First Time Travelling with a Baby
We’re about to embark on our first trip abroad as a family! Along with the (much needed) help from my parents, we’re travelling to the Balearic Island of Majorca and I’m really excited as we haven’t travelled here before!
This will be Evie’s first ever flight and so we decided to choose a destination that was under two hours on the plane and was somewhere that we could go to from our local airport. I know this probably sounds silly, but for us I wanted this first experience to be as little ‘travelling’ as possible.
Like most parents I’m sure, I have a slight anxiety at how this is going all going to play out; mainly because Evie will just be 9 1/2 months old and is at an age where she likes to move (a lot) but can’t communicate what it is that she wants.
With that in mind, my aim is to be as prepared as we can be, so that we can relax and have fun when we get there! Over the past few weeks I’ve been reading and watching websites and vlogs on peoples experiences when travelling with children under one.
After making endless lists and checking out Pinterest for baby / child essentials to take with you, I’ve broken them down into these essential areas.
1. Food and Drinks
From mixing up formula to sterilising your bottles, there’s so much to think about when it comes to food and drink for your little one.
According to the UK government website, you are able to take food, milk and water for your baby in your luggage and hand luggage for as long you’re on your journey. However you can not carry frozen breast milk with you.
The hotel we have chosen is all inclusive and caters for families and special dietary requirements, but we’re also planning on taking baby snacks and purée pouches with us, as Evie often eats much earlier than us and they so convenient for feeding on the go. I currently love the Ella’s Kitchen and Aldi range as they are 100% organic!
Because Evie also struggles with dairy, I’ll be taking a carton of of the UHT Oatly Barrista milk for her cereal in the morning.
Something else to think about is using the local or bottled water in other counties. It’s not recommended to use bottled water to make up feeds, as it’s not sterile. I found this helpful article (tots to travel) on drinking water abroad, but in our instance we’ll be traveling to Spain where the tap water is safe to drink in most areas.
There’s also the option of using bottled water brands Beyoz and Font Vella as they have low sodium levels, but I’ll be checking the labels before using these.
If you are planning on taking any bottles, cups or cutlery with you, then you may also want to think taking or renting a steriliser to help keep everything clean. Because we already have enough to take with us, we paid £6 to rent a steraliser for the week. If you don’t want to do either then you can go with the boiling method to sterilise your things and the article above 👆🏻 tells you how to do this correctly.
Ella’s Kitchen Pouches, Aldi’s Mamia Organic Pouches, MaM Water Cup, Tommee Tippee Explora Easy Scoop Feeding Bowl Lid and Spoon, Oatly Barista
2. Hospitals and Medical Care
When looking at travelling to another country with your little one, it’s worth scouting out what the hospital and medical care facilities are like - just in case you should need it. We’re going to the island of Majorca, just off the coast of Spain, which is a popular tourist destination and has three hospitals on the island, with out closest one being a 7 minute drive away.
We also have an on-site doctor within our hotel which is a bonus. I’m not sure if this is because we have opted for a specialist family hotel or if all TUI hotels come with these as a standard.
As well as doctors and hospitals, we’ll be packing the baby basics of Calpol, Calpol Saline Nasal Spray, Plasters and Sudocream Antiseptic Cream.
Infant Calpol, Calpol Saline Nasal Spray, Plasters, Sudocrem Antiseptic Cream
3. Transport
Next up is transportation for your little one...for this my list could be endless. My tip with this would be to check with your accommodation if they provide travel cots, highchairs or buggies to save you having to cart everything around.
We have requested a highchair and travel cot with our travel company, but we will be taking a buggy and sling (baby carrier) with us.
I didn’t like the idea of taking my current pushchair with us as it’s a little clunky and I didn’t want it being thrown around in the hold (even though I throw it into the boot of my car every day haha).
If you can’t hire a pushchair or buggy then you could always look to pick up a second hand one from EBay, Facebook Shop or Gumtree, which is what we did. Because we have an early morning flight, we’re hoping that Evie will sleep and so we’ve decided to keep her in her pushchair throughout the departures area and then check in it at the gate.
We’ll also be taking a car seat with us when going to and from places; and this way I know that Evie is safe. It’s also worth checking on the policies for transporting children around in cars, taxis and / or public transport.
I was really shocked to find that children and babies in the U.K. can travel in a taxi without a car seat! (Child Car Seat Laws UK) Whereas in Spain it is compulsory for babies/children to have a child car seat when travelling in any car! Which? have a super handy article on child car seat laws around the world if you’d like to also check this out!
Pushchair and Car Fan, Joie Java Car Seat, Mamas & Papas Stroller, Baby Carrier Sling
4. Swimwear, Hats and Suncream
When it comes to being out in the sunshine, we’ve decided to keep Evie out of the sun or inside during the hours of 11am-3pm, when the sun is at its strongest. This works perfectly for us as it fits with our current routine lunch and her afternoon nap. The NHS have some great tips and advice on keeping children safe in the sun which is worth reading up on as a minimum.
During the early mornings and late afternoons that we’re enjoying by the beach or pool, I want to keep Evie as cool and protected as possible. I’ve picked up a UV umbrella from Mamas and Papas and fan to help keep her cool, a couple of cute sun hats and a factor 50 Child’s Farm suncream!
I can’t wait to take Evie into the swimming pool and sea, as she loves being in water. I’ve stocked up on baby UPF 50 tops, all in one swimsuits and waterproof hats that cover the back of her neck.
I’d love to hear your tips or essentials for travelling with little ones in the comments below!
