the Kalamata resort last May and had a great time. Ollie really enjoyed the creche as they do all kinds of stuff like painting, going to the beach and it gives the parents a bit of a rest and allowed us to use the windurfing facilities etc. Restaurant was great with kid specific times which we took Ollie to and then he came out with us to the evening meal and had ice cream etc and was happy watching everyone else. The staff were great and hotel was nice.

[loafer123]

Pine Cliffs in Portugal is escellent - it's a Sheraton 5* resort.

Best bet are the privately owned houses which they rent out on behalf of owners, but for the cheaper option you can stay in the Golf Apartments for a reduced rate if you listen to the timeshare spiel for an hour (I didn't do this but friends have successfully, and it wasn't too painful).

Kids club is great (check if they do that young) and evening babysitting was really good by nice staff.

It won't be cheap, but it will be good...