Parents love traveling with their kids but not as much when they are very young.
New research shows that a majority of parents wouldn't dream of vacationing without their young children, 22 percent choose to do so in order to have a more enjoyable time.
According to the Jetcost.com study, those who choose to vacation without their kids most likely wouldn't take them under the age of 2 years old, but many think that 3 years old is still too young.
The company surveyed more than 4,800 American parents over the age of 18 and all with at least one child below the age of 6.
"Family vacations can be the best things ever, but they certainly do have limitations," said a spokesperson for Jetcost.com.
"Whilst most parents are happy to take children of all ages away with them, some clearly have their reservations about taking them along, whether because they're young, won't appreciate it or might cry the whole time, or simply because they're old enough to pay for themselves," they added. "Ultimately it's down to the parents to decide, but it certainly is possible to have a peaceful vacation with the kids in tow."
A large majority of parents said that they had traveled with their offspring (78 percent), and the average age parents traveled with their children for the first time was at age 3. One in four parents (24 percent) indicated that that was likely too young.
Many parents travel to have alone time without their children. Twenty-eight percent of adults with children they left the kids at home for a getaway to be on their own together.
Some leave their children behind because traveling with them is too expensive (21 percent), and 17 percent said the children didn't come along because they were too young.
Two-fifths of parents traveling abroad said that they wouldn't take children under the age of two, and a further 19 percent said that they wouldn't take children under the age of 3.
Older children are also likely to get left behind. Three-quarters of respondents said that they wouldn't take their child on vacation past the age of 18, and 52 percent wouldn't take their children past the age of 16.
Many parents (36 percent) said that the reason for this was that "they are old enough to pay for themselves." Twenty-one percent said that they "wouldn't want to come on a family vacation anyway," and 16 percent indicated that 'they wouldn't appreciate it enough."
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