Aimee Chan
Shouldn’t you wait until kids are older and can remember family holidays before you “waste” your money on taking them travelling with you? As a travel writer and founder of online family travel website Suitcases & Strollers, this is a question I get asked a lot and I have one response. No. Don’t wait until the kids are older. travelling with a baby is actually relatively easy (versus, say, trying to travel with a toddler) and cost effective. But beyond that, there are many reasons why taking infants out of their every day environment and going on baby friendly holidays is beneficial for both parents and child. Here are the most important ones.
1. Travelling with a baby is the best way to prepare for travel with kids
The first trip with kids is always the hardest. Once everyone understands the logistics involved in bringing a totally dependent child with on the road with you, you can all adapt faster and get used to the new experience. Baby holidays will teach baby how to sleep in a foreign environment, adjust to time zones and acclimatise to different schedules and will teach parents what coping mechanisms you need to get baby to do all of this comfortably.
2. Travelling with a baby doesn’t cost much more than travelling without a baby
You do not need to pay for airline seats, meals or many other additional costs when you are travelling with an infant. Any costs involved (such as cots in hotels) are usually minimal; in fact, some airlines will actually give you additional free baggage allowances if you are travelling with a baby. All good reasons to go on holiday with baby now because, once they turn two, the freebies start to disappear.
3. Almost all holidays are baby-friendly holidays
Unless you are seeking serious family adventure holidays, babies are very transportable and can go anywhere. Put them in a stroller or sling and they will sleep (or lie relatively quietly) through shopping sprees, gallery visits and tours of historical buildings. If you start travelling with baby very young, they can even sleep quietly in a capsule or stroller through a fine dining restaurant meal.
4. Babies don’t have an opinion about family holidays
Again, this means that you can basically do whatever you want (within reason) while you travel, a luxury you are soon about to lose. Even if you have to make the small compromises like returning to the hotel for naptimes or missing dinners in a restaurant, holidays with a baby never involve tantrums about leaving the souvenir shop or whining about how boring the museum is.
5. Travelling with an infant is an easy way to meet other people
People all over the world love babies. Strangers will stop you in the street, try to talk and interact and many times will even offer to help you when normally they would have just walked past. This special treatment has a finite lifespan, so enjoy it while you can.
6. Travelling with a baby exposes them to new experiences like foreign smells and sounds
Getting babies used to new environments is a good way to ensure they are never too reliant on familiarity and routine but, instead, are adaptable and able to take change in their stride.
7. Family travel photos are always better than cheesy portrait shots
Even just a basic photo on a beach will have memories and associations that give you reasons to continue to swap stories and talk as family, rather than just another photograph taking up wall space.
Also Read: 10 Family Friendly Destinations To Bring Your Kids To
Family holidays are happy time. Holidays with a baby are the moments when you get to really spend long tracts of time together as a family, removed from the every day stresses and distractions. If you’re relaxed and happy, baby is relaxed and happy and this will mean better bonding time.
Contributed by Suitcases & Strollers.
