12 Useful Things I’ve Learned From Our First Holiday With A Baby
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We had a fabulous holiday in Lanzarote
We've just returned from our very first adventure abroad with our (now 10-month-old) bundle of joy! Honestly, we were a tad nervous about travelling with her, but guess what? It turned out to be an absolute blast! If you're gearing up for a trip with your little munchkin soon, here are some tips and tricks we picked up during our getaway that might come in handy for you too:-
Airport pram - First off, can I just say how lovely it is that you can check your pram in right from the get-go but still hang onto it until you reach the gate? It's like having your cake and eating it too! We packed ours (a rather compact Joie Tourist Pushchair) snugly in its carry bag, and bonus tip, we stashed our sunshade and rain cover in the pram basket to save luggage space.
Priority Lanes - Did you know that many airports offer a priority route through security for parents with prams? Yup, even without paying extra! This was a really nice discovery that made for an stress-free security check!
Carry on luggage - When you're traveling with a lap-sitting baby, you often don’t have to pay any extra for their ticket. Despite this, airlines often throw in an extra carry-on bag allowance for all those baby essentials. Nappies, wipes, spare clothes—you name it!
Picking the right seating - We are usually budget travellers but we splashed the cash just a little this time to get seats at the front of the plane with extra leg room. This made us feel less claustrophobic when sharing our seats with a little person and also gave her some floor space to play around in.
Ear popping - To help your baby ease the discomfort of ‘ear popping’ that goes along with take off and landing on an aeroplane, it's worth giving them some milk during those times (whether from a bottle or a boob). This ensures that they keep swallowing, helping their ears to ‘pop’ easily and adjust to the changing environment.
We took toys that attached to the window or to the seat in front.
Toys - We brought a few toys with us for the airport and for the aeroplane too. She particularly enjoyed playing with a toy that we had stuck to the window (which was useful because it made it harder for her to lose in the abyss between seats)! This kind of toy uses a sucker to stick to flat surfaces and could have been stuck to the chair in front if we had not been near to a window.
Keeping your baby distracted - I found it useful to keep my baby distracted throughout the journey and so brought snacks and a drink with us. I made some of my banana and veggies bread which I cut into finger food for her. If you would like the recipe, you can check it out here.
Naps on the go - We went to Lanzarote and whilst we stayed in quite a sleepy area, we did do quite a lot of day trips which sometimes took place around the same time as nap time. We found a snooze shade to go over her pram really useful - it helped our baby get off to sleep without distractions and also shielded her from the sun!
We were able to hire lots of useful items for our babies whilst in Lanzarote!
Hiring equipment abroad - Our villa only supplied one cot despite us having two babies with us. We found that we were able to hire cots from a company called Easy Hire 365 rather than having to bring one with us. We also opted to hire baby walkers from them which were a big hit with both babies who enjoyed whizzing around the villa in them and bopping along to the music which played from the activity tables attached to each of them.
Planning meals - We chose to stay in a villa with some friends for our first holiday with our little one rather than in a hotel and they had their bubba with them. If we had stayed at an hotel, we would have needed to go to bed at the same time as our baby - or sneak our evening meal in the bathroom or on the balcony in an attempt to avoid waking her! Staying in a villa meant that we were able to have some nice evening meals at ‘home’ whilst our babies slept upstairs. We also took it in turns to look after each other’s baby so we all had an opportunity for a bit of well-deserved grown-up time, too.
Covering up - Our villa had a pool which our little one made use of whilst we were there. She was covered in baby sun lotion but she doesn’t have a lot of hair and so it seemed likely that some of the rays would get through to her scalp. We found it really useful to have a hat on our baby whilst she was in the pool and we chose one that also covered her neck to limit her skin’s exposure to the sun, particularly when it was being reflected off the water.
Car seats - We used a company called Cicar to rent a vehicle for our time away. They were also able to provide us with free car seats for our little ones which was really useful.
It was lovely seeing our little ones enjoying the holiday and becoming little travel buddies!
Babies can be hard work and in some ways, the idea of a holiday with them can be quite daunting but don’t let it put you off! It’s doable - and dare I say, enjoyable! We were able to have a really fantastic holiday and spend time with our friends in the sunshine. Babies are adaptable little troopers and more resilient than you think. So stay calm, give yourself extra time for the journey (and for anything you have planned throughout your trip) and, most of all, have a fabulous time!