Matcation: Mom and baby hit the road in latest travel fad
February 17, 2011
Corinne McDermott
SPECIAL TO PARENTCENTRAL.CA
With full-time jobs and professional responsibilities, maternity leave is often the only time in a woman’s life where she’s not tied to someone else’s schedule (well, besides baby’s, of course). Too often, thoughts of travel and adventure are relegated to our meagre North American vacation allotments, and if you live far from your family, most of that is used for visits home.
But while caring for a new baby is a full-time job, there’s no reason why that full-time job can’t take place in a new and different environment. Once you’re in the swing of things, there’s really little holding you back from seeing the world with your babe in tow, except of course, that new dads are often still stuck with that limited vacation time; and most of that was probably used for the new baby’s first few weeks of life.
During my first maternity leave, my husband and I budgeted for a trip, and we all looked forward to our first family vacation together. But my husband travelled a lot for work that year, and with hindsight, I can see that I could have also done a lot of other travel with our daughter. My website was just a few months old when I had a question from a reader asking for destination recommendations for her and a friend and their babies. She explained that their husbands work long hours, and that travelling together with their babies would give them both a change of scenery and possibly a bit of a break.
I thought this was a great idea, and secretly wished I had thought of it! While these women were looking into a week at a self-catering Florida beach motel, it was hearing about a Belgian spa that offered programs specifically for a mom and baby getaway that made me realize there could be a whole new “cation” to add to the growing list: Move over “staycations,” “mancations” and “grandcations:” the latest thing is the Matcation.
The Thermes de Spa in Belgium offers a number of programs and treatments specifically for new moms with babies between two and seven months. The four-day L'institut maman-bébé (Mama-Baby Institute) offers treatments and massages for mama, baby, and mama and baby together. While mom gets pampered, baby is cared for by professional caregivers in a dedicated space furnished with everything baby needs - bed, high chairs, refrigerator, bottle warmer, changing table, and toys. Prices start at (gasp!) €670 for four days (not including accommodation), but Thermes de Spa does offer à la carte services for both mom and tot.
Thermes de Spa has been doing their mom and baby programs for over five years. However, it seems that it’s just been in the past year or so that others are starting to catch on, and develop programs and offers specifically for moms on mat leave.
Rita and Mike Kobrak are the London, England-based owners of Villa Radicata, just outside Anghiari in the Central Tuscany region of Italy. Inspired by the mom’s group she joined after the birth of her daughter, Alessia, Rita decided to make their Villa baby-friendly, and created the Mum And Baby Experience In Italy. Choose a yoga and cooking break, or a family fitness break, and from £700 for 5 days (accommodation, classes, transfers and meals included but not airfare), mama and bambino can downward dog and make pasta in the rolling Tuscan hills, or get a head start in shedding the baby weight with circuit training or aqua aerobics under the Italian sunshine. Dads and grandparents can come along for an extra fee, but babies and toddlers are always free.
To get help moms meet those New Year’s Resolutions, New York’s Affinia Dumont Hotel, located in midtown Manhattan, is offering the Fit & Fab Post-Pregnancy Getaway. In addition to helping moms kick start their fitness routine, the offer encourages them to bring the little one along, and is planned so baby can stay by mom’s side.
Moms can work out in privacy of their very own 1,100 sq. feet VIP Fitness Suite that features a private gym with state-of-the-art equipment and sauna to rejuvenate the body. The getaway also includes a crib, Baby Einstein Baby Einstein DVD, and bouncy seat for baby. After working up a sweat, Moms can indulge in some pampering with in-room spa services from the on-site Oasis Day Spa and shopping on Fifth Avenue, just a few blocks away, to reward themselves with new clothes.
This escape also includes a Stay Fit yoga kit for use during guests' stay, one in-room post-natal massage, daily breakfast for mom, unlimited bottled water and one copy of Fit & Fabulous: For Life after Babies by Fiona Thomas Hargraves. Available now through New Year’s Eve 2011, the nightly rates start at $299 and are based on a two-night minimum.
If I could have a do-over for my first maternity leave, I definitely would have saved up to enjoy some time away. With more and more places offering specials for moms and babies, I’m thinking the Matcation will catch on.
Corinne McDermott is the founder Have Baby Will Travel – Your guide to family travel with babies and toddlers. Connect with her at www.twitter.com/hvbabywilltrvl