@saved1970 My wife and I took our 18 month old to Italy in '22 and it wasn't the nightmare you would expect. It required a lot of planning and assistance but it was actually a wonderful trip.
So much so that we decided to take our daughter
and 7 month old identical twins to Disney World in FL this past September. Here are our tips for traveling with the three kids.
Disclaimer that I typically am very
very routine oriented. My wife is much better at calling audibles and changing things up in the moment, for me to feel comfortable I really need a routine and I still loved our vacations.
There are a few things that really can make or break your trip but here is my advice.
- Flight / Travel - go direct if possible. This is the first time we allowed our daughter to watch movies on an iPad and it kept her still (mostly) after we exhausted everything else in our bag of tricks. We brought our car seat on the plane so we could strap them in which also helps if you'll be renting a car after landing. If not, you can check the car seats at the airport and pickup on the way home. they are heavy and bulky but good for the flight. If you can fly with family that's even better to have someone to help while on the flight or in the rental car. We downloaded her favorite songs and playlists so we had it ready to go during the car rides.
- Italy with kids - If you are from North America you will be shocked at how kid friendly Europe is. Even eating dinner at 8, 9, or 10 pm we saw many other parents and kids eating out. Many restaurants with play areas and toys for kids to use, when you show up to eat they automatically bring out the high chairs. Little things like that went a long way in entertaining. The food is delicious it goes without saying. My wife and I were stunned at how much more acceptable it is to be out with kids.
- Accommodations - Hotels do have A/C, it may not cool as well as we'd expect in the US but everywhere we stayed had A/C. If it's a BNB or home rental, I hope you would have family to assist with the kids. Obviously not always affordable or possible, but a room with a suite that allows you to keep the kids in another room is ultimately the best option.
- Strollers - We borrowed a GB Pockit All City stroller from family and ended up buying our own. Very compact and portable (I suggest buying a travel bag/backpack on Amazon) but this stroller was able to handle the stairs or Venice and the streets of Verona or Fano with no issues. Plus it's small enough to leave in the car afterwards. It's a far cry from our Uppababy double stroller but for travel it works incredibly well with one person in charge of a kid.
- Time Zone - If you're from North America and eat dinner around 5-6:30 it kind of lines up with the culture of eating late in Italy. It's not perfect but if you go out to eat at 9 then it's not a far stretch for the kids to stay up. Plus the kids may sleep a little later too.
- Childcare - We traveled with some friends with no kids which obviously helped enormously. They had their own rooms and did some site-seeing on their own but just to have someone to help watch the kids for a few moments is helpful. If you are visiting family and they are Italian a would strongly suspect you will have extra hands. Those Italians (in my experience) are extremely kind and helpful with children. You and your husband need to be on the same page and basically play man-man so each one has a kid to watch. I would set these expectations with family that they need to help "babysit" or at least take some shifts and offer you two a night out (or two, or three!) by yourselves.
- Food - We brought as many snacks and diapers as possible. Pouches, crackers, puffs, anything we could keep on hand that would stay fresh and we could use as needed. It helps too that your luggage is much lighter going home at least. Also packed plenty of diapers, and detergent to wash clothes in a sink if needed. They don't serve regular cold milk in Italy so it's good you're breastfeeding. But it will be hard to store your pumped milk if you are just in a hotel. Our daughter was a fantastic eater and ended up enjoying many things you'd never expect, clam linguine, any and all pasta, fresh meat and seafood, she gained her love of olives on this trip which she still loves to this day.
- Experience - During and after our trip, we saw a noticeable change in our daughters speech and language. It was like leveling up. At that age in their development their brains are going to be supercharged. I suspect that they will be so visually and verbally stimulated at the end of each day they will nap and sleep like never before. Not to mention all of the beautiful pictures you can take and look back on. Even if your kids won't "remember" the trip it will effect their development for the better and offer new experiences outside of our normal bubbles. I can almost guarantee you will look back on those family photos as some of your favorites. We made a slide show out of our trip that we watched with our daughter and it really helped her remember the experience.
tl/dr - It's a lot of work but with the right planning, spending a little extra to keep yourselves sane, and some family help it could be a magnificent experience.