 Poster: A snowHead
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Ok so we're slightly loopy and have booked a two week holiday skiing in the 3 valleys for when our daughter will be 4 months old. We plan on driving to La Tania and will stop off a night on the way down and thinking of stopping off at an extra resort for up to 3 days on the way home. Questions, questions:
1. Any recommendations where to stop off in France over night to split our journey down? We're travelling from the home counties via the tunnel and will need somewhere family friendly maybe 3 hours from La Tania?
2. Any recommendations for a resort or even hotel/chalet to take in on our way back for a few extra days skiing? Will need child care obviously.
3. And at the risk of being greedy with my questions- anyone else done a road trip like this with a small baby and have any general advice??
H xx
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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http://www.le-val-moret.com/
Found this place off SHs when we drove to Switzerland this summer. Right on the motorway just south of Troyes
Tiny bit dated now, but clean, and good food at reasonable price, pretty child freindly and a number of Brits all doing the same thing.
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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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Farry, I don't think you're loopy - that's about the easiest age to travel with a baby - old enough that you've got them sussed, young enough that they don't need any food other than milk and don't insist on crawling round on filthy floors picking up dead insects and fag ends.
Provided you have some kind of travel cot (and they're easy - the ones like little tents are great) then any hotel will be suitable, really.
My key piece of advice would be to have the baby 100% breastfed. If that's not possible, sterilising stuff can be a bit of a hassle when travelling, though all the French motorway service areas have microwaves, which make the job much easier.
I think you might struggle to find "built in" child care in an ordinary hotel in France - some resorts have nurseries but might not take babies that young. But there'll be somewhere, and you should get plenty of advice here. A specialised Brit-run chalet would probably be your best bet.
Have fun.
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I agree with Pam W that it's a good age to take a baby, but not to 100% breast feed as you don't want to be the only one who can feed the baby. We took our first child when he was 3 months old and right from birth I gave him one bottle of formula in the middle of the day so that he was used to it and someone else could feed him while I was skiing. Not very environmentally friendly, but we took disposable bottles and ready made cartons of formula - no need for sterilising, making up formula or expressing!
Sorry, I can't offer any advice on the road trip though as we haven't done it ourselves ... yet. I am about to post a question about driving!
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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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Couldnt say what hotel would be best for you. But a word to the wise. I have driven from Kent to Morzine and to Val d'Isere and both times my advice is to do in one hit sharing the driving if poss. my son was 12weeks the first time and 1 yr the 1st. We found the french creche in Morzine is fantastic , large, new and really friendly, cant remember how much but not that bad. Used a nanny in Val d'Isere, just as dear as creche but no interaction with other kids. Dont be surprised if you have to come home early though, altitude and little babs for us didnt seem to mix as the 1st time our boy seemed to suffer alt sickness and the second he had an ear infection, etc. ###'s law.
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Buy pre-sterilised bottles for the journey (Boots sell them), that helps. And plan for lots of stops. When we first went skiing with our eldest he was 4/12 old, he vomited twice, filled his nappy twice and needed a stop for feeding by the time we'd got to Dover.
So plan for lots of unscheduled stops. And take lots of spare clothes.
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altitude and little babs for us didnt seem to mix
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various people have posted in the past about this - Val D'Isere probably not such a good idea. Stay relatively low - you can always travel higher during the day.
When I travelled a lot with small baby there were no such things as pre-sterilised bottles and those nice little packs of formula. And I didn't have the luxury of a car to cart loads of stuff around - was public transporting. So breastfed was easier for me. But obviously if you plan to leave the baby for any significant time, that's not going to work.
Actually, the best way to do it is to take a non-skiing grandparent.  Or even a skiing one, and take turns!
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