How to survive your first holiday abroad with the kids

 

With so many baby friendly holidays available these days, there’s no need to stay at home just because you have kids. Of course, leaving the house might seem a mission when you first become a parent and the thought of boarding a plane might give you palpitations, but if you want to go away, here’s how to survive your first holiday abroad with the little ones.

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Book a family-friendly hotel

When looking for a place to stay, try to book a family-friendly resort with all the facilities you will need to enjoy your holiday properly such as a swimming pool, baby play area, kid’s club (if you’ve got older children), babysitting services and more. It’s also worth finding out if the hotel provides things like travel cots and pushchairs as this will save you from travelling with bulky items and make sure the room comes with a kettle/microwave so you can heat baby’s food and milk easily.

While the facilities of hotels can be superb, you might find that self-catered accommodation gives you more freedom to prepare meals for your children. The kitchens are often fully equipped with all the utensils and equipment you’d use at home and you won’t have to worry about being up and out of the door for an early breakfast.

 

Think about safety

Keeping your child safe on holiday is of paramount importance and while there are many things you can do such as never leaving them unattended, putting all breakables out of the way and checking accommodation for fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, you should also try to book a ground floor apartment/room – particularly if your child has started to walk or crawl. This is because most hotels have balconies and as the bars can be quite wide apart it’s better to be safe than sorry.

 

Try to be as organised as possible

In the lead up to your break, try to be as organised as possible. Think about everything you’ll need for your holiday and buy all the baby essentials in advance. If you’re travelling to a hot country, for instance, it’s a good idea to invest in lots of sleeveless vests that are easy to wash and dry as well as sun hats, sun cream with a high SPF factor (ideally suitable for sensitive sin), little shoes if your child is already walking as the floor will be hot, an umbrella for your pushchair, sunglasses if your youngster is old enough to keep them on and other must-haves including nappies and wipes.

Of course, anything you forget can usually be brought overseas so don’t worry too much, but for peace of mind it’s wise to take products you know and love especially when it comes to formula, medicines, nappies and so on as you can’t always get the quality you’re used to in another country.

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Take activities and food for the plane

Even the shortest of plane journeys can seem like a marathon with kids if you’re not properly prepared so always take plenty of things to do on board. Babies love things that stimulate their senses such as colourful teething rings, rattles or things that make a noise but bear in mind other passengers probably won’t want to listen to nursery rhymes over and over again. The good news is there are many fantastic travel toys out there while will help kill some time and don’t forget to pack a range of snacks, as chewing a breadstick or baby biscuit is sure to keep them happy.

Travelling as a parent is certainly a completely different ballgame to travelling alone, but with a little forward thinking it’s easily achievable.

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