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
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
