While everyone else showed off their vacation photos and tans, you chased your toddlers around your back yard and spent your summer nights awake with a new baby. Now everyone else is back on the merry-go-round of work, carpools, homework and soccer games, and it's your turn to take a break.
Lucky you! Since your kids aren't in school yet, you can travel with them any time, avoiding those pricey and crowded traditional family vacation times (summer and school breaks). No one says it's easy to travel with the diaper crowd, but the chance to travel off-season is the one big perk to toting diaper bags, strollers and safety seats.
"Fall is a cost-efficient time to travel with the kids -- certainly the best weather in many destinations," said Kyle McCarthy, creator of www.FamilyTravelForum.com.
Her tip: head to a weekend festival that promises free music and kids' activities. "There's always one within driving distance, with lots of distraction for young children and package offers at nearby hotels." (Check your regional or state tourism Web site for upcoming events.)
Heather Leisman, director of merchandising for CheapTickets.com, notes that popular family vacation spots from Orlando to San Diego to Hawaii and the Bahamas are significantly discounted this fall and in many places the discounts are lasting right up until Christmas.
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You might even be able to go somewhere that you couldn't afford otherwise -- like Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts, where the deluxe Winnetu Resort, www.winnetu.com, has a Preschool Suite Spot Package until Columbus Day weekend that's half the summer rate. It comes complete with remote-control boat races, life-size outdoor chess, playground and rides in antique vehicles.
Even better, you'll have plenty of company in the kiddie pools and playgrounds, as the travel industry rolls out the red carpet for you and your tiny travelers with growing numbers of special programs and packages designed specifically for the not-ready-for-school crowd at a price that won't bust the budget. If you plan smart, you will be able to manage some adult time and go home with all kinds of baby swag.
Check into the Atlantis on Paradise Island, www.atlantis.com, for example -- where 6,500 cribs are used a year -- and get a Johnson's Gentle Travel Kit that includes a bedtime cream, a lullaby CD and a special nightlight. Sitters have been qualified in CPR and carefully screened.
Reserve a crib at The Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, www.hardrockhotelsd.com, and get an audio play list of lullabies performed by mainstream rockers, as well as an all-organic Baby Calming Basics gift and a "Party at My Crib" mini T-shirt.
Another plus right now: the growing number of Web sites like www.babiestravellite.com and www.jetsetbabies.com that can deliver what you need to your hotel or vacation condo so that you don't have to take the entire nursery along with you. One dad even invented the Infant Cruizer, http://www.gogobabyz.com, a one-handed travel system that lets you wheel your child in his car seat through a busy airport.
All I can say is it's about time everyone is scrambling to help new traveling parents. I'm glad the days are finally gone when I was embarrassed to walk through a resort or hotel lobby with my not-always-well-behaved toddlers.
There are so many options it's hard to choose. Invite the grandparents and rent a villa (saving nearly 30 percent) in Tucson or Mont Tremblant, Quebec, among other places (www.rentalo.com). Head to your favorite city over a weekend when business people leave and hotel rates drop (www.hotels.com is running a sale) and look at your favorite museums from a preschooler's perspective. (Check out the museum discovery rooms like the new Crown Family Playlab at the Field Museum in Chicago, www.fieldmuseum.org.) Opt for a Pennsylvania farm (www.pafarmstay.com) where the kids can get up close and personal to the baby animals.
Since Beaches Resorts, http://www.beaches.com/, introduced Crayola Arts Camp and Caribbean Adventure with Sesame Street, their four Caribbean Resorts in Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, complete with pint-sized pirate-themed water parks, have enjoyed a 40 percent spike in toddler travel, just in the last three years, says Beaches Resorts spokesman Maggie Rivera. Even better, rates are up to 45 percent off and nannies are available so that parents can get a romantic night out. No one seems worried about hurricanes either since the resorts promise guests a free replacement trip if their stay is interrupted. (Also, until October 31, Beaches is waiving the single supplement for single parents and will host special activities.)
Bookings are also up this fall at Smugglers' Notch in northern Vermont, www.smuggs.com, where, during Autumn Fest, you'll find some of the best deals all year, including free day care at the first-rate Treasures Child Care Center, and a free night for those who stay three nights. The program is designed so adults get some "alone time" while kids are happily engaged in "camp." The family comes together in the afternoon for special activities designed for this age group. Puppet making or sing-along anybody?
Walt Disney World's Magical Beginnings, www.disneymagicalbeginnings.com, (through October 28) promises special concerts (here's your chance to take the kids to see The Doodlebops and Imagination Movers), an earlier opening at Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom, and the opportunity for your little princess to become a real princess at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at the World of Disney. Orlando also touts "endless deals" that include free night options, www.orlandoinfo.com/endlesssummer.
Carnival Cruises, www.carnival.com, meanwhile, offers supervised activities starting at age two and group babysitting for those as young as four months. Deals start at under $300 a person for four-day cruises (less than $200 for a third in the cabin.)
"We're seeing more kids every time of year," says Carnival spokesman Jennifer de la Cruz, adding that cruise ships can simply change their route in the event of a hurricane.
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