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10 days with a baby

Vancouver, Canada
4 posts
1 review
10 days with a baby
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My husband and I will be spending 10 days in Ireland with our four month old son. I've outlined our itinerary a this:

Day 1: arrive Shannon, drive to Galway

Day 2: visit Galway City

Day 3: drive through Connemara to Clifden and back

Day 4: drive through Burren, Cliffs of Moher, sleep in Doolin

Day 5: Drive to Kenmare via ferry - we would use Kenmare as a base to explore Kerry

Day 6: visit Dingle Peninsula, sleep Kenmare

Day 7: Killarney Nat'l Park, sleep Kenmare

Day 8: Drive to Kinsale via Bantry Bay, sleep Kinsale

Day 9: Drive to Kilkenny via Waterford, sleep Kilkenny

Day 10: Visit Kilkenny

Day 11: depart Dublin

My Big Questions are: is Kenmare too far from Dingle to use as a base for the area? Do we need more than a day to see DIngle? Should we stay in the area longer and skip Kinsale, ie drive from Kenmare to Kilkenny directly?

We are used to North American distances so a few hours drive in a day is not a big deal. We don't want to change lodgings every night though, as it'll be more disruptive for the baby.

Thanks for the advice!

Cork, Ireland
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1. Re: 10 days with a baby
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My Big Questions are: is Kenmare too far from Dingle to use as a base for the area? No, you will be fine, and it's a fantastic drive, so enjoy it. I'm estimating about 60 miles which is fine.

Do we need more than a day to see DIngle? If you mean Dingle town, you only need two hours. If you mean the Slea Head Drive which begins at Dingle you will need a half day. If you want a boat trip to see the Dolphin (!!) another two hours. It all depends what you want to do in the Dingle area. The Slea Head drive is an absolute must see.

Should we stay in the area longer and skip Kinsale, ie drive from Kenmare to Kilkenny directly? While Kinsale is a really lovely town I do feel that your itinerary is already very busy, so it might be no harm skipping Kinsale on this trip.

When you are in Bantry, try not to miss the Sheeps Head Peninsula. You can drive almost to the end and then walk 1 km to the tip. FABULOUS. There is a little cafe at the car park where you can change baby if necessary and have a well earned break.

Limerick, Ireland
Destination Expert
for Limerick
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154 reviews
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2. Re: 10 days with a baby
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May I ask - when are you travelling?

How old is the baby now - or when is it due.

LIVING, not to mind travelling, with a 4 month old baby is exhausting. I have three kids and I don't envy anyone who is back at that stage again. I felt I was sleep walking most of the time.

If you are lucky, your baby will be starting to sleep in 5 hour blocks. If you are normal, then you will be lucky to get 3 hour blocks of sleep. Mum will still be recovering from the hard work of giving birth.

I just think this itinerary is far too ambitious for a new Mum and baby.

I am also worried about vaccinations. There is currently a measles outbreak in the UK. This may well spread to Ireland - we had a bad outbreak of measles a couple of years ago. These issues suggest we do not have herd immunity in the country. Your baby will not be fully vaccinated against Measles, Mumps (or Rubella) and may be more vulnerable.

Come over to Ireland by all means, but please prune your itinerary. Stay in one or two locations and explore them.

Ireland will still be here when your baby is old enough to chase after Leprechauns (and perhaps even catch them ;o))

Whitney, Texas
Destination Expert
for Ireland
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39,390 posts
44 reviews
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3. Re: 10 days with a baby
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i'm with bean, i think this is too much for anyone with an infant of any age.....even though you won't be changing locations each day, i think you will be wearing your baby out driving a good amount of the time with your current plan....

just a oma's thinking.....

Austin
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933 posts
12 reviews
34 helpful votes
4. Re: 10 days with a baby
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Good point about the vaccinations. We had a four month-old baby succumb to pertussis (whooping cough) here in Austin because he was too young to be fully immunized. Consult your son's pediatrician.

If you decide to go ahead and go, your schedule would be taxing even to the most fully coherrent adult. Our four-hour drive from Dingle to Lahinch was the most we could handle and we were glad it was the most ambitious drive of our trip.

My main advice is to give yourself a lot of leeway.

Stay more than one night in each place. (Three nights always worked for us.)

You never know when your son will have a bad night or want to be held a lot during the day. If we travelled two hours without our seven month-old wanting to get out of her car seat, we considered that a Huge Victory, worth downing a few pints at the next pub. Sometimes our daughter preferred to sleep on an immovable bed.

The change of routine always made our daughter a little bit more fussy and unpredictable, which is completely understandable and we just went with the flow.

Then there may be the time your son will be content to sleep the entire day in his carseat, which means passing up on sights you had planned to see. (We drove by Dunrobin Castle in the Scottish Highlands as our daughter took an unprecedented four-and-a-half hour nap; even that beautiful castle was not worth waking her up.)

At most, when going from accommodation to accommodation, we planned one 1-2 hour drive in the morning and one 1-2 hour drive in the afternoon, to coincide with our daughter's naps. When we stayed in one place, we took it easy and made short, easy car trips or walked around.

Walking around with a stroller or backpack was big, now that I remember back to those early days of munchkin travel....

Advice: Get a baby backpack. It will make travelling easier. It is better than a stroller for Ireland.

Austin
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933 posts
12 reviews
34 helpful votes
5. Re: 10 days with a baby
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Geesh, I sure wrote enough!

Let me add that when we travelled to Scotland with our daughter, it was for my hubby's work, so we spent six nights at a resort in the Highlands, with all the familes catered to. THAT was the best part of the trip. The hard part was the short family "vacation" afterwards.

My daughter and I accompanied hubby on an east coast trip when she was perhaps five months old. It seemed like a great idea at the time. All I remember of that trip was my hubby bringing me breakfast in bed from the hotel's dining room since I was too dang tired to crawl there. What a waste of an airplane ticket. Sleep, not sightseeing, was utmost in my curdled, fuzzy mind.

This thread is making me go down Memory Lane! I had forgotten all about the trip with the five month-old baby. Well, there wasn't much to remember...

Vancouver, Canada
4 posts
1 review
6. Re: 10 days with a baby
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Thank you for the advice! My husband and I are very seasoned travelers, and we have no illusions that our trip will not be different with our son in tow! I've decided that we shall stay in Kenmare for 4 nights, using it as a base for exploring Co. Kerry and North-Western Cork, and skipping Kinsale altogether. We can visit Waterford from Kilkenny should the spirit move us.

As far as vaccines go, my doctor is happy to postpone his shots until our return, as we are not travelling to any Third World countires. The same has gone for many other friends and family members who traveled abroad with thier babies.

Limerick, Ireland
Destination Expert
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38,325 posts
154 reviews
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ACWP - I am more concerned about the baby NOT having his vaccinations, than having them.

There is a measles epidemic in the UK at the moment, there are quite a few cases of mumps about as well (my GP is recommending those going to university to get checked for mumps immunity and if not immune that people get vaccinated, the universities are suggesting that students are up to date with their MMR vaccinations)

As I previously stated, there is NOT herd immunity in this country for a number of contagious diseases, for which there are vaccinations.

This will increase the risk of an unvaccinated child picking something up.

It is a topic I feel very strongly about.

Vancouver, Canada
4 posts
1 review
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Thanks for your concern, though my post was really more about itinerary choices, not advice on parenting. I've just checked the Public Health Agency of Canada's website for travel health advisories, which is updated daily. The last posting on this particular topic in the UK & Ireland is from 2004. Thanks again.

Exning
1 post
9. Re: 10 days with a baby
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Just a little friendly advice from a foreigner living in England: listen to the residents. They're not trying to control you, just help you. They know their own local immunological situation better than a foreign government, no matter how prestigious. Good luck from parents of a well-traveled three year old!

10. Re: 10 days with a baby

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