Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

We went on our first family vacation with both boys (age 2y and 3m) a few weeks ago to the Hamptons. It wasn't enjoyable for me at all. I was exhausted and it was a lot of trouble to pack. I was happy to get home.

We live in the city and I find it difficult enough to go out 2-3 hours at a time with both kids and DH. We went to Sesame Place with ONLY 2yo DS and it was a lot of fun. I saw many families where one parent was basically just holding a crying infant and thought that the baby must just be hot and not enjoying themselves.

I've been nagging DH for a family vacation. He thinks the kids are too young and we will just suffer. I'm beginning to think he is right.

Moms of toddlers and infants, is it more trouble than it is worth to travel?

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

Last year when our boys were 7 months and almost 2 we did a little mini road trip. Packing is hard but we had fun. We went to Mystic Aquarium and then drove up to a friends house in Massachusettes. We enjoyed ourselves.

Just don't expect to relax and you can have fun!

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

Personally, I think it's more trouble than it's worth, especially if the infant is too young. They require a ton of gear, it's crazy hot out and they won't know what they are missing anyway.

We are going to Dutch Wonderland in August with DD and my parents are watching our 13 month old DS.

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

We've done a lot of trips with the two kids-some are harder than others.

We sometimes say, "what were we thinking" while in the midst of the trip.

Usually, by the time we get home we are happy to be home but feel the trip was worth it (which is why we keep going back for more ).

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

I know a lot of people would love to travel with small children, but for me, it's more trouble than it's worth.

We took our first family vacation when DS was just about to turn 3 and DD was 9 months. I was exhausted.

Personally, I would wait until the little one is a bit older if I had to do it all again.

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

you see for me, when they are infants, they are the easiest.. mine always spent most of their time sleeping...

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

No trips planned for this year, DD is almost 2, Ds is 7 months).

I'm waiting until next year, when we will all enjoy it more.

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it's nice to have a change of scenery and expose the kids to new things but on the other, vacations aren't the vacations you're used to after you have kids. They are really about the kids at this age.

My experience is at the time I want to sit and have a drink, one of my kids isn't happy or going to sleep. I've only traveled to places with other family members around so I'm grateful to have that helping hand. MIL will take over sometimes just so I can have a glass of wine and relax!

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

It's fun, but a lot of work. A lot!

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

I only have one but I am not doing it yet.
Like you said- it just would not be relaxing for me and more work than it is worth.

To me, a vacation is about relaxing. You are spending money- you should be able to enjoy it.
If I were to travel with DD at this age, I'd be more relaxed back at work..

But I have always been one to hate a hassle and take the easy way out.
I'm lazy as shyt!

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

I really think it depends on the type of trip. If it is a resort type of place I think its not so bad. If it is a two day trip to Sesame I can see it being a hassle.
We are going away in November to the Atlantis. This is our 3rd year in a row going and my older 2 love it. The kids will be 7.5 months old, 4 and 5 and I know the baby will enjoy it. We are at the resort, it is laid back and the pools there are great for kids. If it were disney I would be b!tching the whole time.

Now, with all that said, I am a SAHM and seem to like to torture myself and bring them everywhere and I like too see if I can handle days trips alone. Just last week I took the 3 of them to the beach alone. Everyone was great but it was too hot. I will probably try again towards the end of the summer when the baby is closer to 5 months old.

I also think it is easier traveling with a baby because they are not mobil and still nap, the down side is you need more crap

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

We recently went on vacation for about 10 days with our 2 girls (21 months and 8 months). Packing was a royal pain because of the amount of stuff we needed, but we did manage to relax & enjoy ourselves.

The key: we were with other people. We were with my parents for 4 or 5 days, so we had help and were able to relax a bit, and then we were with another couple who also had kids, so we were able to enjoy ourselves, too. I think if it had just been the 4 of us, it would have been less fun, and more of the "same old thing."

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

depends on the age and they type of vacation.

My DS is 3.5yo and DS#3 is almost 3m. I wont take them both on a long expensive vacation as I know it wont be relaxing at all at this point.
But we will do short trips to say Hershey for 3 days or something like that.
DS#1 is a breeze, he doenst need to nap, he is a go with the flow kid, who has fun no matter what we do.
DS#2 is too young to not nap, yet he only naps well in his crib, so I know he is going to get fussy when we are on vacation. And I would rather not spend the money to be frustrated.

I would rather wait until next year.

ETA: we started traveling with DS#1 when he was 7 months and it was always a breeze, I never came hom feeling like it was too much work. BUT He was such an easy kid. My second is very different so we will have to see. We are going to PA in August when DS will be 4 months....not sure how that is going to go!

Message edited 7/12/2011 11:19:00 AM.

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

DS just turned 2, and we just got back from a 3 day resort trip. It was exhausting, and maybe not worth it. The entire trip was spent trying to get him to avoid breakdowns.

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

The only thing that was hard for us is that DD is the worst napper ever so getting her to nap while we were out and about was so hard. If DD had been like DS, it would have been much better. Still, the weekend we spent in Philly was a lot of fun (DD was 4.5 months old at the time) and I would do it again with an infant.

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

Posted by JerseyMamaOf3

I really think it depends on the type of trip. If it is a resort type of place I think its not so bad. If it is a two day trip to Sesame I can see it being a hassle.
We are going away in November to the Atlantis. This is our 3rd year in a row going and my older 2 love it. The kids will be 7.5 months old, 4 and 5 and I know the baby will enjoy it. We are at the resort, it is laid back and the pools there are great for kids. If it were disney I would be b!tching the whole time.

Now, with all that said, I am a SAHM and seem to like to torture myself and bring them everywhere and I like too see if I can handle days trips alone. Just last week I took the 3 of them to the beach alone. Everyone was great but it was too hot. I will probably try again towards the end of the summer when the baby is closer to 5 months old.

I also think it is easier traveling with a baby because they are not mobil and still nap, the down side is you need more crap

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

I think it's worth it as long as it's somewhere I want to go. I also had no problem being the one to hold my screaming, clingy infant as long as DH was stepping up for the toddler (my kids are 22 months apart).

Our vacations with them when they were younger really consisted of driving & overnight trips. We stayed in Montauk & in Manhattan often (we live a few hours from both). We went to museums, aquariums, etc & loved it.

I wouldn't go to Sesame or a place like that because holding my infant in the hot sun while my DH wait on lines with the toddler sounds like a nightmare.

But if it's too much for you, skip it. It's not like anyone remembers trips they went on when they were two. I remember thinking when my son turned two how amazing it was that he would never remember anything that happened before then. They go by pictures.

Re: Moms of infants and toddlers, do you think traveling with 2 very young children is more trouble than it is worth?

i would wait until your 2nd one is a bit older. I found it was "easier" as far as having to bring less "stuff" when my younger guy got bigger

at age 2 and 4 it is MUCH better