 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello all,
Planning this year's trip; we would normally be off to the snow about now but MrsD_E has had a baby so we're delaying it until March. Thinking of driving to either Avoriaz - which we know well, or Flaine - which we don't.
Baby will be about 4 months when we go. We'll be taking (probably) Grandparents who will babysit during the day.
We'd appreciate advice regarding the travel - is driving the best option with that age or would flying be better?
In fact any advice at all would be gratefully rec'd.
Thanks in advance
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Unless you have a particularly large comfotable car I would have thought flying would be a lot more comfortable for grandparents than sitting for hours in a car with a baby seat.
The baby could cope with either but you may be needing a fair few stops for nappy changes etc making it a longer drive.
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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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Can't be too specific with advice...it was a long time ago!
However we drove to Flaine several times with a baby, so I have a few thoughts of things that worked for us:
Take ferry not Eurostar...the chance to walk around and stretch you legs is a welcome one.
Have plenty of changes of clothes readily accessible...babies have a habit of puking or pooing and getting it in their clothes. For the same reason lots of baby wipes and plastic bags.
Have an overnight stop.
Bring all your kit, assume that the place you are staying in has nothing! Fold-up travel cots are great. Baby high chair thing that clips onto a table. The works!
Pushchair with big wheels will be a lot easier to get going in the snow than one with little wheels.
We found baby sitters through Flaine tourist office, they used to keep a list...they may still do.
Obviously it does change your skiing holiday...but we certainly still enjoyed ourselves.
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Might be a bit squished in the car with 4 adults and a baby, it's about a 8-10 hour drive from Calais. Why not You and Mrs drive, Grandparents & Baby fly and pick them up at Geneva. Or better still leave the Baby at home with Grandparents and go and have some fun.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Car either S-Max (5 full size seats) or 9-5 Estate, mum and GM only just hit 5' so room should be OK. Possibility of 1 or 2 flying, but not definite. Roof box as well. I can take the Friday off work, so can spend 2 days near enough travelling.
How far down France should we make the overnight stop assuming PdS or Flaine?
oh, and thanks for the  hello - I've been away sometime, used to be quite prolific under a different username on the old SCGB site before it went private.
DrE
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doctor_eeyore, I drove to Zurich - similar distance with my baby when she was 6 mths Boris, is correct having done the same trip a number of times as they get older, 'baby' age is definitely the easiest. They do just sleep - in fact you will find that you have to wake them up for feeds etc. In fact whilst they sleep there is a huge temptation not to stop as often as you think you perhaps ought to! I wouldn't hesistate. The first time we did it we also did the overnight stop in a B&B, but I don't know that we had to. We used the train for the chanel when they were young - it was easier, you didn't have to wake them up! We have always driven - mine are 7 + 4 yrs now. Best buy at that age was the £100 DVD system for the car from Argos. It took 10hrs to get back from Holyhead in the summer and it was worth every penny. As we sat in the jams there were two sorts of car loads on the roads - the have's (have got a DVD system) and the have nots! Currently we sit drive to the alps, but take a ferry as the kids enjoy it. We cross at about 10pm then drive overnight and if they are well tucked up and comfy the kids are still willing to sleep in their seats - you just have to ignore the odd positions that they end up in - it bothers us, but doesn't see to affect them. Hoping that this helps. Don't forget you will need a photo for his passport, and don't forget winter tyres and snow chains for the car.
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doctor_eeyore, depending on length of travel in the UK, but we always used to stop just past Dijon. Seemed about half-way.
Now we also have a Thursday night stop, in Calais, and go to Lyon for Friday night. Means an early arrival in resort
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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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Just as an aside we also realised that it was actually less distance from our place in the SE UK to drive to the alps than it was to drive to some places in Scotland - after going through that thought process the idea of driving to the alps didn't seem so insurmountable.
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doctor_eeyore, We have travelled to the Alps on numerous occasions with our children when babies. There are pros to both driving and flying. Flying with babies is relatively easy and we have flown with both ours at 5/6 weeks old so 4 months is fine! The airlines are ususlly really helpful and have a steeady supply of tissues e.t.c. You can then either get a transfer or hire a car with babyseats. Driving takes longer - we usully stop overnight just south of Dijon as do many others and you will have to stop for feeds and nappy stops but you won't have to worry about what to pack!! Both are great ways to get to the PDS and you will be fine.
A bit of a plug - but we run catered -very family friendly chalets/apartments in Morzine and have all the kit you need from cots to sterlisers and changing tables!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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doctor_eeyore, Firstly congratulations and we are in same situation as you. We have a 4 week old who in Feb will be travelling to our place in Alps - he will be 10 weeks then. We have chosen to drive for all of the reasons mentioned above and the greater flexibility this offers.
We have a lie flat car seat which enables us to drive for longer periods while Mini Mouth sleeps. It is not good to have babies in a normal car seat for longer than an hour due to compressed seating position of normal rear facing seats.We did a lot of research into this and chose the Jane system as a result.
If you plan to split the journey then I reckon Dijon or just south of is a good bet for day one. We may do it in a day but hvaing the lie flat seat means we can drive for 3 hours while he sleeps. It will be a long day mind you!
Good luck with the passport photo and don't forget baby needs an E111 as well.
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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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Don't forget that the E111 has now been replaced!!!
You now need the European Health Insurance Card http://www.ehicard.org/?gclid=CPH8sc7nyYkCFT86Ggod-y1giQ
If you still have an E111 and think you're covered - think again!
Also found that many of the larger service areas have very good baby facilities and often m'wave to heat bottles etc.
Still laugh at the though of me sitting in the back seat between our twins trying to give them both bottles when stuck on Lyon ring road
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You know it makes sense.
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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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pielot, my view regarding travel with baby, is that it as easy or difficult as you want it to be. If you have the mindset "I couldn't possibly" then you won't! It is possible and simple to travel with baby, although you do have to plan a bit more i.e. I think the days of the we're going now, are gone.
We did it with twins so with one its easy 
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
so with one its easy
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I'll quote you again when we get back!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Just to add my experiences....
We drove to the Dordogne for a Summer holiday when our daughter was 7 months. Fantastic. Slept all the way there and all the way back.
With that in mind we didn't hesitate to organise a snow holiday for the following season when she would be 13 months. Only problem this time was that she started to show signs of an ear infection before we left the UK, and the journey there was 2 days of absolute hell with an ill screaming child in the car. We managed to get a few days on the slopes before the nursery refused to take her anymore because of her temperature. That meant the end of the holiday (the prospect of looking after an ill child in a shoebox apartment wasn't something we wanted to contemplate).
We then drove back from Les Arcs to Bristol in one day (04:00-19:00)! The journey back wasn't too much fun either. Although she was better, she just wanted to get out of her seat all the time, and wasn't old enough to understand she couldn't.
Moral of the story... don't travel long distances with a child much older than 7 months
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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doctor_eeyore,
One other point with Grandparents babysitting when skiing is in my experience though happy to do it they do appreciate a bit of relief occasionally and sometimes through the day. It is worth getting an appartment that you can access easily from the ski area so you can readily get to and from it to help.
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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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Whatever you decide do NOT let the baby drive!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Bryan, excellent advice.
doctor_eeyore, If I were a babysitting grandparent I wouldn't thank you for taking me to the positively gopping Avoriaz or "World Bland Champion" Flaine... for one thing there's stuff all to do in either place unless you ski. No, I'd be a pretty scratchy after about 36 hours and we'd probably all try and kill each other after 72 hours. Maybe pick somewhere more non-skier friendly like Kitzbuhel, Chamonix or Innsbruck - somewhere with shops, places to see, a train station etc. I don't know the grand parents of course, but a week is a hell of a time to be in a purpose built ski resort if you're not skiing.
I've driven with baby and I've planed it and we've left them at home with GPs and just done a quick few days. Only the latter really worked for all concerned.
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doctor_eeyore, welcome to sH.
I've driven to Southern French Alps 'en famile' (kids ages from 1 - 15) a number of times (2 car loads), but always from the South. If you can time your drive/trip to get to the Sth Coast and allow for some decent kip before crossing, aim for a night drive thru' France and get on resort mid am.
The advantages are that you can pack for the journey (meals, nappies etc) in the safe knowledge that you can make whatever stops are required en route.
If you can share the driving, so much the better. If you have sat nav, it's a breeze.
Personally I prefer the shorter Channel Tunnel option - stretching legs easy enough - for the speed and ease and it's never been a problem.
We (drivers) stopped regularly and everyone else slept.
In truth, the return was probably harder as one tends to leave in the morning, making for a more 'fractious' return. Though when all's said and done, definately worth driving vs flying IMHO.
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| pielot wrote: |
We've booked a car seat but the small print says that "extras cannot be guaranteed" -hopefully they will come through... could be difficult if they dont! 
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pielot - why not take your own?
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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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doctor_eeyore, At that age - based on various flights/drives to Europe with under 1s, I would probably drive, you can at least stop/start when you want to and control the circumstances a bit. Above that age, when they get a bit more distractable, flying becomes easier, but one of my kids has thrown up on me on final approach to Heathrow, and the other developed loud and gurgly (but contained) diarrhoea whilst sat on me on final approach to Gatwick. Kids are your parents revenge for what you did to them.
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| Quote: |
- why not take your own?
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Hmmm... thought long and hard about that.- Baby doesn't get any extra bags so even trying to 'pack light' I think we may be close to the limits. Pushchair is coming plus a couple of pairs of skis. My final concern was a car seat in the hold. I know the handlers at liverpool/geneva are absolute angels (  ) but even their carefull packing between sheets of tissue paper makes me uncomfortable!
It'll be fine...if all else fails we'll just have to wrap it in bubble wrap and put it in the boot! Babies are tough...right?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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pielot, I'm sure if well wrapped in Bubble packing that baby will be fine in the boot 
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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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pielot, Do Fedex take babies?
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maybe we could leave ours behind and rent in resort.... anyone got a baby going cheap 1st -8th April?! 
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You know it makes sense.
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pielot, I just know I'm gonna be behind you at check-in 
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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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| Boris wrote: |
pielot, my view regarding travel with baby, is that it as easy or difficult as you want it to be. If you have the mindset "I couldn't possibly" then you won't! It is possible and simple to travel with baby, although you do have to plan a bit more i.e. I think the days of the we're going now, are gone.
We did it with twins so with one its easy |
Any advice on taking twins, Boris, we're taking ours for the first time in Feb/March. They'll be about 5 months old.
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Poster: A snowHead
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magriggs, Are your twins your first kids? Only ask as ours were our first, so to us having two was normal.
I don't think there is anything specific for travelling with twins - follow the advice here and just take two of everything! May be useful, depending on your car, to ensure one of you can travel in back between them to keep an eye on them.
Would also recommend the little clip on high chairs which fit to tables - while is often possible to get one highchair, two is more problematic.
Would also thouroughly recommend the sachets of babymilk, the premeasured ones, makes making bottles a lot easier.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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They are our first, and also our last!!!! Thanks for the tips, those clip on chairs are great.
I get the feeling that, because we're going to Italy rather than France, driving is just going to be too far.
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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 used to find that as babies / toddlers, our kids would sleep all day in the car; and be buzzing at night when mum and dad were dog tired. I'd fly.
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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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magriggs,
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They are our first, and also our last!!!!
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Yeah we said that -daughter is now 4
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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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We drive down to the PDS (les gets) every year. Last year we did it with a 2 month old and she was fine.
Left UK at 9pm and was in resort by mid day. Driving through the night helped as she slept all the time and we had a botle warmer in the vehicle so 3 hour bottle stops work fine and gave the drivers a chance to refresh.
Overal I'd say it took about only an hour longer than our usual run with the extra stops. Only issue we had was on the way out of resort the D902 was cl;osed and we sat in traffic for 2 hours or so and the baby didn't like that. Much happier with the car moving (just like us adults!)
This year she will be 14 months and she is running around already so I can't wait to get her on the snow! Again driving down through the night so with a bit of luck she will sleep from calais to Geneva.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Someone has probably already suggested leaving the babe at home with the grandparents/nanny/whatever. That's what we did until the kids were 4 and we felt all the better for it.
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richmond, I did and I agree. Ask baby what they'd prefer... stay at home in familiar surroundings, with the same smells, noises and tastes and the lovely gooing grandparents in charge... or, be schlepped around Europe like hand luggage, given a strange cot in a strange apartment only to watch a stressed-out mum struggle out the door in her scary Michelin Man outfit every day. Far better to sneak off for 4-5 days, have a quality time and come back refreshed to look after baby. (Of course, it's different if you've got more than one but the exam,ple that started the thread was for one baby).
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It might be a bit late now but my top tip for travel with babies is to breast feed. At four months you won't need anything else en route though grandma will need to be able to give the baby a bottle at times. Never took mine to the Alps as babies but travelled and lived in a variety of places in three continents, and before the days of those sachets of formula. We did lots of long flight (you can't drive to the Caribbean or Africa) and driving and as the kids grew older it would all have been far easier with those DVDs, which now cost a lot less than £100. Babies are far easier than toddlers; so get used to it now, it will get a lot harder, not easier, in future! Took grandma to the Alps once, with 3 year old, great success, but rather agree about the thought of dumping grand parents and baby in Flaine or Avoriaz - yuk. My mother enjoyed walk up picturesque Austrian street to picturesque Austrian cake and coffee shop on edge of piste. I am now a grandma and would rather go with family on a ski trip than be left at home with kids, thanks. Whether skiers or not, grandparents will also need time off, for sure (I am now a grandma....). When my mother came with us she cooked lunch, when we came in from ski school, and I always did the evening meal. The 3 year old went into creche a bit, was with grandma a bit, and with us a bit - tobogganing etc in the afternoon. We picked a place with a heated indoor/outdoor swimming pool, which added a lot to the holiday though my mother took a while to get used to the fact that most of the other guests, all German I think, changed together in the little steamy hut; she went down from the apartment in a towel wrap and tried not too look at too many of the bare bottoms etc around her before getting in the water!
We have a place in a small French family ski resort which is often full of babies and small children of all ages, none seem to have any problems and we often see three generation families. When kids are a bit older they often seem to be on the nursery slopes with grandparents, whilst parents go off and do some real skiing. We also see parents on the slopes with little kids - relaxed, happy, having fun for the most part. It's a shame it all seems so much more problematical with English families. If this holiday is a success for all concerned it could be the first of many, so worth putting some thought into it.
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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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Bode Swiller, each to their own, but I think ours enjoyed the change in surroundings and new experiences. I'm sure that as they have got older it has been easier for them as there is a familiarity to it.
pam w,
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my top tip for travel with babies is to breast feed
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I tried but it didn't work 
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Update:
Avoriaz out
Flaine out
Morzine or Les Gets in. Now just looking for central appartment....
EHIC applied for.
Great advice, all - much appreciated 
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