Holiday abroad with 2.5 year old - are we mad!!!???

[Lady Leah]

We went abroad early last year with Ethan, when he was 10 months old. He was cruising but not walking.

In the evenings while we were eating (and drinking!) he would fall asleep in his pushchair no problems at about 8pm, which was fab.

This year we're planning on going end Nov/beg Dev when Ethan will be 2.5...he goes to sleep a lot later now, especially if he's had a nap in the day. And of course now he can walk I can't see him wanting to stay awake in the evening and be in his pushchair!

Can I have your tips please and/or horror stories??? I'm thinking we probably won't be doing much sunbathing:sigh:

Chelseaharvey - I read your posts while you were in Turkey and that nearly put me off going abroad!

[sparkliness]

Molly was lovely to go away with at the same age. We took loads of sticker books for mealtimes, and were firm early on that she would sit in the highchair for the whole meal. It took one night - whereas we'd become a bit lax about it at home.

We aren't really sunbather types, so we did lots of outings and it was great for her to be able to comment on appreciate what she saw. A year later she can still remember things.

[ChelseaHarvey]

I would say yes :lol:

Nah only joking mate mine was more that alfies behaviour was shocking and that also it was the same old enetertainment at night so we were real bored.

[She-Ra]

No I dont think you are, Lola will be just over 2 and my nephew almost 3 when we go away in August!

However we are renting a very child friendly house next to a farm in france, because I think with they will be happier and chilled with there own space, they will be safe and be able to run around and play like in the garden at home. I think she would be murder in a hotel, hard to entertain and I am sure DH and I would get NO time to relax. The idea of being cramped on a sunbed and one of us having to chase her every 2 seconds, having to sit in our room whilst she naps/sleeps etc does not seem like fun for me.

We will hotel with her when she is older.

xx

[onefrostylaydee]

I took DD to Benidorm when she was 3 she loved it and was so well behaved, the resort is great for kids as there is so much to do for everyone.

You could try going with a kiddy club then you can have some time on your own to do your sunbathing.

[RedTiger]

We took DS last year when he was 2 1/2 and it was great. He was no bother at all really, although we don't really bother too much about sunbathing - we spent a LOT of time in the pool. He was fine at dinner too, and he enjoyed watching all the kids at the kiddies disco at night (wasn't interested in joining in though!) My Mum came with us so there were 3 adults to run after DS, and DD who was 7 at the time for him to play with.

He actually potty trained himself while we were there too - a very unexpected benefit!

[popinjay1]

Havent taken Claire abroad since she was 18 months but took her to Butlins when she was 2.5yrs and had no problem at all.

I am going abroad with the girls in September with my best friend and her little boy who is Amys age. No partners. No that should be very interesting!

[Princess Fiona]

Well we'll be going on holiday in August and Lucy will be just over 2.5 then so no i wouldn't say you're mad. It will be hard work yes but i couldn't even imagine going away without her, or putting her in a kids club or anything like that, and i'm not prepared to risk the SHITE weather in this Country :no:

We went away in February when she was 2.2 and yes she was hard work but she had a fab time and so did we :ellie:

I say go for it.

[Lady Leah]

Thank you for the replies, sorry for not coming back earlier I didn't actually get any notification e-mails that anyone had replied!!:puzzled:


sparkliness - Ethan loves sticker books, s I think thats a great idea, we may to take a seperate case full of them though to keep him amused for 2 weeks!

I'm hoping he will still have his afternoon nap then so we can get some sunbathing in!:sunshine:

[BJMac]

No you;re not mad at all. I think if you are just realistic about things and not expect him to sleep in the buggy at night, and expect that he will be interested in what's going on and want to join in, things will be great. Hopefully he might sleep in in the mornings for you in turn :wink: . Have fun!!!

[Diddlum]

I'll let you know in about 5 weeks time!:shock: I'm worrying about the same thing too. We went away last August for a week (only to Skeggy!) but there was no way she was going to sleep in her buggy at night while we were out.:happyno: We stayed in a friend's caravan and went to the clubhouse thing at night and she just ran around all over the place!

Mind you, we had a week in Spain last November and that was fine. She loved the beach and quite happily sat playing in the sand, obviously you've got to be prepared to keep an eye out for them running off so I agree that sunbathing will be out of the question! Unless you take turns, I suppose.

[Angel]

We took A to Majorca when he was 2 and it was fine.

We did use a kids club a couple of times and just accepted that he wouldn't sleep in the evenings so just changed his routine and met him 1/2 way with meal times and bedtimes etc.

[Lady Leah]

Those that did go abroad with toddlers,what did you do about eating out in the evenings? We would normally eat at about 7.30/8 if we are on holiday (as I mentioned before, last time we went Ethan would drink his milk in his puschair and fall asleep while we were eating) Not sure if it would be best for Ethan to eat in the apartment at 5.30 as normal, but then he will be really bored watching us eat or just give him a snack and accept he will be staying up late so let him eat with us??

Then hopefully he will be tired and fall asleep in his pushchair, while we drink our Pina Colada(s)!:drinkcocktail::yeahright: