It's a Babymoon Boom
Next month, Charis Atlas Heelan and her husband, Chris, are taking a vacation with a little stranger: 4-month-old daughter, Ella. They'll spend a week at a San Diego golf resort, enjoying its spa services. "People have said, 'You can't take her on vacation; she's just a baby,' " Charis says. "But I don't buy that excuse." And the cross-country flight from their New York City home is just the beginning. Later this year they're planning to take Ella to Australia.
There's a name for the Heelans' postpartum vacation: a babymoon. The term is defined broadly. Some folks use it to refer to a last getaway before childbirth. But really, can you babymoon without baby on board? And with the current travel boom, today's adventurous new parents are eager for a getaway while baby is too young to run around the plane, let alone say, "No."
The travel industry is paying attention. The luxury market in particular is making itself extra kid-friendly, says Kyle McCarthy, editor of FamilyTravelForum.com, offering baby-sitting services that accept very young children and introducing massages for pre- and post-partum moms and even for babies.
Not that a babymoon is a honeymoon. "It's a challenge," admits Perri Klass, a pediatrician at Boston University School of Medicine. "But there is no medical reason you can't travel with a very young child--unless you're planning to climb Everest or trek across equatorial Africa."
Even France can be daunting. One new traveling dad, who requested anonymity, just came back from Paris with his wife and 10-month-old. Their seatless son had to sit (or squirm) in their laps for the long flight there and back, the time change wrecked their sleeping schedules, and, says the father, "the quaintness of Europe--with small bedrooms and small bathrooms--stops being quaint when you have this little guy you need separation from when you're sleeping." Even shopping for baby food was daunting. The only thing he and his wife could find was canard--that is, duck. When he got off that plane covered in food, throw-up, and tears ("the tears were my own"), he swore, "I'm never doing this again." Then he paused and said, "But maybe if we stick to the same hemisphere next time . . . the Caribbean?"
Lil' slippers. Babymoon marketers hope to ease some of the pain. Las Ventanas in Los Cabos, Mexico, offers a four-night "babymoon" package, from $2,322 to $12, 122 per expectant couple. If they've already had the baby, the hotel can provide a tiny robe and slippers, a crib with a hypoallergenic mattress, and the all-important diaper pail (lasventanas.com) Disney's cruise ships (disneycruise.disney.go.com) give parents a break by taking children as young as 12 weeks in a Little Mermaid -themed nursery. Mom and Dad can check on Junior through special portholes. This summer, Loews Hotels will start offering 45-minute play-group classes for babies as young as 6 months. Story readings, supervised play, singing, and art are on the curriculum. And massages for new moms (and stressed-out dads) are available at Golden Door-branded spas in several Wyndham hotels ( goldendoorspas.com for details).
Then there's the dadless babymoon. The Greenhouse, a women-only spa in Arlington, Texas, offers a five-day "Baby & Me" program twice a year. Mom and infants as young as 2 months old are chauffeured from the airport and assigned a private nanny. Daily massage, facial, manicure, fitness classes, and meals, with breakfast in bed, are included in the $3,850 price (thegreenhousespa) As for Dad, don't feel too bad. He gets a vacation--from diaper duty and middle-of-the-night wake-up calls.
CRIB SHEET
Paperwork. If you're flying, bring a copy of the birth certificate. Headed abroad? Baby may need a passport.
Age. Some airlines and cruise lines won't take babies under 3 months. Babiestravelite.com gives travel rules.
Call ahead. Many hotels will try to meet your needs, starting with a crib.
Crib Sheet
Paperwork. If you're flying, bring a copy of the birth certificate. Headed abroad? Baby may need a passport.
Age. Some airlines and cruise lines won't take babies under 3 months. Babiestravelite.com gives travel rules.
Call ahead. Many hotels will try to meet your needs, starting with a crib.
This story appears in the May 30, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.