In October 2023, my wife and I went for Umrah with our daughter. She was six months old.
I’ll be honest about how that felt, because most of what you read about Umrah leaves out the practical side.
Tiring is the honest word
Travelling with an infant is tiring anywhere. Umrah adds the walking, the crowds and the rituals on top of feeds, naps and nappy changes. You carry a baby and a bag everywhere, and you plan everything around someone who doesn’t care about your schedule.
There’s no version of this trip where you come home rested. We didn’t, and I don’t think anyone with a baby does.
Nothing went wrong
What surprised me was how smoothly it all went. No lost bookings, no sickness, no disasters. Just a long, tiring, steady trip where everything worked.
I had prepared myself for at least one bad day. It never came.
It was the most tiring trip I’ve taken, and one of the most satisfying.
The feeling at the end
When it was done, the main feeling was achievement. We had done something that matters to us, as a family, with a baby in our arms the whole way. That feeling has stayed with me longer than the tiredness did.
It was a wholesome trip in the truest sense. The three of us, together, doing it properly.
If you’re waiting for the kids to be older
You don’t have to. It will be harder with a baby, and you should expect that. But harder isn’t the same as impossible, and the satisfaction at the end is worth every tired day.