Traveling with multiples? Possible?

jalaiaa

My husband and I love to travel. I always assumed that when we had kids we would probably not travel as much and would have to pick kid-safe destinations.  But I wanted to keep traveling and expose them to different parts of the world.

Before finding out it was twins DH and I though maybe we would go to Spain or Italy and bring our first child. Now that we're having twins, I don't know if that is realistic. What do you ladies, who already have them here think. I'm kind of a "we can make it happen" sort of girl, but I don't want to be fooling myself if it just isn't realistic for a while.  We could conceivably invite my parents who could help.   

antes22

I will preface this by saying our boys have been fairly happy and laid back since birth. We are not and have not been afraid to travel. We haven't flown with them yet but they have been on several long car rides. We live in south central PA and have been to Virginia, Vermont, Mass., New York and New Jersey. In 3 weeks we are taking them to Bermuda on a cruise. I think it is all in how your children are and what your expectations are of your trip. If you are ok with being in your room by bedtime and making time for naps etc, you can have a great time.

Rose.9.6.03

Travel with multiples is totally possible, but whether you have the desire to do it is going to depend on you and your babies. 

DH and I were big travelers pre-babies.  Since the girls were born, we have not traveled outside of the country.  That has less to do with the fact that we have multiples and more with the fact that one of our girls is just not a very good traveler.  She had colic as a baby, didn't STTN until she was a year old, and just didn't learn to sleep in a new environment until she hit about 20-22 months.   We felt that we couldn't pile jet lag on top of everything else and have a miserable experience for everyone, so all our travels have been within the eastern time zone.   Our other child was a very adaptable easy child - if we would have had two of her, we probably would have traveled the world with her by now. 

The girls have traveled a fair amount domestically, though.  We took our first long car ride to see friends when they were 5 weeks old and their first flight to Florida when they were 2.5 months old.  Our friends and family are scattered, so we end up traveling about every 3rd weekend during the summer and fall and a little less often in winter and spring.

One of the hardest things about traveling with twins is all the crap you need to bring or arrange to have - double the carseats, PNPs, highchairs/boosters, diapers.   And it can sometimes get frustrating finding a hotel that will accomodate 2 PNPs in one room.  You may find that even more difficult in Europe, simply because their rooms tend to be smaller.

I'd take a wait-and-see approach.  See how you handle parenthood.  See how easy or difficult your babies are.  See if you have the energy and desire to travel.   I think the worst case scenario is that you take a couple of years off like we did.  I can't say that I'm thrilled we missed out on international travel for almost three years now, but in the big picture, it's a small sacrafice.  Plus, I'm really excited to be planning our first international trip with the girls to Costa Rica for this winter.  So we're getting back in the swing of things.

Best of luck with everything.

cands

Absolutely possible.  Especially with help.  My girls have been up and down the eastern seaboard via both driving and flights.  We haven't been to Europe with them, but it's not the traveling that is keeping us from that, it's the finances/vacation time.

MrsARC1105

We've done several roadtrips with them and I've started taking them on trips back home by myself, a 7 hour drive.  We plan on taking them to Ireland next summer, if I am not pregnant by then.

I would hold off on international travel till the toddler years just because they need so much stuff when they are infants and eat every 3-4 hours. 

You just have to be realistic and know that sightseeing all day with tots isnt possible and you have to learn to go with the flow. 

crazy4u624

My DH and I love to travel as well, and we still travel a TON with our babies. I am really lucky to have TWO babies that travel really, really well. The best advice I can give you is to just bite the bullet and do it. The only way they and YOU will get used to traveling with babies is if you do it. Do you have to bring a ton of stuff wherever you go?....YES! But you get used to it and find a way to make it work.

We live in Southern California and my babies just turned one September 1st. In just the first year they have taken:

2 trips (flights) to Pennsylvania (the first time I flew with them by myself)

5 road trips (3 hour drive) to Vegas

3 road trips (6+hour drive) to Sacramento

one week in Cancun

2 weeks in Maui

By December, they will have 2-3 more trips to Vegas, 1 trip to Sacramento, and 2 trips to Pennsylvania.

So yes, travelling with twins is DEFINITELY possible. If you have any questions on logistics, packing, etc....just let me know

Dsugaree

I also do travel with my girls often. I have flown with them on my own every year so far to FL and to SC from NJ. I also have taken a 6 - 7 hour car ride from NJ to Maine every summer also. I think as long as you plan as best as you can you will be fine. There are stores everywhere if you forget something! My girls do great traveling and it is so much fun to let them experience being away from home, also so good for them!

jalaiaa

Thanks for all the replies. So good to hear. We obviously won't buy any tickets yet, but I'm happy I can keep making tentative plans.