All-inclusive vacation with babies and toddlers; our experience

A couple months ago, my boyfriend and I took our 2 toddlers for an all-inclusive vacation. I say toddler, but they are pretty much babies.  Our first all-inclusive vacation as a family of four was a test for our upcoming 3-week road trip in Cuba.

Last November, we went with Téo not even 2 years old and Ély 3 months old for a week at an all-inclusive resort.

I will tell you more in another post about our 3 weeks road-trip with two toddlers, but for now, let’s focus on this all-inclusive vacation. All I can say is that both trips ended up being so different from one another. As if the first trip was our training for the second trip.

You will soon understand by reading the following lines that an all-inclusive vacation with 2 babies was far from being relaxed. It pretty much went as per Téo’s need of the day. After all, mom and dad can rest another time right? #lol #HopingForTheBest #LiveAndLearn

DAD’S EXPERIENCE

My boyfriend and I went to so many all-inclusive vacations in our days. So, my boyfriend left home hoping this vacation would be similar to his previous experience in an all-inclusive #lol … but with 2 toddlers. Anyways, he soon realized his dream was over!  It was not the vacation he had hoped for and far from what he had dreamed of. During our all-inclusive trip last November, Téo hated the beach. Tell me what else there is to do in an all-inclusive other than hitting the beach for hours on end? Well, not much! From the start, we were a little desperate about the whole situation (But let me tell you that we were more than happy to find out during our 3-week road trip in Cuba that Téo actually LOVES spending time at the beach! ) . There’s hope people! #HoldOn . 🙂

Also, going to the pool with 2 children under 2 was far from being relaxed. They were either running away or running around the pool #Danger or touching the water a little bit, then a little bit less and so it goes on. I must admit that all-inclusive vacations are not what they used to be anymore!

That’s without mentioning that we had to be very careful as the sun was shining on my babies all day long. We tried to control their time of exposure to the sun rays by keeping them hydrated, but that was a full-time job in itself.

All my boyfriend was hoping for, was loooonngggggg day of chilling and resting on the beach just like in the old days. He was shocked, and he came back home tired, far from what he was hoping for!

Today, if you were to ask him to go back to an all-inclusive vacation with 2 babies under 2 he would say yes in a heartbeat! Why? Because if you lower your expectations, it still is a good time with your family!

MOM’S EXPERIENCE

Now that you understand my boyfriend’s point of view, I can tell you mine. I personally didn’t find it too bad. I could apprehend what was coming our way #StayAtHomeMom . All I was hoping for was having a good time with my family. Being there all together, without rushing ourselves and taking things as they came. And I must admit that just having a break from cooking and cleaning was for me a successful vacation! 😉

THE WORST, THE FLIGHT

After all the trips we have done with our children the worst part of our vacation always is the plane trip. Knowing they are literally stuck in their (tiny) seats for many hours is never pleasant. Even for us, it’s quite tough, can you imagine for them!? All they love to do is to run around, to lay, to play and none of that is possible. Each time we go on a trip, the boyfriend and I always try to see it as 3 to 4 hours of bad stuff for 1/2/3 weeks of good stuff. Although you have to keep in mind that when traveling with a child everyone tries to help you out and that’s a great thing! You’re the first one boarding the place, you can skip the line to drop off your luggage or even skip the line for the custom. Once sitting in the plane, the flight attendants put their best behavior forward to help us out, by coming by more often and making sure we don’t need anything.

THE SECOND WORST SHARING A BEDROOM WITH YOUR CHILDREN (slightly exaggerating 🙂 )

As we have two very young children, when Ély needed to be breastfed during the night, it would also wake up Téo. Also, every night we felt like chilling and have a drink while the kids were sleeping, was almost impossible to do. Our only option was to wait for the kids to fall asleep and then go on the balcony, but even though we never made it to the balcony as we were too tired by that time. The same thing would happen in the morning when the kids would wake up at 6 am, everyone would have to get up. Nobody gets to have that extra precious hour of sleep.

SHOULD YOU OR SHOULD YOU NOT GO TO AN ALL INCLUSIVE WITH A BABY?

The answer is; YES!! For sure! Leave home knowing your vacation will follow your child’s rhythm and all will be good. In the sense that you should respect their nap time, for them to be more comprehensive when the evenings come around and that you want to stay up a little bit later than usual. Know that the operation will run smoother; having breakfast takes longer, getting ready for the beach takes longer as you have more than one body to apply sunscreen onto. But hey lady! You still get to be on vacation, so it’s totally fine if things run smoother! By following these tips, I am sure everything will be just fine. All-inclusive resorts are fully adapted to young families, they offer high chairs and there is even a nurse on site, just in case something happens. Everything you need is there, and you know for sure that there will be enough food, water… or even drinks for you to have a good time ;)! Leave your expectations at home and enjoy this precious week with your family under the hot sunshine!

ALL-INCLUSIVE’S MUST-HAVE ITEMS

I will soon write a post about my must-have items for flying with young children as well as my usual must-have items for traveling. I will let you know when the posts come out, stay tuned! For now, let’s focus on my must-have items for an all-inclusive vacation at the beach with your children:

A STROLLER
My stroller is definitely at the top of my list as my must-have item. You can carry so many things with it; beach towel, diaper bag, toys, snacks, and everything else that you may need to protect your baby from the sun. Plus, it can also be used as a bed for baby’s nap or as a shady spot for baby to relax away from the sun. Because you don’t want to go back to your room with your baby covered in sand to go take a nap. No! Beds are meant to stay sand free! Having your stroller at the beach means that you can take your baby for a short walk, they fall asleep and you keep going with your day at the beach. #WinWin

THE BABYMOOV TENT:
It’s very useful for the baby to lay on its back, to let them play with their toys while being away from the sun, the sand and the wind.

BABY CARRIER:
I use it to take long walks on the beach with the whole family. Because let’s be honest, it’s pretty hard to push a stroller in the sand for hours on end!

If you want to know more about my tips and tricks for traveling with your family, I highly suggest you read these posts: Tips to travel with a baby and Tips to travel with a stroller; my experience .