When to start traveling with a baby/child?

[benyl]

IMO, you missed the best window for vacationing with a kid. 6 months. They can’t run away. They sleep a lot. It’s great.

18 months is the worst if you are cheap and don’t buy a confirmed seat for them.

[taemo]

We went to Hawaii with our little one when she was almost 6 months and had a great time.
She enjoyed swimming at the beach and pool, we also enjoyed going for walks with her strapped on a baby carrier.

She may not remember any of the vacations that we take with her until later on but at least we have good photo memories of our travels with her.

We are going to Mexico (PV side) in April as we didn't want a long flight, she will be 11 months then.
We also have 2 big travels planned before she turns 2 and like what other beyonders have said, pre 6 months is a lot easier as all they do is eat and sleep.
She's so active and running around everywhere now and putting stuff in her mouth.
Not looking forward doing 10+ hours flights with her next year.

[rage2]

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She may not remember any of the vacations that we take with her until later on but at least we have good photo memories of our travels with her.

Off topic but one of the things I started doing a couple of years ago was instead of photos, I record video clips of interesting and funny stuff the kids do on vacation, let them choose a song they're currently into, then put the clips to the music. They watch these vacation videos regularly, and can still remember events from as young as 2 years old.

I don't think I can remember any part of my life prior to 6 years old.

[s2k_boi]

We did quite a few with our first one. As mentioned baby stage was way easier than toddler stage as they sleep most of the time.

First one:

6 month old to Japan, Taiwan & Korea
1 year old to HK and Beijing
18months to California

When we had our second it was a bit more resort style vacation:

2.5 yr old and 6month to Mexico. The toddler loved the beach and pool.

[CLiVE]

Just go and stop overthinking. The kid will sleep when they're tired, I've found both of my kids adapt fairly easily to time zones. I don't think there was much freedom lost. Pack the kid up, bring a stroller.
I was back and forth to Europe with my daughter about 15 times before she was 2 years old (now 11), and my now 3 year old is well traveled also.

The worst experience was the first class 'pod' seats when she my daughter was 2. There were WAY too many buttons for her to push and she refused to sleep on the plane. haha.

[tonytiger55]

Do it east Indian style! Leave the kiddo with the wife at home and jet off. Well.. thats what my cousins do here.

[taemo]

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Off topic but one of the things I started doing a couple of years ago was instead of photos, I record video clips of interesting and funny stuff the kids do on vacation, let them choose a song they're currently into, then put the clips to the music. They watch these vacation videos regularly, and can still remember events from as young as 2 years old.

I don't think I can remember any part of my life prior to 6 years old.

I remember you mentioning about this on previous threads. I also started taking short clips of her to make some videos to show her once she's grown up. Can't rely on wife's video clips though as she shoots in Portrait mode

And yeah, prior to 6 years old most will not remember much although some events, perhaps some of the best or worst experience will be stored in your memories.

[killramos]

When it’s old enough not to scream the entire flight

/non-parent comment

[Mitsu3000gt]

Younger the better based on my observations as far as travel hassle goes - at that age they just chill in a car seat/carrier and sleep. Toddlers are a nightmare on long flights. Anytime before they can walk is the sweet spot IMHO. They aren't going to remember anything either, so take the opportunity to still do what you want before every vacation turns into short flights/drives or Disney World haha.

[mr2mike]

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Looking to see when beyond parents started taking their babies or kids on vacation. Our little one is almost 1

"NEVER!!"
- People on planes without kids.

[rage2]

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When it’s old enough not to scream the entire flight

/non-parent comment

How about half the flight?

Honestly, we solved the screaming kid problem with food and electronics. An iPad, Beats noise cancellers, snacks and candy and they're good to go on a flight to Europe. Not something we typically do at home, but on a flight? Fuck yea, gotta make it easy for the other 100 people close enough to hear them.

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Can't rely on wife's video clips though as she shoots in Portrait mode

On the first day of every vacation, I gather all the phones, setup the proper settings (4K/24 or 4K/30 depending on style), then educate all the owners on how to shoot. My problem now is that I have way too much footage. That's a good thing I guess, but sure adds to the amount of time needed to knock out an edit.

[ExtraSlow]

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Honestly, we solved the screaming kid problem with food and electronics. An iPad, Beats noise cancellers, snacks and candy and they're good to go on a flight to Europe. Not something we typically do at home, but on a flight? Fuck yea, gotta make it easy for the other 100 people close enough to hear them.

That's the way. We keep our kids electronics time on strict lockdown, but when travelling, it's a free-for-all. Watch all the backyardigans, eat all the granola bars, go nuts. We even let them have soda pop on the flights.

[Buster]

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That's the way. We keep our kids electronics time on strict lockdown, but when travelling, it's a free-for-all. Watch all the backyardigans, eat all the granola bars, go nuts. We even let them have soda pop on the flights.

do you use technology to do the lockdown, or do you just use fear and intimidation?

[ExtraSlow]

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do you use technology to do the lockdown, or do you just use fear and intimidation?

A bit of both. One of mine has been able to bypass most technology solutions, so she needs more manual methods as well. I take a layered approach to it.

[rage2]

My 5 y/o figured out how to bypass screen time the night it came out. Used messages, YouTube app from there, msg his brother videos watch it in messages app. Future hacker.

[benyl]

Fear and intimidation. Devices can't be used without permission and supervision. 30 minutes per week if they are lucky. No TV. I Run the house like a prison.

On Vacation, unlimited.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Manhattan]

Appreciate everyone's input. Interesting to see the whole spectrum of parenting styles and approaches. I think we just need to figure out who we are as parents and being somewhat new to this we need to be more confident in ourselves and know that even if a trip or vacation isn't what we had envisioned or more cumbersome than expected then at least we'll know first hand and plan accordingly for the next few years.

Plenty of friends have taken their weeks or month old baby on long haul flights around the world on some pretty adventurous trips. Might have to make a test run of sorts by strapping the baby on a carrier and taking him around town for a whole day to see how he deals with it. Kinda like how you're supposed to put everything you plan on packing into a bag and strolling thru town to test it out before taking off on a backpacking trip.

Come to think of it my first trip was probably around 6 or 7 when parents took me on a train ride between cities and I remember having a blast. Still enjoy train journeys now. I traveled extremely well as a child before iPhone and iPads so hopefully the same is true for the little one.

[JRSC00LUDE]

The answer is "When you want to go somewhere.".

It's really not difficult, just different.

[benyl]

Just re-read you OP. Here are my suggestions. The funny thing is that we don't always follow them. haha.

1. Take the first day to settle into your new digs. Don't plan anything on your first day. Kids will be jet lagged, even if there is no time change. We make this mistake all the time and plan Disney or something else and we always regret it. Just chill in and around the hotel, get supplies like diapers that you didn't bring. Enjoy meals. When we do manage to do it, it makes the trips so much better.
2. Plan your activities around naps and don't be afraid to do shit alone. If going to an amusement park, take advantage of parent swap.
3. Make sure you stick to the feeding schedule. We fuck this up all the time. We get busy trying to get somewhere, kids get hungry and leads to hangry.
4. Plan for settle down time at the end of the day and always have something that you can catch up with when the kids go to sleep.
5. If possible, stay on home time. This does wonders when you come back. When we do to Orlando, we get up late and stay up late. Hawaii, we are up at 4am, and sleep at 6pm. haha. Shit starts early there anyway.

Our kids have travelled more in the first 4 years of their lives than I did in the first 20 of mine.

When my son was 5, we hiked Diamond head while I had his 1 year old sister in the carry all. You can do what ever you want with kids, but you just need to follow some rules. The rules just makes things easier.

I am not saying my rules are the right ones, but they work for our kids. You will figure it out.