Holidays with little ones? THE TRUTH!

So sadly as we come to close our summer holidays for this year I thought I would put together my thoughts and tips for travelling with young ones. This year we traveled to Port Des Torrent in Ibiza and Paphos in Cyprus. Before Chris and I had Harry we often got guide to new parent comments "Get your sleep in'', "Have all your holidays before baby arrives. they aren't the same once you have children" blah blah the list goes on and to be honest we actually found it fairly doom and gloom, and as much as they felt they were giving us the heads up, and some statements were true, the reality was they were all bloody negative!!! We were about to become parents for the first time, this was such an exciting time for us. As we loved our holidays before we started our family we thought to ourselves is it really that bad to travel with a young child?

The bits that put you off;

You carry a lot of stuff, and I mean a lot! If your anything like me, I carried everything from a sterilising kit to a month's supply of nappies, and what felt like a shop full of Harry's favourite snacks!

BUT DID YOU  KNOW? 

If your booking with Thompson / First choice they give you the option now to include a baby pack as a part of your holiday! It includes everything from a UV tent, bottle warmers to a buggy!! You can feel relaxed and at ease it'll all be waiting at your destination - For more details I have attached a link for you mummies to go and view

http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/holiday/info/baby-packs

and for snacks you can do your order online with Boots, and collect in store at the airport as long as its done 10 days before your due to fly, you can include calpol, milk powders and all the foods currently in stock! 

Plane journies are definitely more uncomfortable, say goodbye to tuning into your favorite album on iTunes or the best selling book in WHSmith. Instead you may have a baby (Harry at 7 months to tenerife!) who will no doubt want to to be walked up and down the flight having a nosey and in return have everyone coo, coo-ing, of how cute and giggly they are, well make the most of them nice people because they are your small babies entertainment! So to give your arm a rest, take it in turns with your partner/husband and remember short haul flights where possible! Our most recent flight our son was a bit older (22 months) and it was much easier entertainment wise and my top 3 tips to flying with a toddler are;

No.1: Take a trip to Poundland! Yep keep costs down, and fill that bag till it's bursting at the seams of NEW, SHINY FUN toys that your little one has never seen. We got a hammer and screw driver set, a yoyo, a truck, and a paw patrol maganoodle. It was like Christmas for our son when we got the bag out on the plane and I can honestly say he played till his little heart was content and when he was finished playing he then showed all those around us (luckily, they all had children too!) happy days 2 hours down, just another half hour to go!

No.2: Give in and take the iPad, we took our iPad for the first ever time on holiday and to be honest my son is not into the iPad at home at all but what he IS into and massively obsessed with is Disney channels Mickey Mouse Club house! He loves it, and at only 20 minutes an episode they were fairly quick to download too.

What you need to do is; Download the Disney Live app. It's free to do so, and you have access to e v e r y channel going  as well as Disney movies! It's FREE for the first 7 days as a trial, and from there onwards it's £4.99 per month. SO if your child like mine isn't iPad savy, but you know he or she likes a good old cartoon, download and bring with! You have nothing to loose as you can cancel once you get home!

No.3: Buy extra leg room, it is honestly worth the money. You are going to have bags of spare clothes, toys, food, your own stuff and your toddlers fave teddy bears! Be aware if booking in peak season these are bound to be sold out if your booking last minute, however if your going out of season airports will often sell at Buy One Extra Leg Room seat, and Get One Free! This happened to us for our holiday last year and we were travelling in march, we were miffed to say the least.. More money for duty free perfume I was thinking!

And if your wondering will other families be in extra leg room? YES, lots of them. We actually had a couple sat in front of us on our recent flight moaning and grunting "Great I didn't realise there would be so many families in this section" how presumptuous of him eh? I bet he was first at the all inclusive bar when he arrived; I did chuckle to myself.

Hanging around causes more aggro; 

You have survived the plane you were dreading horay! Book a private cab and beat the check in ques, we booked our private transfers before leaving with a trusted transfer company, please message me if travelling to Cyprus or Spain and I can send details of who we used. Great prices and they also provided a infant car seat so we are at peace our baby would be safe.

THE GOOD!

You have arrived, your checked in to your hotel, you've reached your room, un packed (well kind of) and ready for the week ahead.

Maids tidying up all week? EH HELLO! 

Escaping the house work for a full week - Achieved!

Unlimited & variety of food available! (if going all inc)

Fussy Eaters - Who cares if it goes on the floor?

Your not cooking it!!!

The weather 

Everything is so much better in the sun!

Mummies feeling un sexy, pale, & dark bags under our eyes - HELLO SUN TAN!

Family entertainment 

Sick of the constant kids channel on the TV at home?

If choosing a holiday village, the entertainment team will be your little ones BEST FRIENDS for the next 7 days!!

& Finally those

price less moments

The airport was crazy busy, you stressed, you almost cried, the plane journey was tiring (deep breathes) but I promise you it will be all worth it once arrived. Us mummies all know how quickly time flies, our little ones are NOT going to be this small forever, so if your feeling unsure whether to book but you want to capture those moments of splashing in the pool, them dancing to the 'holiday song', meeting their own little holiday friends do not let others or your anxiety put you off! I have loved the holidays we have had with Harry, of course our holidays are now different, we are sharing them with our little mini me, they aren't full of cocktails and late nights, instead their full of day time giggles, strolls along the beach, sweaty sticky toddler cuddles but I look at other families whilst on holiday who have older children and my heart stops for a moment to think oh my god, one day that will be our little boy. As a mum who travel's my advise would be carry on cherishing those moments as a family at every opportunity whether that be on holidays abroad, UK holidays, long weekends away,  quite frankly who cares where because time as a family is of course all that matters.

Love the happy balance mum x

TOP 10 TIPS FOR POTTY TRAINING

Welcome mummies... and daddies to my latest blog!

Harry has been dry in the day time for almost 6 weeks! yay. He turned 2 last month and i was really preparing myself for the weeks/months ahead potty training a boy as I had a read they could be harder than girls.

Well, 6 weeks on and 3 weeks no accidents here are my top 10 tips to potty training.

NO.1 - DONT EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN OVER NIGHT

Chris and I had left Harry's potty around since he was 18 months old, literally left it in the living room for him to engage and look to see what is was and what to do with it. We of course would refer to it as a wee wee and poo poo and name is ''Harry's Potty''

NO. 2 - KEEP THE NAPPY OFF

At home the whole process of Harry's early day's of potty training we kept his nappy off, yes he would have accidents, and yes we were prepared with lots of kitchen roll and carpet cleaner but the biggest goal we are trying to achieve in potty training is Harry understanding when it is on the way out, yep, wee and poo poo! Sooo by keeping them nappy free, he soon started to learn it HAS to go somewhere!

No. 3 - ACCCIDENTS ARE OK!

Keep it fun, and as stress free for all parties involved, you daddy and toddler! If they have an accident, its a ohhhh dear, oopps a daisy, this was meant to be for the potty, we would always still say oohhh quickly harry on the potty even if he was mid way through! 

NO. 4 - PRAISE AND LOTS OF IT!

We actually never got to the point of sticker charts, or treats but we did do a whole of Whoops, YAYs, Cuddles in the air (mainly daddy!) and Claps! Harry absolutely thrived from it and it was soon a hobbie to be on and off the potty! Horay no more carpet accidents!

NO. 5 - ENGAGE WITH TEDDY BEARS

Early on we would often say birthday bear (Harrys fave bear) is off for the toilet and would pop him on the potty, we often now catch him putting him back on there and wiping his bottom - very cute indeed!

No.6 - DO NOT BUY PANTS UNTIL FREQUENTLY USING POTTY

Pants to a toddler who's learning are still a cover up! I.e. They won't know in the beginning the difference between a nappy or pants and you will end up with lots of wet clothes. Hand on heart Harry has had I would say 5 accidents in total since being in pants, and I truly believe it was because we didn't rush into pants so early on. 

No.7 - THEME YOUR PANTS!

Once confident you feel your little one is on and off the potty, go for it with pants! Its such an exciting time, and lots of oh wow your in your big boy pants now. Harry's was Paw Patrol and at every given time he couldnt wait to show me what pup was on the front! 

No.8 - ONCE THE PANTS ARE ON, NO NAPPIES!

DO NOT be tempted to put the nappy on after an accident, you are basically un doing all that you have been working for these past few days/week! It can become a frustrating time, but hang in there. Don't be out for too long away from a home/toilet, start out with an hour or so from the house, and build up. Explain if there has been an accident, ohh silly billy bladder, and pop a clean fresh pair of pants on! 

No. 9 - ACCEPT IF ACCIDENTS KEEP HAPPENING, THEY ARE NOT READY

I honestly hand on heart said to my husband, do you know i think we should just bite the bullet and go for it, Harry has been so frequent on the potty, lets go get some pants and see what happens, If he isnt ready, we will soon know! So don't feel you have to battle if you keep having frequent accidents, leave it and start back a month or so later. 

Come on mummies, we have enough washing to do as it is right?!

No.10 - GIVE YOURSELF A PAT ON THE BACK

Yep thats right, you have just completed one of the challenges parenthood throws at you, go and buy yourself your favorite bottle of wine!

Another journey I'm a part of

Hey!

Welcome to my first ever blog post; I recently joined instagram after much deliberation over the years; do I have time for yet another social media site, will it be another what feels like a social media addiction (let’s not lie!) anyways nevertheless I finally set my page up and here I am putting together my very own blog… and there was me questioning whether I had time for this sort of thing right?! But what really caught my attention was something so different to other social media sites and it was of course; seeing all these lovely mummy pages, blogs and YouTube videos of women doing what we do best; chat, moan, question, seeking support about being the best mum! Through the bad days and the good…. We really are ALL good Mums!

Work and actually life in general to be honest before my 2 year old son Harry was born has always been and is still very much woman orientated for me & my line of work, the last 5 years in particular has been very much about changing people’s live’s through amazing results for their skin. I cannot begin to explain the transformation in ones confidence that I have witnessed and been a part of, it is just amazing and extremely fulfilling. I have always had such a great feeling towards positivity, encouragement and empowering other woman, I find it truly inspiring – So I couldn't wait to be a part of the blogging world with all those who are also on one of life’s most challenging but equally amazing journies that is.. motherhood. 💛

I have a great passion for my career, and I won't lie since going back to work I now feel I spend most of my time ensuring I get the "happy balance" in being work Laura, wife Laura and mummy Laura. Working hard for my career was always something I knew I wasn't going to give up easily, it is all I have known for the past 10 years equally I was so ready to become a mum, and why can't we have the best of both worlds? I won't deny the worry of first leaving your baby, or the guilt you may feel in the beginning, or even questioning are we doing the right thing? I have been through all those emotion's, and still facing new ones everyday now, but I am so so excited to be a part of the mummy world of blogging and sharing with you my every day tips and advice and of course for me to continue to read the blogs of many others!

Love finding the happy balance mum x