Feel guilty leaving a child home.....

[Marc A.]

Go and have a great time. My little sister was a "surprise" and so quite a bit younger than my brother and me. My parents left her with our grandparents on a few trips so my brother and I could really enjoy our time with them and do what we wanted to without having to worry about her being hot or tired or fussy. And then when she got older she did special things with mom and dad that we didn't. It all worked out in the end. DH and I have yet to take DD 18months to Disney although we have been as a couple several times and let her stay with our parents. We are planning our first family trip for this April and we are going to take DD(who will be almost 2) and leave "new" DD (who will be about 9 months) at Nana's. Maybe I'm selfish and awful but I just can't imagine lugging a 9 month old with all her stuff around in the heat and spring break crowds.

Thanks for th kind words. I agree with your thoughts.

 

[auntie]

I think if you want to bring an infant to Disney(as I did at 6 weeks) it's very do-able. It's probably the easiest place on earth to be able to bring young children. However...there is nothing that says you HAVE to do this. I wound up bringing Grandma with us. I wasn't also entirely sure she could handle an infant for an entire week ...it had been a while since she had done so. That's what worked for us. Maybe if I had been more confident in leaving him..I probably would have...giving me more time with the then four year old and 11 year old. If you have the opportunity to leave the little guy..and he's well taken care of..he certainly isn't going to know the difference and it gives you time with your older child. As mentioned by previous poster...it all works out in the end. Do what's best for your family and have a GREAT time!

 

[mgriff75]

You really have to make this choice yourself. But I will give our experiences on both sides. When our DS was that age we went to disney and had a great time. He is our only child and we only had to be concerned with his comfort / happiness. We would go to the parks in the morning have a great time, then go back to our resort for an afternoon nap for all. Out again in the afternoon when it cooled down a bit. And then we kept going into the evening with him falling asleep in the stroller, or we ended the day around 7-8in the evening and relaxed at the resort while he went to bed. If you go this route a couple of observations, a timeshare resort / condo / house rental is much better for this then a standard hotel room. If your going to be relaxing at your resort with a sleeping baby you want to have the baby in another room & when traveling with a baby a refrigerator is a great thing to have.

On the other side of the coin. Our last trip we spent sometime with friends who happened to be at WDW at the same time. There kids are 18months, 8 & 10. They had issues the older kids wanted to keep moving and doing, while the 18 month old got tired, cranky, and ready for a nap. Their answer was for the mother to take the 18month old back to Port Orleans, he had a nap and then she met back up with them in the late afternoon. While we spent one day with them they kept talking about how nice it was earlier in the week to have the kids grandparents with them. They would take the youngest and the parents and older kids could enjoy the rides. I think they would have had a more family inclusive time if they had left the 18month old home with grandmom, or kept grandmom with them the whole time.

 

[estherhead]

Yup, it sounds like you are making the right decision. Dh & I try to do stuff with just one kids from time to time so they get alone Mommy & Daddy time. Last year we went to the beach & one daughter went for 4 days without the other & then my parents came with the other one. It was fabulous & there were only a few times I even missed the eldest. We were just so in tune with the second. And the eldest wasn't even jealous. She was 5 at the time. A one year old definately won't be jealous.

 

[aplejax76]

Your 3 1/2 YO will probably really enjoy getting all of your attention for a few days, and I bet your parents will enjoy some alone time with the 1 YO too!
Have a great trip!

That's what I was thinking. Both of your children will have special time in different ways. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

Last September we left my 18 month old home with my parents while we went to WDW. I felt guilty at first but the trip was more enjoyable for us and my 2 other kids. The first morning at breakfast my 7 yo had to cheer me up as I got teary seeing another little toddler sitting next to us. We are getting ready for our August trip and my little guy is getting excited about seeing Mickey. He looks at the Buzz ride photo and asks if he could go there. It is so cute and I know that now at 2 1/2, he will really have a magical trip.
So don't feel guilty about leaving your 1 yo home.

 

[luvtogo12]

I feel your pain. I booked a trip for my family of 5 for August. Due to some scheduling conflicts, DS can't go. DD does not want to miss some activities preparing for her senior year and DH is already complaining about the heat. DS11 always seems to miss out on things so I decided that just him and I will go. I am excited about it because finally, it will be all about him and what he wants to do, however, I feel guilty as well.
DS11 was upset when I first told him about it. He told me that it should be a "family" vacation and he is right. I let him pick out all the places that we would go to, the places to eat and even agreed to go fishing with him one day (he really wanted to do that with his Dad). I made him agree to bait the hook.
He is getting excited through all the planning.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

Personally, I couldn't leave my child home either.

The first time we went to Disney with my daughter, she was only 22 months old. When we go in October, my son will only be 20 months old.

To me, a vacation is FAMILY time and if you're entire family isn't there, what's the point?

I'm not going to leave my child home so MY trip is more enjoyable. Part of my trip being enjoyable is having everyone together.

Good luck!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

That's what I was thinking. Both of your children will have special time in different ways. Have a wonderful trip.

That's what I thought too. My kids always like spending time with grandma and grandpa-they even ask to go when we are home. They also ask to go alone so they get some time away from each other (my oldest two fight like cats and dogs some days). So then there are times when the kids go to the grandparents and me and DH are left home for a few days just staring at each other and thinking...we may as well make the most of this time! Sometimes being with grandma and grandpa is just as much fun as Disney. My kids come home telling me all the places they went and all the great food they had and I think to myself...and I felt guilty for leaving them? (I also think my parents must be EXHAUSTED, but then I guess the grandkids help keep them young!)