When asked “How old was your child when you took your first family vacation?” 32.2% of the parents responded “between 6 and 12 months,” 21% of the parents responded “Between 12 and 24 months,” and 18.9% of the parents responded “Under 6 months.” From the survey, it was found that more than half of the parents planned their first family trips within a year after their baby was born. However, there are others who prefer to take trips later, once their children are old enough to remember the vacation.

How are “Welcome baby hotels” certified?

Ms. Iwamoto: First in order to certify a hotel as a “Welcome Baby Hotel,” we first have a pair of certifiers stay at the hotel overnight, where they conduct checks on 100 different criteria. Hotels who clear at least 70 criteria are given the certification as a “Welcome baby hotel.”

–100 criteria! That’s a lot!

Ms Yamamoto: These criteria are chosen by moms and specialists, and they range from “Safety measures taken in the room” to “stroller accessibility,” “bathrooms and toilets designed for usage with infants,” “whether they provide baby food menus,” “Family friendly service,” and “surrounding environment.”

Is there a special point you focus on?

Ms. Iwamoto: We first check whether there are places that are dangerous for children. For example, it’s common for tea cups to be placed on top of low tables and hard chairs to be set in bedrooms at Japanese-styled hotels, but this isn’t a safe environment for children. In the case with infants, hotels with tatami flooring where guests take their shoes off provide a clean, safe place for babies to crawl. Recently, there’s are European-styled places that prohibit shoes in the rooms, or use lower beds.

That gives us comfort in staying with young children.

Ms. Iwamoto: It’s also important to take into consideration if the whole place is stroller accessible. Using actual strollers or suitcases, we go around the hotel to check to see if there’s any places with steps that impede smooth movement.

When choosing a place to stay, what should moms and dads look out for?

Ms. Iwamoto: It might be wise to check is the hotel provides bath chairs, baby soap, bed guard fences, and garbage cans for diapers. It is also important to make sure that you’ll be able to use disposable diapers and powder milk in the hotel, as it’s always a hassle to bring a lot of things. For infants who are past the breastfeeding age, it might be nice to see if the hotel provides baby food menus or meals suited for children with allergies.

Ms. Yamamoto: “I'm grateful for a lot of voices, such as "I'd like to stay here again" or “I would like to stay at another welcome baby hotel for the next time."

Are there other points that parents should look out for?

Ms. Yamamoto: Finding a hotel that’s baby friendly is important, but it’s also important to take into consideration is it’s a place that parents can relax. The point of a vacation is to heal daily stress, so hotels with spas might be nice for moms. Dads, make sure to take care of your baby while mom is enjoying her time at the spa!

That’s so true!

Ms. Iwamoto: All of the “Welcome baby hotels” values if parents can relax, as that is something as important as relaxation for babies.

Hot springs are also nice for healing purposes. When can babies start going into hot springs?

Ms. Iwamoto: It’s safe for babies older than 7 months old, if the water is below 40 degrees Celsius. When entering a hot spring with your baby, watch out for slippery floors. Bedrooms with a private hot spring might also work for families with infants.

Ms. Yamamoto: If there is a pool in the hotel, even babies can have fun, while hotels with activity workshops will work for families with toddlers.

Ms. Iwamoto: When babies are young, it’s common for them to get sick very easily, so the hotels we recommend have emergency kits while some places while directly introduce you to a nearby hospital. When choosing a hotel, it might be important to take into consideration if there’s a hospital nearby.

Ms. Iwamoto: I personally first used a “Welcome baby hotel” when I took my first family vacation with my one-year-old son.

So you had already been a user of the “Welcome baby hotel” before you even became a certifier!

Ms. Iwamoto: Yes, from my experience, the “Welcome baby hotels” were not only easy to use with it baby friendly services, but the staff working there was also very nice and caring. I still have great memories from our first family vacation.

Did you choose your current job because the experience you got at “Welcome baby hotels” were so nice?

Ms. Iwamoto; Yes, indeed. Part of the reason why I’m doing this job is because I want other families to experience the “happiness” I was able to get when I stayed at a hotel certified as a “welcome baby hotel.” When travelling with young children, especially at the very first travel with your baby, choosing a hotel could be a difficult task, which sometimes event decides the fate of the trip, which is why I want to help out parents who are trying to choose the best hotel for their vacation.

It’s always important to make good memories during your first trip too, right?

Ms. Yamamoto: Trips with your children are different from couple vacations as the things you can do gets limited. However, on the other hand, because the activities you can experienced are limited, it allows you to spend a more relaxed time, providing parents an opportunity to see thigs from a child’s perspective, which might lead to new discoveries. Trips is a chance for parents who are usually busy to connect with their children, which is why we recommend parents to start taking family vacations from a young age.

There might be a lot of parents who have taken “couple” trips, but the first family vacation is something that’s completely different. Trips with babies are limited, and you might encounter small troubles on the way. However, even if you can’t hit all of the tourist spots, the trip will definitely become a special one as it’s the first one you’ll be taking with your child. For parents who are yet to take their first family vacation, bon voyage!