Date of publication 09/08/2017
Traveling with children Vacationing with my baby
Tricks, tips, and unwritten rules for enjoying the perfect family vacation.
Is this your first vacation with your baby? This first-person account will inspire you to find your ideal home by the beach and share moments that will stay with you forever.
When I was a child, vacations smelled of sunscreen, pine trees, and freshly watered grass. I'm convinced those memories shaped the person I am today. I was a happy child, and summer vacations were my favorite days of the year. Even now, I treasure those moments that seemed to last forever. Who wouldn't want to give their children memories like that? Now that I'm a mother of two, three-month-old Sabrina and three-year-old Alaye, it's my turn to find the place that fits my family perfectly. And I think this year, I've found it.
THE GOLDEN RULES
After a few years of motherhood, I've learned that traveling with children and keeping things running smoothly (although there will always be surprises) comes down to five essential rules:
One: Forget about rushing. Babies, and children in general, move at their own pace, and you have to respect that, at least on vacation. In fact, use these days to let your baby's slower rhythm help you unwind from the pace of city life. Take a deep breath and repeat: There's no rush. There's no rush. There's no rush. By the end of the first week, you'll start to feel that there's nowhere you need to get to. You don't have to run. You can walk. Your shoulders, your back, your mind... everything will feel more relaxed. Re-lax.
Two: Embrace "no plans" as a way of life. The fewer things on your agenda, the better. Vacations are for relaxing and enjoying time together as a family. Forget the cultural sightseeing and steer clear of hyperactive, hyper-punctual groups of friends. Just you, your partner, and your children somewhere nearby, preferably by the beach: Andalusia, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, the Costa del Sol... There will be plenty of time for more elaborate trips later.
Three: Try to stick to your children's usual mealtimes, naps, and bath times each day (without stressing yourself or them out), and you'll be better able to prevent tantrums, frayed nerves, and all kinds of meltdowns. Babies cry when they're tired, hungry, or stressed. Noise bothers them, as do excessive heat, chilly air conditioning, a dirty diaper... and, of course, they pick up on the slightest change in mood. Especially Mom's.
Keeping their needs in mind and making them your priorities really does make life easier. On vacation, when everything around them is different, those familiar routines become anchors that help the whole family stay calm.
Four: Don't forget to bring a first-aid kit with sunscreen, a thermometer, pain relievers, gauze, bandages, cream for bumps and bruises, antiseptic for cuts, fever medicine, and insect repellent. They'll come in handy for those minor mishaps that inevitably happen.
Five: Keep them in the loop by telling them what you're planning, even when they're very young. They'll feel involved and taken seriously, and it sets a tone of warmth and open communication for the whole family from the start.
A PRIVATE TERRACE WITH OCEAN VIEWS
I'm someone who usually books well in advance. Around February, I start searching in earnest. The search itself becomes a little breath of fresh air while I wait for summer to arrive. This time, as soon as I visited the website for the hotel where I'm writing this and saw the room (especially this terrace, which has practically become an extension of my body), I had no doubts. I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. I had a few non-negotiables in mind. With babies, there's no question: sun and beach. Yes.
All-inclusive too. An easy-to-reach destination in every sense? Absolutely. Kids-stay-free offers? They're available. Above all, though, I wanted a place where we could stay in vacation mode around the clock. For a city dweller like me, that means having a terrace. And the bigger, the better. Right on the beach, with the sun setting over the sea from your balcony? Stop searching. Book it.
So I took a look at this property and didn't need more than a minute to make the reservation. Every evening, this space gives my husband and me a little pocket of peace and happiness. Once the babies are asleep, or around aperitif time, we can sit quietly with a drink, breathe in the salty sea air just a few yards away, enjoy some time to ourselves, talk, or simply watch the moon over the water in silence. Like yesterday, when we toasted with a glass of ice-cold Champagne from the minibar. Another fleeting moment that will remain forever in the mental movie of this vacation.
KIDS WELCOME
From this space that has become so essential to me (the terrace), I breastfeed my three-month-old daughter Sabrina while I watch her smile, her wisps of hair fluttering in the breeze off the sea. We've been here a few days now, and everything is going beautifully. We'd traveled many times with Alaye before, staying in hotels and resorts, but perhaps because we were new to traveling with children, or perhaps because we hadn't chosen the right places, we always came away feeling as though we were bothering people, being bothered ourselves, and never quite finding where we belonged.
Here, it's been different. Little Alaye got off to a great start on day one: he rode his bike all the way into reception. Surprise! Nobody minded, frowned, or showed the slightest sign of disapproval. The welcome bag of candy was another sweet touch that made him feel special. Then, when he dropped off his suitcase in the room and spotted the Fun Pack on his bed (a package with a cap, T-shirt, and mini CD provided by the hotel), he was beside himself with excitement. His enthusiasm has kept growing to the point that yesterday he announced he wanted to live here and bring his grandparents along too. "We'll think about it," his dad and I replied, trying not to burst out laughing.
A few days have passed since that happy check-in, and we're still completely at ease here. Each of us has found our own space without any effort. The large windows throughout this junior suite, overlooking the sea and the tropical gardens around the pool, have a lot to do with it. They make it a bright, comfortable place where the whole family can settle in, while also keeping it wonderfully quiet, an absolute necessity when you're traveling with young children.
ALL INCLUSIVE
A little sleepy (standard procedure with small children), I gaze at the beach from a distance at noon, an hour that's definitely off-limits for babies. Even though the sun is far too strong, just seeing the sea and the sunlight dancing across the waves connects me with the powerful energy of summer. I savor these few minutes before lunch every day, before heading down to the pool bar to meet my husband and son after breastfeeding. Our "official" table is waiting for us there in the shade, right beside the lawn, along with a chilled bottle of white wine and another of very cold water. All-inclusive hotels are the easiest way to spend the day with little ones without having to think about anything else.
My husband is with our three-year-old in the kids' area: pools, slides, waterfalls, activities... all in a super-safe setting within sight of parents having a drink on the neighboring terrace. Every day, Alaye comes back with a different craft project and a funny story to tell us. Once he's settled into his high chair at our table (courtesy of the hotel), he lists his new friends one by one before the waiter brings over the children's menu and jokingly asks him, "And what will you be having today, sir?"
He loves feeling grown-up, respected, and listened to (why does that surprise us when we're talking about a child?). Just three years old, he studies the colorful menu as if he could read, then turns to Antonio, the waiter (who by now feels like part of the family), and politely orders pineapple juice and fish with potatoes and ketchup. This daily scene has us in stitches. It will be another of those memories that makes us smile years from now whenever we think back on this vacation.
DIRECT BEACH ACCESS
Not having to think about meals is surely the essence of a restful family vacation. But this year's winning formula also has a lot to do with direct beach access. Being able to walk back and forth to the sea whenever it suits us feels incredibly freeing.
I go at sunrise with Sabrina. She's usually awake very early. After I feed her, at around 7:00 a.m., I take advantage of the quiet. I do a little meditation, a few sun salutations, and some breathing exercises as best I can. Sometimes I manage with her in my arms; sometimes I lay her on the mat for a few moments. Occasionally she sleeps; other times, she watches every glimmer of sunlight intently and listens to the waves.
Then I walk barefoot. I take my time. I breathe deeply. I let the tension ease out of my back. Streeeeetch. These are my favorite hours on the beach. My husband prefers the evening, when the sun is setting, so he and our little boy can play soccer as though they were major-league stars.
Afterward, I walk barefoot back to the hotel, and we all have breakfast together around a charming outdoor table, with artisan bread and freshly squeezed juices always within reach. I'm endlessly grateful for these simple, homemade morning treats, for the smiles of the team serving our breakfast, and for something as basic as a baby-changing station in the restroom that makes our lives so much easier.
GOING OUT FOR DINNER
One afternoon, we decided to venture out for a quiet family dinner. The baby wouldn't complain as long as she was snuggled close to Mom, I told myself. So we'd head out with the full arsenal to make sure we didn't miss anything during the three or four hours we'd spend along the waterfront: stroller in case the baby fell asleep, carrier in case she didn't, balance bike so our three-year-old could get around without asking to be carried, toy cars and colored pencils to keep him entertained at the table during dinner... All we needed now was the perfect outdoor spot, with enough room for the little ones to play and the kind of seafood menu you expect by the coast.
We started getting ready early (Golden Rule No. 1: Life is better when you don't rush). We talked to our son about our dinner plans and promised him a big ice cream at the end of the adventure. He agreed (Golden Rule No. 5). And we came back reasonably early, around the time our three-year-old usually goes to bed (Golden Rule No. 3). The walk was wonderful. The baby fell asleep along the way with all the movement, and Alaye enjoyed riding his bike, eating dinner, and even making some friends. Before heading back, we filled out and mailed a postcard to the grandparents from the waterfront, and another to our own home as a souvenir. I'm sure that night he dreamed about that postcard and the magic of finding it waiting in our mailbox when we got home.
TIME TO MAKE WISHES COME TRUE
In the days before we left, we packed our suitcases together. Alaye put his own swimsuit, sunglasses, water shoes, goggles, sunscreen, and some of his favorite toys into his suitcase. Another thing we did as a family before traveling was make a vacation wish list, and we've been faithfully working our way through it.
This year, my husband wanted to try a few water sports, so he added them to the list for us to cross off one by one. He also wanted to visit the hotel gym at least three or four times during our stay. We wrote that down too, so he wouldn't forget. I'd promised myself a good treatment at the hotel spa. I'd even had a look at the tempting treatment menu. Making time for these little indulgences on vacation can be restorative. You have to do it without making excuses, coordinating with your partner so one of you stays with the children while the other takes a little time out.
The baby asked for nothing more than as much time with Mom as possible. Done. And our other little one made his wish clear: he wanted to visit an amusement park. We found the best option nearby and set aside an afternoon just for that. Wishes granted. Tonight, out on our terrace, we'll raise a glass beneath the stars and listen to the waves, savoring some of these fleeting moments that somehow feel eternal. This will always be the first summer we spent with our second baby, and these memories will stay with us for years to come. Between glasses of Champagne and fits of laughter, we'll consider moving here, just as our firstborn suggested. And who knows? Maybe we'll spend one endless vacation in this place that has become our home by the beach.
A HOME BY THE BEACH FOR EVERY FAMILY
Not every family will end up in the same corner of Mallorca as us, so whenever a friend who's new to motherhood asks me where to start, I usually tell her about other Iberostar hotels I know well. Each one, in its own way, makes the things that really matter when you're traveling with a baby so much easier.
A true family hotel in Mallorca, Iberostar Selection Playa de Muro Village has four pools, one indoor and three outdoor, plus a water park with slides that can turn the hours after lunch into the best part of the day for little ones. When you're traveling with a newborn, finding a hotel with a pool that also offers suites with sofa beds and microwaves for warming baby food and bottles without having to head down to reception, along with a crib available in the room on request, matters more than you might think.
With Sabrina still so tiny, there's one place in Tenerife I'd return to without a second thought: Iberostar Selection Anthelia is exactly what a family hotel in Tenerife should be. It's right on Fañabé Beach and is one of those baby-friendly hotels that truly understands the day-to-day realities of traveling with an infant, with cribs available on request in any room and Star Camp offering its own Kangaroo group for children ages 0 to 3, always accompanied by an adult. There are also ground-floor family rooms close to the Star Camp facilities, so there's no need to carry the stroller up and down stairs at nap time. Really, finding the right hotel for a vacation with a baby comes down to something simple: making sure neither the baby nor the parents have to miss out.
And what if the trip takes you across the ocean? In Riviera Maya, Iberostar Selection Paraíso Maya, which has earned a reputation as an excellent family hotel in the region, almost feels like a resort built around children: six pools, including a wave pool and a lazy river where Alaye could happily spend the entire afternoon, plus the same Star Camp program with its Kangaroo group for babies and toddlers ages 0 to 3. Babysitting is available for an additional charge for parents who would like a quiet dinner one evening, while everyday baby items are available on request at no extra cost, so there's less to pack.
Back in Cádiz, I have another recommendation: Iberostar Waves Royal Andalus, a family hotel in Cádiz with a children's area that always surprises families, is one of those hotels for kids that gets the balance between beach and pool just right. La Barrosa stretches for more than 3 miles along fine sand with Blue Flag status, while the hotel adds children's pools with dragons and Viking ships, slides, and water cannons. Cribs are available on request, along with rental accessories ranging from bikes to bed rails.
Four destinations, each with its own way of providing what families really need, from a pool that feels like a miniature water park to a terrace overlooking the sea. Yet they all share the same underlying idea: finding a place that, even for just a few days, feels like a real home for the whole family.
ROSA MARQUÉS
Imágenes de Cordon Press y Getty Images
Hazlo Realidad
