To think this is really inconsiderate

I think you are being uber considerate on behalf of holiday makers you have never met. Maybe it annoys you that your friend doesn't seem to care about the noise that the babies might make. But you can't cover every eventuality and theres a fine line between being self aware and living apologetically. I hope they get a good break, that the babies sleep and everyond has a great holiday.

That's life, babies cry. That's like saying i should never go on holiday because I snore. Nobody's business

Sennelier1

Ben and Laura still wont get any sleep, only now they will be sleepless in Spain. Why would you knowingly impose this on innocent neighbours? Wait a few months and then go for a réal vacation?

Maybe their neighbours at home will welcome a week of peace and quiet.

I remember apologising to a neighbour about my screaming baby, her husband had died when I was pregnant and she said it was comforting to hear other people when she couldn't sleep. I don't think many neighbours would feel the same.

Poor baby! What is the matter with him? Has he been examined by a doctor, or health visitor and his wee diet checked?

If I was your friend I would offer to look after the baby for a few nights while they have a few undisturbed nights in a hotel not too far from home - or even just stay at home!
That would be great for recharging their batteries without the hassle of going through airports etc with a young baby and they could be nearby if needed.

Ben and Laura still wont get any sleep, only now they will be sleepless in Spain. Why would you knowingly impose this on innocent neighbours? Wait a few months and then go for a réal vacation?

Oh, yeah, you are being unreasonable!

Goldieoldie15

With due respect have you really nothing more worthwhile to spend your time worrying about?

It always amuses me when people say ‘with due respect’ and then go on to disrespect the recipient! 😂

It might soothe the baby. That would have been my luck, if I'd had a colicky baby and gone away! Then come back and the colic starts up again lol.

With due respect have you really nothing more worthwhile to spend your time worrying about?

Agree Best thing ever
Robert Lever cranial osteopath in Northwood Middlx

I'd feel bad about ruining some deserving family's holiday .
But Ben and Laura need one , which is understandable .
I'd try and find a reason and cure for the colic before going or the holiday won't be much of a break .
My firstborn had severe colic .
I'd still be in my nightie at lunchtime -frantic for someone else to try to comfort her so I could use the bathroom .
I had no joy at the clinic and another lecture on breast feeding .
Eventually I managed to get Merbentyl ,which certainly helped .
Through her childhood , she grew and ate well , but had a tendency to suffer from wind and offensive diarrhoea .
Again -no joy from the GP who told me that I was neurotic .
My daughter is lactose and gluten intolerant .
Her reaction can threaten to turn into anaphylaxic shock so she takes more care now she's older .
Food intolerance and allergies run on my mother's side of the family.
Some of my older relatives ended up with colostomies and ileostomies .
As for me , it's been a lifetime of merbervine .
I consider myself fortunate that I haven't ended up like my cousins .
When I go out I have to take a change of underwear and my friends are used to my sudden dash to the loo .
Of course , the colic could pass off as she matures .
I hope it does .

Just in case anyone wondered, Merbentyl is contra-indicated in babies under six months as the risks of pretty bad side effects is too high.
I know they include seizures, muscle weakness and coma in too high a percentage of young babies.

I remember Ken Clarke talking about it in Parliament - I think it was to do with a proposed ban.

I think that the attitude of the person loaning the apartment stinks; they are well aware that their 'generosity' will cause misery for someone else (as well as for whole plane full of people, probably)

It would be rude to assume that Ben and Laura chose to have a child without considering how their lives might change, so if their baby is too young to be left with the mother/mother-in-law who so wants them to have a break, then why do they assume it is old enough to spend hours in airports, travel on a plane and spend two weeks in a strange place?

In reply to the original question I think it;s a risk you take. But having said that I wouldn't want to take a colicky baby through an airport, on a plane, to a strange place and I would feel bad about the neighbours. it would just make everything worse

It would ruin my holiday, for sure.
Whether I was thr parent or the neighbour.

theworriedwell

The other thing with colic is it can suddenly stop. One of mine had it and suddenly one day he just settled. A fluke I thought but the next day was the same and suddenly I realised we'd survived and life looked better. Maybe this baby will have got over his colic by the time they go away.

I agree - mine turned off the colic like a switch at 12 weeks. Couldn’t find the energy to have a shower, never mind pack a suitcase during that time. Maybe the baby’s parents could do with a health visitor’s expertise - baby massage works a treat apparently.

A baby of the age that typically suffers from colic, should not be taken anywhere by plane, and I doubt very much that the child's parents will even consider sitting for an hour or s o in an airport with a crying baby.

If they do, it will be a pleasant change for their neighbours at home.

I do not consider the grandparents' offer as inconsiderate - not well thought through, as no-one would want to travel with a baby unless forced to.

Anyone who has ever stayed in a block of flats must surely know that people come home late at night or go to work early in the morning - toilets are flushed, showers taken, loud music played, babies cry, adults make love, dogs bark and so on.

If you cannot take any of the above, then stay at home, or if you go away, stay in a luxary hotel.

Here was I thinking the snowflake generation were the young adults in their 20s and 30s, apparently our age group has snowflakes too.

What your friend and her family do is up to them. Whatever you think about it is not really relevant

MercuryQueen

I guess I’m the weird one, because if I spent thousands to go on vacation and had a colicky baby overhead, I’d be in tears myself. All that money wasted, because unless things were soundproofed, my sleep would be messed up, and sleep deprivation guarantees pain flares for me.

It would completely ruin my vacation.

Totally agree. Not fair in other people.

Across the knee suggested by my helpful advisor when I had a breast fed colicky baby - usually caused by too much milk, greedily guzzled. This was nearly 70 years ago and it certainly did the trick!! In fact, something never advised today, she always slept in her tummy afterwards. As long as it was a firm mattress and no pillow, her nose - should she have decided to sleep face down - gave her breathing space. Happy Mum and happy baby!!

Good grief!
My youngest, of 4, is 56. Most of my friends had babies and we all swopped horror stories. However I have no memory of any small baby crying so loud and long that parents and neighbours were permanently tired. However I do recall one girl, who was always frightened of her mother, being horrified when her ineffective little pats on her baby’s back didn’t result in a burp, when told to use more force. Her mother had told her using force would injure her baby.
My youngest had just finished her bottle so I showed her how to put the baby face down on my knees, then place my hand in the small of its back and press slightly in an upward motion. Resulting in a burp which a grandfather could have made! She passed her 6 week old over and boy! Did that baby enjoy its burp!!
Not all babies respond to gentle back taps when it’s in a horizontal position. I truly believe that many of the babes with a reputation of being colicky and constantly crying, need burping procedures experimented on.
Incidentally, the ‘across the knee’ method was shown me by my elderly foster Dad who was born in 1889.

I ask earplugs everywhere I go on holiday. It isn’t only colicky babies who are noisy!

It will give their neighbours a break.

Years ago my friend was left with her colicky grandson while the parents went to get a bit of peace and quiet and sun .
I think the baby was so shocked it stopped crying 🤣
Having a new baby was no problem to the granny , I was very surprised at them leaving the child
All grew up best of friends