 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
So having having got great advice from all you snowheads on getting my new girlfriend into skiing, then how best to propose on the piste, then going on honeymoon, I now need a bit of guidance on the next dilemma! We have now a baby, and after much deliberation we eventually decided that skiing this year definitely wasn't going to work. I then decided f*** it, you only live once, and booked us up.
So we are going for it this March, when mini-g will be 5 months old. Its ourselves with another couple, we have booked a couple rooms in a chalet in meribel, with private transfers. Separately booked Geneva flights with Easyjet (very limited flight options for us).
Our plan is to book a nanny for half days as thats what the budget allows, with my wife and I taking it in turns to miss skiing in the afternoon. Probably meet up with the other three for a beer or two with sprog then night in the chalet.
Really just looking to see what tips people have to make things easier?
Also anyone any experience with Easyjet and a baby? Looks like he gets '2 items of luggage' which can include a pram, seems like no reason I cant bring a pram and a sizeable bag as 'his' luggage? Then probably just one checkin bag for us plus a double ski bag.
Any advice well appreciated!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think the 2 items of luggage is 2 from: pram, car seat, buggy, booster seat etc. Then they get a small bag, which is really just to cover the rubbish they need on a flight (45x36x20cm) - nappies, milk etc.
Given you've booked, I can't add much! I personally would have chosen somewhere with shorter transfers given that one of you will be holding the 5 month old for the whole time. But that's me.
At 5 months old, he/she won't be up to much so concentrate on enjoying yourself and not getting worried!
Tip: Maybe buy a wifi CCTV camera in case the concrete of the chalet stops the baby monitor getting through for dinner time etc?
Tip 2: Hire an off road buggy in resort? Although the nanny might have her own.
Tip 3: Consider whether your baby is used to being with a nanny in MArch? Perhaps get it used to being with other people in advance. Our friends but their young baby in creche for the first time when on a ski trip and he went mental!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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We went with or 3 month old and it was a breeze back in March 2010 and every year since....including a second child along the way. baby just sleeps, eats, poops, sleeps, eats, poops .... a bit of play time and then they are happy either way.
We brought him up on the gondola to the cafe at the top and then tag teamed runs throughout the day...stopping for coffee on the switchover!. If thats an option it would remove the nanny cost but it depends on the runs and access. Also......do you need to consider feeding...breast/bottle.
If your bringing a buggy i would suggest large size wheels manouver alot easier.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We are taking our 5 month old to Morzine in 2 weeks, taking a grandparent with us for childcare  Plan is to meet said grandparent up the mountain each day for lunch...
So far we are thinking how to make it as easy as possible, for example taking the 'Perfect Prep' machine with us.
I will pop some feedback on here after the trip
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Took our little man when he was 8 weeks old, and as @stuarty said, it was easier when he was a baby! Planning on taking number two in April when he will be a similar age.
My sister came with us and did a lot of the childcare and again just met up in cafes during the day where possible.
If you are bottle feeding we took enough of his regular formula for the week and took Milton tablets for sterilizing. If you have started weaning I would take pouches/jars just for ease and convenience. Feed on take off/landing on the plane (helps them with their ears).
We only took a sling for carrying him around which worked really well but a pram might be better for an older baby - wherever they fall asleep easiest! We also took our own car seat with us.
Did not regret going at all, and have been every year since he was born  Have a great time!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We always found our usual pram/buggy was fine we just chose our resorts to have gondolas up to a nice restaurant. Tip for the pram you can keep then with you right up until you board the plane. If yours doesn't have a clip to keep it nicely folded up (ours didn't when set as a pram) take a piece of string to tie it up. When you land look out for your pram sometimes they are left at the bottom of the plane steps for you sometimes it's the lugauge carousel.
I know you've chosen your resort now but worth knowing for next year some of the Austrian ski resorts (Ski Welt Area) now let parents share lift passes if your child is under a certain age so you can tag team the child with the lift pass.
Next year don't forget the bucket and spade.
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First paragraph reads like us, decided to give it a miss by my wife knows what skiing means to me so we booked and took him at 5 months.
As above, he was pretty easy to manage apart from the additional baggage that I had to lug through the airport - wife carried the boy, I had trolley piled high, plus double ski bag!
How you get on during the day is very personal and depends purely on you, the baby, the resort, feeding and hand over. In the end it was too much for my wife to ski as well, grandparents popped over (needed more care than the baby!) but bus rides, swims and hot chocolates for her and short days for me made for a pretty good compromise and awesome holiday and nice change of scene.
We used a sling for the baby and again when he was 2. Booked a car seat from the transfer company FOC the 2nd time so that might be worth checking.
We skipped it at 18 months as felt he was too unmanageable but been every year since - he was doing little turns at 3 and I'm so excited for this year!
All the best.
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@SkiG, slightly later for ours (was 18 months before we 1st went, now @ 15 she skis faster, further, longer, better than us and has done for many years... take that future ego-bashing into account with early introductions to the white stuff) but the basic tenet remains:
Treat this as a family holiday with skiing, not a skiing holiday with family.
Bear that in mind if/when things are a little fraught, and everything will work out just fine.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Don't do what we once did and forget to pack your sproglet spare clothes in hand luggage. 
Just before boarding an Easy Jet flight to Portugal in summer, we'd just fed him and he then promptly vommited the lot down himself. Huge volumes. Nothing he was wearing was wearable, it was sodden and it wreaked. We had to strip him down only to realise no spare clothes. We'd got everything else you could obscurely need, including the sink, in our hand luggage, apart from spare clothes. Winner.
EasyJet were fab. Clearly on board with the a/c the poor blighter was going to freeze, but the cabin crew were brilliant. They opened up on board ammenity packs (which are normally for sale) and gave us the fleecey blankets from them to wrap him up in.
Can't add much more than has already been said. Just enjoy it and remember in about 9 years he/she will probably be able to ski better then you. We've been going every year with ours since they were 8-9 months. We used to take those microwaveable bag bottle sterilisers for the time they were bottle fed - they were both off the breast by first skti trip. Found he chalet environment great as could get the kids down (ours were always good sleepers at night), then enjoy the adults dinner, with a simple baby monitor to hand, though to be honest didn't really need this. Being in a chalet was simply like being at home with a few extra guests.
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| Arctic Roll wrote: |
Treat this as a family holiday with skiing, not a skiing holiday with family.
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Absolutely. We thought we were going skiing, and got really stressed and rather sulky with each other as we "didn't have time" - it's your turn, no it's yours....
I then "gave up" on having "skiing" holidays, and went to the snow where I simply expected to accompany my children who would be learning how to ski for a year or two. With that in mind, I was no longer stressed and took much more pleasure out of each holiday, viewing it as a sound investment that would pay off after a couple of years. Indeed it did, they absolutely adore it now and we all have great fun.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Went with ours last year when she was 6 months.
We went with Esprit. On site crèche , baby listening service during dinner, play and nappy change area at the airport. Really worked well for us.
The beauty is you can ski together. Some afternoons we came back and took baby out for a walk / little bit of sledge dragging. A couple of days we came back for a nap on our own for an hour before picking her up. Bliss!
9-5 crèche for the week was about £320
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Should add she was on the bottle by then which made it easier. Also did not take a pushchair, just a BabyBjorn carrier. They let us borrow a buggy from the chalet for walks.
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You know it makes sense.
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Same story for us as @frosty75 - Espirit and also with Family Friendly Skiing. This year is the first year we're going it alone (i.e. not with a specialist T/O) with the kids and going as part of a 20+ group of friends and planning on the ESOB too - so cancel your bookings with Admin now to avoid disappointment!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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We went late season one year because we had to wait for our friend's baby to get to three months old so they could fly. The nappies came in useful for another member of the party who was on their first snowboarding lessons - perfect coccyx padding!!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks for all the replies, all duly noted. Part of the challenge for us has been travelling with another couple (without baby), so trying to tick all of the boxes that they want as well as what suits us! Meribel was the best fit in the end for all concerned. Esprit or similar probably would have been better for the two of us. We did consider bringing the grandparents, but an awful lot more money for babysitters who don't ski!
The transfer is long but at least it is a private transfer and we have been promised a car seat (hope its small enough???)
Creche doesn't seem to be an option locally that I can find, but I think that the half day nanny might work better for us anyway. He will still be breastfeeding by then, but hoping to have 'pre-milked' (Im sure thats not what Im meant to call it!) and since he takes 'pre milked' bottles easily and we are planning to wean at 6 months we reckon if he needs a bit of formula then no massive deal (thats a debate for a different forum..!)
Certainly will be a fun thing to tell him in a few years that he managed to experience apres ski before ever standing on a set of planks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Contact the Meribel tourist board. They should have a list of local babysitters (nannies). It is a lot cheaper than hiring through a company and they generally are a bit older with better local knowledge. I only found this out as my then 2 year old daughter got kicked out of ESF nursey in Val Thoren as they couldn't stop her crying, in desperation I went to the tourist board who were wonderful they set me up with a lovely local lady who was brilliant with my daughter and was half the price of an agency nanny. Since then I have had 2 more local nannies in various resorts, all of whom have been excellent. Don't get me wrong Nelson & crystal childcare are wonderful (we have used them several times) but is very expensive and not available unless you are in certain hotels in certain resorts so they really limit you.
Having a ski holiday with a baby will be easy (once you have managed to pack everything, which is a bit of a mission), it is once they are toddling and can constantly cry for Mummy that it becomes harder. Oh the joys of parenthood x
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