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Can you enjoy a Holiday with Toddlers and get a break?

Before we went on our first holiday with our daughter, 8 month old Chloe, a friend told me to erase all memories of previous holidays because it will never be the same! You have to Adjust your Expectations.   You have to embrace a different sort of holiday, you won’t be able to spend your time dozing on a sunbed! However here are 5 things that will help the whole family enjoy their trip:

• Get into your holiday routine On that first holiday with Chloe, I remember we’d get her to have a nap mid-afternoon in the buggy, and then we’d head to the pool, I’d get to chill in the sun for an hour and my husband headed to the bar for a cold beer. A little break for Mum and Dad! We’d go out somewhere in the morning, be back for lunch and then head to the pool for nap time. This routine was different to her routine at home where she’d nap earlier, but it worked for holiday.
• Keep your kids safe so you can relax Holidays with young children can be harder than being at home because you are in an unfamiliar environment, and don’t necessarily have the same tools (g. stairgates) that you have at home. If your baby / toddler is walking the little life rucksacks are helpful if they’ll wear them. They give them a bit of freedom while keeping them close. Chloe was crawling/cruising on our first holiday so we created a safe area on our deck blocking off the steps with a sun lounger.
• Go for lots of walks outside Point out the local wildlife, collect shells and go rock-pooling. Last year, when we stayed in a villa in Portugal, Chloe was 2 and a half and we used to ‘go for an explore’ around the grounds of the villa, collecting pine cones and looking at flowers. It’s often easier to be on the move with children.

 

• Learn to enjoy early mornings I know it doesn’t feel like holiday when you’re up with the birds, but even if you’re not a morning person (I’m not), you can enjoy life before 8am. When I was on my first Eurocamp holiday with Chloe – I used to strap Chloe into a Baby Bjorn and use the 6am wake-ups to explore the beautiful view from the hills when no-one else was around.

 

 

• Finally, embrace parenthood See things through the eyes of your child. Bury them in the sand, chase them round the beach, have an ice-cream! I told my husband this last year when we were on holiday in Devon, he was having a bit of a moan, mourning our pre-kids life. Will was 3 months old and Chloe was 2 and a half, and we weren’t finding much time to relax. It’s a cliché, but the thing is this stage of parenthood will fly by and we’ll look back on our children’s first sandcastle and wonder where the time went.

NB: This is a guest post by Laura.  Chloe and Will are now nearly 5 and 2 and a half, and we’ve just come back from the first holiday where we actually relaxed, I got some time to read on the sunbed, while Will was napping and Chloe played with her friends, it does get easier!

Laura McCracken is a working Mum of 2, who loves to get the kids outdoors, whether home or abroad.  Blog – Nature & Nurture – holibobs with the sprogs! 

Instagram – @katy_kraken     Twitter – @laura_mccracken