First of all, when we booked our trip over 6 months ago, we had no idea what kind of almost-toddler Elise was going to grow into by our departure date. Happily, she has become a very social, mostly happy, and mobile but NOT YET WALKING (thankfully!) baby; all of which bode well for travelling. Likewise, I hope we can report that we are fairly relaxed parents who have learned to "go with the flow" and not have too many expectations about things going a certain way.
Travelling with an older baby does require a bit more planning than travelling with an infant or an older child I'm sure, but we found the benefits outweighed the costs, and instead we had "the best of both worlds":
At 11 months, Elise is still little and young enough to be relatively "portable": she was happy to nap in her stroller or carrier, but was also old enough to have some flexibility in her eating/sleeping schedule.
Best of all, she is also old enough to really enjoy all the new experiences that travelling brings! Elise seemed to be delighted to meet new people every day (most of whom would fuss over her, earning lots of big smiles), and was so excited about everything around her: planes, trains, automobiles; pigeons (!!), dogs...but mostly people.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not saying it was "easy" to travel with an almost-one year old: we did have our share of tense meals where we were just trying to eat as quickly as possible to avoid a meltdown before bedtime...But we also learned that it was easy enough to pop Elise in the carrier when she was getting fussy, and allow her a little "cat-nap" while we finished our dinner peacefully. We tried to take our cues from the Europeans we met along the way, who seemed to have a much more relaxed view of naps and bedtimes: allowing their children to follow the "adult" schedule, and sleep in their stroller if and when they got tired. While I'm not sure if this would work all the time, for a few days while on vacation, everyone seemed much more relaxed when they weren't stressing about being back in the hotel room (and then stuck in the hotel room!) for nap/bedtime.
The timing was also great for us as a family:
Dave got a chance to spend all day every day with Elise at an age when she is so fun and learning so many new things every day. If she wasn't a "Daddy's girl" already, she definitely is now! As the "primary caregiver" most days, it gave me a chance to step back a bit and allow her a little more "independence" in spending more time away from me, both with her Dad, and with other people (she spent some time in the daycare at the resort we stayed at): perfect timing as we prepare for her to start daycare when I go back to work in July.
It also gave Dave and I a chance to reconnect as a couple: after a year filled with so many changes as we adjusted to life with a baby, and learned to define our roles as parents, it was so great to be able to take a break from the busy-ness of day-to-day life to look back on this special time together. Likewise, it was so nice to have the opportunity to watch our daughter as she is transitioning from a baby to a little girl: our trip was filled with moments of both quiet reflection as our "baby" slept in our arms, as well as awe and excitement as our "big girl" explored her ever-changing surroundings.
Now that we are home, we are all tired and out-of-sorts from the time change and travel days, but feeling really connected as a couple and as a family. Definitely a successful family adventure!
ps/ As an aside: up until this point, Elise had no teeth...11 months, and 0 teeth. During our trip, we noticed a bottom tooth starting to emerge, and within a day or two, she had 4 teeth on the go (2 on top, 2 on the bottom). It seems unfair that the poor little thing is now dealing with jet-lag, changing surroundings, and now 4 teeth to top it off...But I can't help thinking if she is going to be miserable for a few days anyway, she might as well get it over with all at once!!
