Babymoon Tips – Things to consider when planning a babymoon #AD

How many of you mums and dads booked a Babymoon before your baby was born? How many of you didn’t, but wish you had? Are you pregnant and planning a Babymoon right now? According to LoveHolidays, there’s been a 52% increase in online searches by people planning a babymoon. With this in mind, I thought I’d share a post on babymoon tips.

What is a Babymoon?

Well quite simply, it’s your last little holiday or weekend away, before your baby is born. Some special time to relax and enjoy yourself, a bit like a honeymoon, before your adorable new sleep-thief makes it’s way into the world. I think it’s really important to spend some quality one to one time with your partner (if you have one) and to make the effort to look after yourself, before your new arrival.

My Babymoons

With my oldest daughter (now 12), I didn’t have a babymoon at all. It was simply something I couldn’t afford at the time.

When I was expecting my twins, I booked a babymoon in London over a long weekend, in a four star hotel. I enjoyed 3 course dinners out, swimming and spa treatments and a little bit of sightseeing. I was 30 weeks pregnant at the time and in hindsight, I feel I would have been better off on a short haul trip abroad. As much as I loved my babymoon in London, I developed SPD around the same time and London was simply too much walking for me to cope with. I was in pain. If I could go back in time, I’d have made that babymoon a more relaxing one, sunning myself on a beach somewhere warm.

As I prepared for Baby Bear to arrive, I took a trip to France, with my three daughters. It was just before I met my now-husband, so I didn’t have a partner on the scene. Taking my daughters probably made it less of a “babymoon” and more of a “holiday” but it was fantastic to get away and spend some quality time together as a family, before our family dynamic changed.

I had also booked a solo trip to Kos towards the end of my pregnancy, but due to motorway closures, I missed my flight and I can’t put into words, how disappointed I was.

The point of this post, is that forward planning is the most important aspect of a babymoon. Here are a few babymoon tips from me, on things to consider when planning a babymoon.

Babymoon Tips

1. Plan a babymoon. Whether it’s with your partner, a friend or even your own children. BOOK IT. It’s worth it, trust me. No matter how many children you already have, your family dynamic will change with your new addition. That time away will give you a chance to recharge your batteries, boost your morale a little, cement your relationship or your support network and put a smile on your face. You’re growing a human, you deserve to have a little you-time.
2. Even if you are the fittest person on the planet and your pregnancy has been smooth sailing until now… plan your babymoon to be relaxing. Overdoing it with trips, excursions, walking etc could well spring up complications, such as fallen arches, SPD, back ache and other minor pregnancy ailments.
3. Allow an extra night. If you’re flying, book into an airport hotel the night before. Pregnancy plays havoc with your emotions and I wouldn’t want anyone to suffer the emotions I did, when I missed that flight to Kos. I was inconsolable. I had thought that allowing 5 hours for a 2 hour journey and allowing an extra 2 hours for check-in was plenty. It took me 7 hours and I arrived in the terminal just as my flight took off.
4. Over pack! Pack every medicine you might possibly need. All approved by your own doctor or pharmacist for use in pregnancy. Pain relief, indigestion relief, allergy relief. The last thing you want to be doing on your babymoon, is tracking down a doctor and trying to ask in another language, whether what they are prescribing you, is safe for use in pregnancy.
5. Get travel insurance and CHECK that your travel insurance covers you whilst pregnant. SOME DON’T! Whilst nobody plans to go into premature labour and hopefully nothing like that will happen, you need to cover all your bases. Sods law would have it, that if you buy the insurance, you won’t need it, but if you don’t buy the insurance, you probably will!
6. Get a “fit-to-fly certificate” from your midwife or doctor. When I arrived at Gatwick airport I was asked to produce this, prior to them allowing me to check in. If you are in your third trimester or you carry your babies quite big, they WILL refuse to allow you to fly
7. Use a tool like the LoveHolidays Babymoon Finder, which helps you choose a destination for your babymoon based on your due date, how long you want to fly for and what type of holiday you’d like. It tells you the latest date you can fly, based on NHS guidelines and suggests countries and deals for you. It basically takes all the stress out of deciding when and where to go!

The most important of all my babymoon tips though… remember it’s supposed to be fun and relaxing. Planning a babymoon shouldn’t be stressful and nor should the holiday itself. Give yourself plenty of time to book, to pack, to get there, to make it as calm as possible. This is your time to bond with your partner and your unborn baby and just take a break from normality.

Good luck with planning a babymoon, let me know if you have any babymoon tips of your own?

Post written in collaboration with LoveHolidays