 Poster: A snowHead
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Having missed last seasons skiing due to my wife being pregnant, and this season due to young baby, I am starting to think about next years trip. How is it best to go with an 18mth old baby? Wanting to go somewhere in Switzerland or Austria if possible. Don't really know where to start, as none of our freinds that have kids ski.
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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How is it best to go with an 18mth old baby?
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Take a couple of grandparents (preferably non skiing grandparents, or you'll have to take turns) 
Or if you have pots of money, pay someone else to look after the baby. Ski Esprit and the other family-friendly TOs get lots of positive reviews here on SHs.
But once you try it with an 18 month old, you'll wish you'd done it with a young baby. Infinitely easier.
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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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justapurrin, Grandparents are fab if they are willing, although mine still ski! We went with variously a chalet with crèche, a private nanny (not as pricy as you think) and nursery in resort. There are lots of options out there and is all possible, the only down side is your kids start skiing at 4 And are better than you at 10
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Decide what is your priority, Parents Skiing or Childcare. Rememeber this is Mum's holiday too, so anything involving cooking, cleaning or CHILDCARE should be avoided. We started Ski Esprit with a 13 month old and then did 8 trips on the bounce as the others came along. If you want a full day with no responsibility then their Childcare, Snow club and supervised meals are probably cheaper than Grandparents (if you're paying!). Others include Family Ski and Mark Warner, but we kept coming back to Esprit. Book early and you can get some good discounts, their brochure comes out in May. Go for a 'Chalet Hotel' with the nursery on site to make life even easier.
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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 found driving with little ones easier than flying - it means you can take all the equipment they need, and if they're anything like ours if you time your departure right they'll sleep most of the way which is far easier than trying to get them throught airports and resort transfers. We liked the resort-run nursery at Samoens (which is also one of the nearest and easiest resorts to drive to) which worked out a lot cheaper than the tour operator creches. We used Peak Retreats for self catered accomodation but there are several good value family friendly hotels in the village too.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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We went skiing in la Ros with skibeat in an excellent chalet ( papillion i think?) which had a huge creche on the ground floor which was run by skibeat. It was excellent, the staff were great and everyone enjoyed their holiday. Most days when we collected our son he wanted to stay and play as he was having so much fun. I really enjoyed la ros, so quiet for a ski resort, nice to have the slopes to myself 
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Our first baby was very active and would not have enjoyed being restrained in a car seat for a long journey to the alps. We opted for the direct eurostar to La Plagne (staying in les coches) when he was 10 months old and treated ourselves to first class seats. The journey went well and he was able to lie down across two seats for his daytime nap.
I would recommend choosing a resort where the accommodation is not too high up (in case your baby/toddler has sensitive ears as ours did). Family ski and ski famille have good reputations for childcare and some of their resorts are near Moutiers/Bourg St Maurice if you are tempted by the train option.
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Our first baby was very active and would not have enjoyed being restrained in a car seat for a long journey to the alps
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one of my grandchildren has decided not to sleep in the car since she was about 4 months old. Even short journeys are a bit of a nightmare with her - she's nearly 2 now. Kids vary so much. We did one drive back from France with our no 1 son, including a long western Channel crossing. He was fantastic - slept almost the whole way, lulled by first the car, then the ferry. Then we arrived home at 2 am exhausted - he'd had so much sleep he crawled round the house greeting the furniture like old friends for hours and hours. He was 10 months old.
Train is probably a good way to travel with kids, if it fits in with other plans. Though I did a lot of air travel with kids, some of it very long haul, with no great problems.
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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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First time we went with my daughter at 18 months, we took my sister in law (who volunteered as she wanted to learn to snow board) we went DIY to the Le Grand Bornand we paid for the apartment and transfer and sister in law just paid for her own flight and lessons and hire. It was great to ski again (due to being a pregnant and having a young baby and practicalities with feeding and rupturing my ACL before that. The biggest downside was having to cook for every one every night still we wanted to eat out but nowhere started serving early enough for us to eat out before my daughters bed time (and before people leap in with your on holiday and they can stay up later that is all well and good but she used to (actually still does at 5) if she gets kept up which neither us nor the rest of the restaurant would have appreciated.
Next time we went with my parents when she was 2 to Bansko over new year. Big mistake as the long lift queues meant that attempting to ski for half a day then swap really didn't work. Also the apartment setup meant we were on the sofa bed in the lounge area and the sofa bed was incredibly uncomfortable. However by having that we all stil had access to the TV after she went to bed.
Last season ( by then we had two girls a 1yr old and 4yr old) we went with Esprit. We booked interconnecting rooms our Eldest did Snow club and spritlets youngest did nursery and we had the nest holiday we have had since having children in that I actualy felt like I had a holiday. It is the more expensive option but
I have absolutely no regrets.
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I've been with Mark Warner twice in the last 2 years - St. Anton in March '10, La Plagne in Feb '11 - and this year we're going with them to Val d'Isere in March. We've always found them excellent and, as long as you don't go in 1/2 term, very reasonable (this year may be our last though as our oldest is now 4 and we're taking him out of school to go to Val but won't again)
MW's Schweizerhof in St. Anton is a very good option - the flights are at a reasonable time of day and the transfer from Friedrichshafen to resort is less than 1.5 hours. We went to La Plagne last year as it's the only MW resort that takes 3 year olds in ski school and this year we're going to Val as we haven't been back for several years so we decided to push the boat out a bit as it might be the last package deal we do for a few years.
The accommodation with MW is generally fairly basic, the food is pretty good, the ski hosting is very good and the childcare is excellent - you drop your kids at 9am then the nannies look after them all day (including taking them and picking them up from ski school) and you meet up with them at kids' tea time where you take over again. Then they have an evening drop-off creche from 7pm to 11pm so you can enjoy your dinner and have a drink or two and the nannies put them infront of a DVD and put them to bed in a little dorm at their individual bedtimes. You then return anytime before 11, sling the slumbering kids over your shoulder and off to bed!
Search Tripadvisor for reviews: chalethotel Schweizerhof in St. Anton, Hotel Christina in La Plagne, this year we're going to Hotel Le Val d'Isere.
Friends of ours have been with Club Med recently and raved about it - there you get amazing accommodation, full board, feee instruction etc but theirs is a slightly different budget to ours!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We went to Canada for a month last year with our 17 month old. She wasn't used to nannies or nursery at that point, so we decided to look after her ourselves skiing half a day each and spending the other half playing in the snow with our little one, which was actually great fun. But the obvious downside was that we didn't get to ski together and on a shorter trip we would have had very limited ski time. This year we'll make more use of the nursery, but it's still good to spend some snow time with little ones.
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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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Hotel Alphubel in Saas Fee is absolutely fantastic for kids, see thread for more details. The best thing in my opinion is that the childcare is very flexible (and at no extra cost). So you can have time to yourself, but you can also do things as a family as well.
I'd definitely be looking to go in the spring as it's a lot easier if the weather is a bit warmer. I wouldn't advise Saas Fee in January or early February anyway, since it's ringed by some very high peaks, so I can't imagine it getting a lot of sun at that time of year. Saas Fee is a good choice because there are quite a few other things to do other than skiing. It's flat and traffic free, so it's quite good to walk around.
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I would highly recommend Mayrhofen, we went when our youngest was about 18M and Wuppy's Wonderland creche was fantastic (it's by the swimming pool). She was genuinely excited to be going there?!?!?! They were brilliant with her and she really enjoyed it! It wasn't cheap at about £150 for the week, but was worth every penny.
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You know it makes sense.
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Oh and as another poster recommended driving is the way to go. Having done a trip with a 9 month old and then when she was 20 months I wish we'd discovered the joys of driving. Our first trip to VT was an absolute nightmare by plane - milk, nappies, wet wipes, snowboards, clothes, kids (youngest in a baby bjorn, eldest toddling). Looking back I'm amazed the wife said yes to the second trip!
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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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Having missed last seasons skiing due to my wife being pregnant, and this season due to young baby
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justapurrin, why are you writing off this season? If your kid is going to be 18 months say next feb, that makes him/her 5 months now. Exactly the same age as my little girl is now, and we're skiing in march. Like everyone has said, we're taking the grandparents and accept that we may not cover quite as much ground as when we were dinkies, but do you really want to miss the epic snow this season? What if next season is a repeat of last  and you have to wait 10 more years for snow like this?
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Poster: A snowHead
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justapurrin, why are you writing off this season?
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Indeed. as I said above, 5 months old is far, far, easier than 18. Good practice for doing it with a child who knows its own mind, has become very fussy about food, won't stay where it's put and will climb out of any kind of travel cot if it has a mind to.
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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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us and a few freinds as we used to
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do you have some friends with babies of a similar age? That would make a big difference - more understanding of the problems, tantrums etc and you could share baby-minding.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The freinds don't have kids but are all to familiar with the problems and tantrums. We shall see but will try and get a week booked early for next season and then try for another last minute if conditions look good.
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