Vacation Ideas with an 8 Month Old?

I like the other mom's idea about a walking trip, but here's a twist ... a lot of that stuff is around the Chicago area - what if you played tourist close to home? For instance, if you want to do something active, like canoeing on the Fox River near Ottawa, for that day you get a trusted sitter, if you go hiking at Starved Rock, put your precious little one in a framed backpack & have fun! Go see the whales at the Oceanarium at The Shedd Aquarium, or see Harry Potter at the Museum of Science and Industry, visit Sue the T-Rex at the Field Museum, take a skyline cruise, hit the beach at Oak Street Beach ... you get the idea. Play tourist close to home, get sitters for days that will be more difficult for your cherub and go play together. You'll have a lot of fun and save money - no lodging costs = more money for activities.

Have fun!
D.

You could still take a vacation but make it a walking vacation. Then you won't have to worry about leaving the baby with someone else. Of course, the longer the flight, the bigger the chance of a cranky baby.

i've been to Mexico 3 times with my kids.....the first time my daughter was about 9 months old....the second we had 2 kids my daughter was about 3 and my son about 1.....and last they were both toddlers. We went to the Iberostar resorts in Mexico....its a string of resorts that offer a beach, huge pool with swim up bar and lots of things for kids and parents to do. Mexico itself is beautiful, but every day they had a huge barbecue on the beach and many kid friendly restaurants to go to.....one of the resorts also is geared more toward kids..mostly toddlers though. They have alot of counselor type people that help the kids with finger painting....they take them walking around the resort and they have a play ground and kids wading pool with sprinklers. There are also grown up restaurants and night clubs on the resort and offer live bands at night in their outdoor theater area. The kids had a blast everytime and so did we. I think that if you go anywhere that's more relaxing the kids enjoy it. Another idea is if you go and take along another couple with kids you guys can switch off nights to stay with the kids while the other couple watches them.....ive never done this but we don't really know anyone who has money to vacation like we do. lol good luck

Any all-inclusive resort would be great. We have done Mexico, Dominican Republic and Aruba. Aruba is by far our favorite.

What about Beaches? It's Sandals with kids. It's all inclusive and family friendly. We've never been to Beaches but have been to Sandals twice. There is a new one in Turks and Caicos. Have you considered doing a vacation with family or friends? You could split the time watching each others kids . Have fun !

What about Disney? They have that thing where you wait in line and go on the ride separately so one of you can be with the baby. lots of deals at Disney right now.