Being a mom doesn’t mean you have to say bye-bye to relaxing weekend getaways. While traveling with an infant or toddler is definitely a challenge, if you’re smart about it, your trip can be stress-free.
Where to go?
Sure there are child-centric resorts, but with pools stocked with screaming kids and restaurants overrun by tots on the loose, those spots may feel like less of a vacation and more of a babies-gone-wild hangout. You want your little one to have fun, yet you are also desperate for some reprieve. Good news: you can have both! Find a mommy or daddy-friendly location that also caters to the needs of young ones.
My destination: Miramonte in Palm Springs. Yes, it is a premier luxury resort known for its expansive rooms, award-winning spa, and world class golf, but the relaxed and casual energy will instantly put you at ease. It’s the ideal destination for couples to escape and for their children to be entertained. Reserve a suite and you’ll have plenty of space to set up a makeshift playroom. You can also play as a family in the main pool where kids of all ages—from infants to adults who want to feel like kids again, float on pool toys, play Connect 4, or just play around the property—including a game of bocce on the property’s court. (There is also an adults-only pool when you’re ready for quiet time.)
Every Saturday night is Dive-In movie night when family-friendly movies are projected onto a giant screen at the end of the pool, seamlessly allowing daytime fun to float into night. If you choose to bring someone to help with childcare or hire a babysitter on-site (the eager-to-please concierge can help), make sure to make time to experience one of the best spas in the valley: Miramonte’s Well Spa. I recommend the Pittura Festa treatment where you playfully get to paint your partner with healing mud within a private spa suite, followed by one of the best couples massages you will ever have.
Once sufficiently relieved of stress, head over to bartender Jeff in the Vineyard Lounge where you can enjoy a specially crafted cocktail from his herbal apothecary bar using house-made concoctions from the on-site garden. Bring the kids to the Grove Artisan Kitchen where everyone can dine on California fare made from ingredients from local growers. The restaurant is completely kid-friendly, but it’s also an ideal place for parents to escape for a wine pairing dinner later. Call ahead and the chef will even make you an off-menu meal that will define special occasion.
Suggestions for Choosing the Right Location for You
Decide on your vacation purpose such as fun, relaxation, adventure, sports, or spa getaway.
Pick a destination city that is far enough away so it feels like a vacation but close enough that you can easily get there without too long of a kids-losing-their-mind drive or flights.
Find a hotel that can accommodate both your needs and your child’s needs. You want a place that suits your adult vacation purpose and is also very child-friendly. When a hotel has designated adult and family pools, it is generally a sign that children are welcome and expected to be playing (loudly) in the family pool.
Do some research and call ahead to ask the hotel what services, activities, toys, and necessities (crib, high chair, pool toys, etc.) they have available.
Essentials on the Road
You already know that for a toddler you need to bring the Pack n’Play, diapers, wipes, clothes, and bottles. But here are a few items that you may not have considered:
Sun/Pool/Beach Needs
More than the just adorable printed diapers that make changing your baby multiple times a day fun(ner), The Honest Company also has all of your pool and beach play needs. Don’t forget the SPF lotion, UPF shirt and hat, sunglasses, and swim diapers, plus, sanitizing hand spray for post-play.
Pack it Up
When packing your diaper bag for a trip, consider packing all of the en-route essentials and appropriate temperate food. My recommendation is to choose from either of these multi-purpose bags:
A. The LifeChanger from Anna And Eve.
This is a diaper bag that converts into a diaper changing station that can be used on your lap or any stable flat surface. Suddenly airports and restaurant bathrooms are perfectly manageable places to do your dirty work while keeping you’re your mini-me clean.
B. Six Pack Bags
If you are traveling with temperature-sensitive foods for your baby or yourself, you need a bag that can help you keep it cool. This bag has space specifically for cooling foods, plus room to store your other on-the-go needs, like a pocket for your babe’s no-sticky MyDrinky juicebox holder. The bag is also great for family picnics when you need to be prepared for anything.
Gear to Go
High chairs, booster seats, and Pack ’n Plays can be bulky, heavy, and seriously inconvenient to trek around. Which is why POP Travel Gear is a parental must! Their portable high chair is easy to setup, breakdown, and pack up, and includes its own travel bag with a shoulder strap for easy portability. Take it on trips or just to the park or family BBQ.
Monitor Anywhere
If your mini me is napping and you want to enjoy the afternoon sun on your patio, wear the Babble Band wrist monitor. It vibrates, lights up, or projects the sounds of your baby waking up, alerting you that it’s time to return to his side.
Laurel House is a Santa Monica-born, bred, and based dating and relationship coach, helping to empower her clients to be their best selves so that they can find the love the deserve. She has a no-games, rule-screwing approach, teaching her clients exactly what to say and do, how to present themselves online and in-person, and the specific strategy to find love- hard, deep, and fast, just like she and so many of her clients have. Laurel believes that dating is about clarity through communication, and with clarity comes confidence. Laurel is called a “Man Whisperer,” Dating Jedi Master, Relationship Fairy, and Cyrano. More than anything else, Laurel demystifies dating so that you can confidently date with integrity and purpose.