The wife and I are debating a May trip to Europe w our then 10 month old girl. We have both been to Europe but never with a child. We are mainly concerned with the huge time zone change from California and just how tiring it could potentially be. We have debated just a beach vacation but I'm not sure we can keep a 10 month old amused at the beach for that long. And to the sun even w proper covering and protection.

Well a ten month old is easier to take on a long holiday then a 2 yr old . My ten month olds ( had three of them ) were still sitting in strollers.. where as by the time they were 2 they would want out to run around.. thats ok sometimes.. but not in crowded museums etc..

We also always bought our babies their own seats on planes. so they could be in their carseats and safe.. and also because it seems horrible to expect anyone to hold on to a child for 10-12 hours.

That said, have you ever taken child on a long flight.. we started with shorter flights when kids were young.. no more then 5-6 hours.. until they were school age.. sorry we are west coasters too( so we did Hawaii a few times, LA, Mexico cruises etc) and we didn;t try europe till they were school age.. but you have only one child to deal with between the two of you .. we had three ( and btw the time I had a 10 month old I was pregnant again, lol ) so we saved Europe for later.

I have to be honest.. a 10 month old is a bit like "luggage" and she.he will change the trip and the meaning of the word "vacation".. it will still be FUN and you will make memories.. but its not going to be the same restful lazing by the beach reading a book for 4 hours and suntanning type of holiday for awhile now..

We traveled to Paris last January with my Grandson who was just about that age. Not the best trip since it was cold, but he did very well. We spent a lot of time in the Louvre and other museums,so he could toddle around since he had just started to walk, but that is where I normally spend time so I was fine with that.

We rented an apartment so we could take him back for naps, and have a place for him to move around at night. It worked out very well.

We were advised to take a Bob jogging stroller by people on a baby forum and that was the worst advice ever. It was big and bulky. Should have bought a compact umbrella stroller that folded quickly.


We flew non stop from Los Angeles. We had the bulkhead seats and he slept in the bassinet for a short period of time, but he was really too big for it. There were 5 of us traveling together and we had an empty middle seat so he took a nap there as well. On the way home, I laid down a blanket on the floor of the bulkhead and he and I played on the floor for 10 hours. It was not the ideal situation but it kept him quiet which the other passengers appreciated.

He now has a baby brother and we are considering a trip to Ireland next year with both of them.

Ah ha.. the solution .. bring grandparents to help.. especially ones that will sit on an airplane floor for ten hours and play with your baby.. lol

We took an 11 month old to Paris in May, seven years ago! We loved it. We'd been to Paris once before and it was a completely different trip. Much less romance and spontaneity of course, but also so much slower and more interactions with locals!

I love a great beach vacation but I would find that more stressful and less relaxing than Paris, but that's just me.

We travelled with our daughter at 16 mos. If you pick your flights carefully, you can time them so that there's minimal disturbance to the sleep routine. A night flight is not bad, just kit your daughter out in pyjamas so that it's like a normal night (we also used sleeping bags, kept her snuggly from the cold air conditioning). She may not sleep the whole night through but enough so that the following night she will go to sleep near the normal time. Won't be perfect but after a week she will have adjusted. We travel from Australia and always break up the journey for a night in S.E. Asia, then take a late flight to Europe if we can, arriving early the next morning. We had a bassinet on the flights that time - check with your airline for max height and weight. Our daughter is petite so no problems. You then also get the bulkhead (yay!). Do think of some small toys that pack easily. New ones are a good idea (forget worrying about spoiling the child, this is a special occasion), and don't let her see them before you pull them out. We had a lot of tricky little bits and pieces from our local Chinatown such as a little rubber Mickey Mouse head with three coloured lights in it that flashed when you pressed it, rubber stretchy 'gonks', small boxed sets of mini-books that assembled to make a picture (if you want details of any of these, let me know). I think stackable cups would be good for a 10 month old, and we've seen other parents with a stamping set (very small and easily packed, you do the stamping). Anyway, night flights will buy you some hours where you don't have to worry about amusing your bub. Good luck!

Lavandula

Great responses. Our pediatrician scared us with fears of time zone changes and baby adjustments.

10-mo. old is still a potted plant that cries and poops. A 16-month old (or 19 or 20-month old, in our cases) wants to wander around and get into stuff.

When we took the then-20-mo old, we connected on purpose to a 930 overnight flight with a 3+ hour layover. He ran around the airport during the layover, played with a pretty young woman while waiting to get on the plane, we dressed him in his PJs and he wiped out soon after takeoff and slept on his old man for 6+ hours.

"luggage"( mine) "potted plant"( bigruss)...lol we love our kids.. I think we are sort of saying same thing.. Go for it !

Your doctor sounds like an alarmist.. he /she would scare me.... offering brain surgery for a headache type,, lol

Children actually seem to suffer less jet lag then adults.. yes. there little sleep schedules can be screwed up a bit , but so what. so are adults..its not going to kill anyone is it? Even if you stay in same time zone my kids sleep schedule would be screwed up because of different sleep enviroments, different schedules, different foods etc etc.. just roll with punches.. on bad days do less, visit a park , go for a stroll, eat some ice cream.

I took both of mine at about that age (and every other age for 20+ years). They did far better with the jet lag than I did. There were never any "too tired"issues after Day 1. It's not that part of your post that worries me - it's the beach part. Sure, you can involve some beach time, but a purely beach/relaxing vacation in Europe isn't going to work so well. First, it's not relaxing following a 10-month-old (if he's mobile) around a beach. Second, there's the sunburn issue (not THAT hard to control, but I always seemed to miss a spot). Third, it's May - European beaches aren't predictably usable at that time of year.

Just plan an ordinary trip to Europe, visit whatever you want to visit (a 10-month-old doesn't know if he's in the Louvre or the Hague or a fresh market in Barcelona), bring a lightweight stroller, and get into your routine as soon as possible. Adjust your schedule according to what baby needs, not what you feel compelled to do. People do this all the time - it's not novel.

I read the op as a European holiday OR a beach holiday, not a combination of the two.

lavandula's mention of toys reminded me of something. When we were preparing I read some well meaning travelogue that suggested a toy, treat or activity for every ten minutes of travel. We filled our carry ons with all sorts of stuff! In the end, our son watched a couple Baby Einstein videos on our laptop and conked out for the rest of the flight! But, we used all the toys and treats throughout the week, our apartment wasn't furnished with baby toys!

Yes one or the other. Either Europe or Hawaii lol. Combo would be a bit tough.

I think a 10 month old won;t really care where they are - but there are a couple of potential probles:

1) if the baby doesn't deal well with time change - and you won;t know until you do it
2) dinner - taking an infant to a lot of restaurants can be difficult and how late will be baby be able to stay up - even and early dinner will end at 9 pm (and will you try to find a sitter?)
3) Probably much more comfortable for all to stay in an apt versus hotel - breakfast and snacks are easier and you can let the baby sleep while you are up - but will an apt be baby-proofed?

Certainly this can be done - you just need to plan up front. And I would buy the baby a seat - so neither you nor anyone around you will suffer with cranky baby.

so a follow up question...we are debating flying economy vs springing extra for premium economy. It's about $1-1300 difference for us all to fly PE.

You need a new pediatrician, what an idiot.

We took our 10 month old on a beach holiday and it wasn't pleasant. When we were at the beach all he wanted to do was crawl into the surf. The novelty of that wore off very quickly (for us, not him).

The follow up question is a no brainer, assuming you were only going to buy 2 seats either way, then if you can afford premium economy go for it.

Regarding the premium economy - of course it would be nicer there - but I don't think it makes any difference with your baby situation, just a matter of personal preference, particularly if you are able to request a bassinet, because if you do, you are seated at the bulkhead. This means extra legroom, and space to put your baby on the floor, all without paying a supplement. The only downside to this location is that sometimes for logistical reasons you may not be able to pull out the video screen, which on modern planes is tucked away in a compartment in the side of your seat. This happened to me more than once and I just listened to the audio program or dozed. You may not find this is a problem on your flights.

So yes, it would be lovely to get PE but isn't really an issue with the baby, it will just guarantee a little more legroom.

Lavandula