We have recently returned from a brilliant holiday in the Lake District with our 19 month old. As parents with long term conditions, going on holiday has an extra level of challenge. Packing takes place over several days, loading the car up is exhausting and the drive can be uncomfortable. But once we were there, it was so lovely. Taking a week off together to spend as a family was a real treat and I want to share how we made it work.
I’m aware that we are privileged to be able to take a holiday at the minute, and I appreciate it’s not a possibility for everyone. But if you are thinking of some time away in the UK – be it camping, a holiday cottage or staying with friends or family – here’s my experience of enjoying a holiday with a toddler.
Please share your experiences and thoughts. You can comment below, or get in touch with me here.
Packing and preparing the Emma way
So I’m an over-preparer. An over-packer. An over-thinker. It’s in my nature, but it’s also how I cope with physically and mentally challenging tasks, by preparing ahead of time, and over a longer period than most people would.
Packing for this holiday began a full 6 days before we were due to go away, at the weekend before. I always worry that if I leave it to closer to the day, I’ll be so tired before we go away I won’t get to enjoy it. And this way when my husband announces that he’d really like to take his favourite pink cat shirt away, there’s time for us to get it washed and dried.
We tend to take a bag for us, a bag for little one, a separate bag for her cloth nappies and then a crate full of toys, books and games. Plus there’s always the ‘snack bag’ in the car, filled with drinks, snacks and spare dummies.
I look at all of this and think it doesn’t look that bad. Then I remember we also need shoes, coats, the buggy and if the dog is coming then bits for her too (bed, food, crate for travel). So the pile builds up over the week.
I write lists of anything I can’t pack yet – toothbrushes and so on – ready to tick off on the morning we leave.
By the day before, there’s a huge pile in the hallway. We like to load the car up as much as possible the day before, so that there’s one less thing to do on the day, particularly if we’re driving a long way.
Managing the drive
We take it in turns to drive, although my husband can last longer than me generally. Before we set off, I set up a Google map with stopping points I’ve researched. Normally, we like to find farm shops and cafes not too far from the main road. Garden centres can be good too, as well as National Trust or English Heritage sites (particularly if you’re members).
Ideally, we want somewhere to stretch our legs, use the loo and grab something to eat or drink. I do tend to pack enough snacks not to need to buy food on the way, but we end up eating en-route anyway for the break.
For our Lake District trip, we stopped at a small garden centre on the way up for a late breakfast and a play on their tractor and climbing frame. On the return trip, we stopped at a farm shop for a quick lunch and leg stretch.
Planning our days when we're away
We tend to sit down on the first night and look at any welcome packs, leaflets and visitor books for ideas of things we might like to do on holiday. For us, a steam train ride is generally on the cards as well as some nice food.
Because we needed to fit around mealtimes and naps on this holiday, we tended to get up early-ish for breakfast at the cottage, then head out for a morning activity. Holidaying with a toddler requires entertainment and room to roam, so we found places to visit with play areas were particularly handy.
We’d generally start looking for somewhere for lunch around 11am, so that we could beat the rush and because little tummies like to be fed early. By 11:30am generally we’d found somewhere. However, I find lots of places don’t serve lunch until 12pm, so we often ended up with either breakfast again, or eating cake before lunch. I think that’s fine when you’re away. Sometimes it’s a pudding first kind of day.
After lunch, we’d have a walk or drive to let little one nap, or head back to the cottage. If we wanted to we could then pop back out somewhere else later.
The one place we visited that wasn’t really designed for toddlers was Spice at the Gilpin Hotel. I called up ahead of time to check we were alright to bring a one year old for lunch. They were happy to have us, and when we arrived a bespoke ‘Baby Spice’ Stokke Tripp Trapp chair was set up. Staff were happy to accomodate a toddler’s palate, recommending how dishes could be adapted to be less spicy for her. The only challenge was the lack of baby changing, though we managed fine in the generously sized bathrooms as little one can manage standing changes now. It may have been more of a challenge with a younger child though.
We were glad not to have let being away with a toddler stop us also enjoying less child-friendly aspects of our holiday. But I generally think that days tailored to a young child make the experience more enjoyable for everyone.
Managing the holiday budget
Splashing out on a fancy meal was lovely, but we tried not to overspend on the rest of the holiday.
- We’re National Trust members, so visiting Hill Top Farm was free for us (other than the small Mrs Rabbit toy we inevitably had to buy in the gift shop).
- We were lucky to be staying on a sheep farm at lambing time, so little one got to visit the pet lambs being cared for inside the barn.
- Gentle walks along the seaside or through villages, towns and forests cost nothing.
- We made packed lunches for some of the days to cut on costs, then popped to the supermarket to pick up an easy tea so that we didn’t need to eat out so much.
- Scenic drives cost us only the fuel.
- We found toddlers got free entry into a lot of attractions which helped cut costs.
Packing for our days out
Over the last year and a half, I’ve fine tuned my ‘day out’ packing. It’s a constantly evolving process, but I think I’ve made some real improvements which have eased the physical toll on me.
We now use a lightweight buggy which folds small, so space is slightly more limited. I have a pram bag from Fiyyah which poppers onto the handles so it’s easy to grab water and snacks as we go.
We then have a nappy pod as our changing bag, containing a washable mat, reusable nappies, wipes, a wet bag and a change of clothes. Inside the pod is also a mini wet bag, which contains just a small pack of wipes, a couple of nappy bags and two or three disposable nappies. This is easy to take out of the pod for just-in-case, and can tuck in a pocket if needed to travel lighter.
For days where we left the buggy, we used our Wompat toddler carrier, which neatly fits in a nappy pod for storage. For this purpose, I always take a small backpack. If you’re baby wearing you want something easy to carry around. The backpack became the snack/changing bag. We also have a Cotopaxi hip pack which is great for baby wearing as it fits underneath the carrier, rather than cutting across as a shoulder bag would.
I’d advise keeping spare clothes and nappies in the car, for emergency purposes. On the day we took the steam train, we’d gone through two changes before we even left the station and it was a relief to know I had a back up set in the car.
Enjoying the moments
It can be easy to miss the point of holidays when we’re trying to manage parenting with spoons. We can get caught up in how we feel, in how we will manage each outing, in coping with the energy of a toddler when we have little for ourselves.
But the point of holidays – for me, at least – is spending quality time with my family and having fun. So I tried to pause every now and then to just enjoy what we were doing. Sitting on a bench watching people wander up and down the train platform. Sharing a cup of tea in a lovely cafe. Watching the sheep on the farm. None of these required much energy or spoons, but they refilled the emotional tank.
My favourite part of our holiday was the little moments we shared together, laughing, watching, exploring. And making minor changes to how we do things, can help us achieve this.
I hope you manage to enjoy some time with your family this year, whether at home or away.
Spoonfuls of love,
Emma
