Holiday with a 4 week old baby

[sarah1986]

Just posted this in the second trimester and meant to post it here....doh!

Sooooo, I'm either mad or just stupid, but we are planning on going away for a week in August in my mum & dads caravan.

If baby is born on time he will be 4 weeks old, obviously there is the chance he could be early or late.

What would you all say is a suitable travelling time with a young baby in a car? We planned to go to Tenby which is around a 4 hour drive from us but obviously will be longer as we are going to have to stop every hour or two to feed baby etc.

What is everyones opinions?

 

[GBLiz]

its probably easier at 4 weeks than 4 months!

 

[Kaylip29]

We went on a caravan holiday, about 3-4 hours away, with our first born who was 6 weeks at the time. It was absolutely fine, you just find yourself taking everything including the kitchen sink with you! We actually found it much easier holidaying with him as a 6 week old, compared to holidaying with him at 2yr old

As long as you are stopping off regularly to get baby out of the car seat, I don't see any problems, enjoy your holiday xx

 

[sarah1986]

Thanks you have put my mind at rest

 

[Shanivy]

It wouldn't be for me but everyone is different. I was still healing from stitches and bleeding 4 weeks after my daughter was born. We were also still trying to get breastfeeding sorted. Plus newborns at 4 weeks are still so susceptible to colds and illness. Someone gave my daughter a cold just under a month and it was horrendous. I'm just back from a caravan holiday and I'm planning on taking my 2nd away when shes a few months old. We were going to book August but she'd be 4 weeks too and it's too young for me

But that's just my opinion. Everyone is different. Some people bounce back from labour and take their young babies abroad to family etc with no issues. If you're dead set then just remember car seat safety, especially with a baby that young. And it's true your baby won't really care about the travelling at that age. So as long as you make plenty of stops to get them out of their seat you should be fine with the actual car travelling. I think it's generally the 2 hour rule but you'd probably need to stop more often than that anyway . You can ask your health visitor near the time. Good luck with the holiday xx

 

[Red_eric]

Sorry to hijack the thread but I am also interested in this. My father in law is not very mobile and my husband is keen for us to take the baby to Spain to meet him. I also like the idea of going to Spain (well who doesn’t?!) but I’m worried about all the practicalities. We are going to decide nearer the time, see how I feel, we don’t need to book accommodation or anything so it’s just a question of getting tickets... but what do you do about a passport for the baby? Do they get their own one or do they get added onto mine? And how long does it take?

 

[Shanivy]

Assuming you're in the UK? If so you can't add a baby onto your passport now so would need to apply for one before you travel I think standard time is 6 weeks unless you pay extra to fast track. xx

 

[Red_eric]

Thanks for that. Might just get father in law to come over if it feels too much.

 

[PeanutButter]

Im same as shan. It took me 6 weeks to be healed and have the energy to do anything. Id be tol worried about germs and stuff, youd also have to take a bottle sterilser if formula feeding just seems too much imo, but everyones different.

Red eric, i wouldnt take a baby on a plane so young. Imagine thier tiny ears they wont know what to do and the pressure build up is quite painful for some. Just my perosnal opinion though people take babies on planes everyday.

 

[Red_eric]

That’s a really good point - I am worried about germs also. I talked to my other half about it today and he was like - let’s just play it by ear - so there’s no pressure at all.

 

[TORino]

Something to bear in mind..my little boy is 11 weeks old and has only recently as in last 3 weeks stopped screeching the entire time he has been in the car seat. It has been so bad I’ve actually avoided taking him out in the car at times as it makes me incredibly stressed to hear it for extended periods. My daughter wasn’t like this at all mind you so there’s a good chance you’ll have a baby that likes the car!

At 4 weeks though I was still bleeding and icky even this time after a straightforward and trying to establish breastfeeding so I don’t think I would have went away that soon personally. Some days I didn’t even get dressed so packing for a holiday and travelling seems somewhat impossible!

Though I am going away in a few weeks time to Majorca

 

[Red_eric]

I guess that for us the journey would be stressful but once we were there it would not necessarily be as we go regularly and have a small flat where we could stay. There would be family there to help whereas we don’t have anyone in the UK... it’s not quite like going on holiday- we would have to pack stuff for the baby but we already have clothes there etc... It’s the journey that worries me.