Holiday to Spain with 11month old, anyone have experience/tips?

[Millie3030]

Hi,

In May my husband and I are going to Spain for 1 week on holiday. It's a very family friendly hotel with baby pool etc and we get a travel cot in the room.
It's approaching soon and I'm getting a bit anxious, was hoping some of you lovely mums with experience might be able to share some tips?

Do any of you have experience with flying with a baby?
Any general holiday tips for making things less stressful and easier at all?
How did you do daytime naps when on holiday, in the room or in the pram?
Any advice at all or tips I would love!
Xxx

[notadoctor]

We took our DD to Spain when she was about 16mo and it was all fine and much easier than we expected...

For the plane, lots of snacks helped as did some brand new 'quiet toys' which she hadn't seen before - we got a pack of picture cards and a magnetic puzzle (Melissa and Doug bought off Amazon). I had heard that having a drink helped with takeoff and landing and her ears didn't pop at all so that seemed to work!

At the time my DD had one 2hr nap at around 12pm and we generally used it as an excuse to break up the day so we'd do a morning activity come back for nap time and then go out for the afternoon. If we wanted a bigger day trip she slept in the pram and it worked out fine.

Have a lovely holiday!

[KatyN]

Take cal pol amd ibuprofen. I tried to buy ibuprofen in Greek and it was very tricky!!

We kept to bst so he wasn't confused.. It also made his nap times in the hottest part of the day so we could all hide from the sun, or if I was feeling brave lie in the sun with the monitor (we had a villa).

Make a rule about pool time. One of you is on duty while the other relaxes. Or neither of you will relax.

Have a lovely time. I'm rather jealous!

[Misty9]

We went to Spain when ds was 10mo - to stay in a place with family, so not a hotel, but still similar. Flying - ds wasn't really successfully weaned by then so bf on the plane came in handy. We had a fairly late flight in the hope that he'd sleep...he didn't. But you probably can't control your flight time! And it's over soon enough. Couple of tips for flight - take a small bag within your hand luggage so you can take bare minimum into the tiny cubicle for nappy changing, if you've got a sling then take it for the long walk from plane to baggage claim, or borrow one.

Naps we just did as and when. It was very hot (August) and he quite easily got into a routine of waking later and going to bed a bit later than at home. Luckily, as we were all eating around 7ish for dinner. Having our lie flat stroller with huge hood was brilliant for shade and naps as we were very vigilant to keep him out the sun most the time.

A soft playmat or blanket is useful as most floors are tiled in Spain and it's hard to put the baby down to just kick about. Ds hated water and the beach - so stayed in the buggy for those! Tbh, he coped pretty well better than us with my bloody mother and I don't remember him impinging on the trip too much :)

Enjoy!

[Pookdids]

We took DS1 to Spain when he was 7mo and it was a lovely lovely break. The Spanish seem to love babies and made a huge fuss of him wherever we went. He napped mostly in his pushchair in the shade during the day, and we'd often walk with him after an evening meal and he'd drop off again so DH and I would stop off for a glass of wine - it was the first 'adult' time we'd had since he was born!
You can often find supermarkets that sell British brands of baby food/ nappies etc so don't feel you have to pack everything.
I would recommend taking a fold-up change mat though as I found bars/ restaurants often didn't have changing facilities.
Hope you have a lovely holiday - you will go and realise everything is possible, I promise!

[Millie3030]

Thank you all, those tips are very useful and helpful.

I was thinkng of putting jars of food into the suitcase, incase they didn't have any there, but maybe I won't take as many. I was also thinkng about the cartons of milk, or can I still use the water out there to make formula?

What about milk on the plane how can you take it thought security if it's over 100ml?

KatyN - DH and I had that exact same discussion the other day about taking it in shifts so we can actually relax, I really really really want to feel a bit of sun on my bones and read my kindle for an hour, just that will be amazing!! We saved up our tesco vouchers and got the holiday for £100!! So a great bargain, which is needed on maternity pay :-)

[Theyaremysunshine]

To make up formula abroad you need to use boiled bottled water with a low sodium content see here, but if your weight limit allows I'd just take cartons. Your hotel can probably supply a steriliser or just take washing up liquid and Milton.

I wouldn't bother with jars tbh other than for the journey, most 11 month olds will eat pretty much anything. My 10 month old would be quite happy, i might take a few Ella's pouches (lighter than jars and won't break) but don't forget to check the baby likes them before you go! (Bitter experience!). Another advantage of pouches is that by 11m baby will be able to suck the food out instead of you needing to spoon feed, much less messy. DD has this down to a fine art at 10m!

For the plane, you can take baby food/formula through but you have to taste it, so useless really. Most airports have a little boots or other pharmacy and I just phone to check the have the formula I want in stock and buy there, after going through security, so I can take as much as I want. Same with pouches for the plane.

Other useful stuff:
Buggy sun cover, parasol won't cut it.
Good sun cream this one is great for in the bag and v easy to apply. Comes in a bottle too.
Sling for at the airport - you can usually take your buggy to the gate but often won't get it back until baggage reclaim.
Take calpol and brufen sachets on the plane, just in case their ears hurt. And don't forget to give a drink on take off and landing, really helps their ears pop.
Swim nappies can be left to dry out and be reused if you run out.
Uv protective swim suit/play suit is invaluable. I'd take a few. Most of the supermarkets sell them quite cheaply nearing summer. With sun hats for the pool too. We used baby sunglasses in the pool but that was Australia and Egypt so bit more sun.
Travel change mat is v useful on the plane where there's no room to put creams/nappies etc.
Travel blackout blind if you have a baby that needs the dark to sleep.
Travel cot mattress - otherwise it's like a board, but I'm a bit precious about this as I've had 2 non-sleeping dc! I also take a sheet but dc have eczema and v sensitive skins.
Torch for night time wakings.

Oh and check your transfer time as you may want to take a car seat. It's usually cheaper to buy a cheap one here (kiddicare own make for example) and take it over (free on plane usually) than it is to hire one, plus the hired ones are often dirty or broken.
Make sure you have decent insurance, sorted early. We had a luxury trip to dubai planned when dc1 was 18m. He vomited (a lot) on the first plane and we had to cancel and come home. He had norovirus. But it could be chicken pox or a hundred other things.

Have a great time. It's a lot easier than you think it'll be!

[Theyaremysunshine]

God that was long

[Millie3030]

Thank you, I'm writing a long list of all the stuff I need right now!

Do infants get a luggage allowance? What about a hand luggage allowance? I can see we may have quite a heavy case.

I have also just applied for all of our E111 cards and should arrive in 10 days, and will add our little one on to the insurance. Thanks for the reminder.

The flight scares me a bit if his ears hurt, but will get a drink ready. Is bottled water sodium free in England? As I can buy a bottle in boots for his sippy cup?

Theyaremysunshine that's not a long post, it's a helpful post!

My little one is a bit of a grizzler when he has his hands and face wiped, so I was thinking of getting a spray sun cream, so I can keep spraying him without him noticing. Is that a better idea?

[GeeinItLaldy]

Font Vella bottles water is approved by the Spanish Paediatric association and is widely available so we used that for making up formula. Evian is also suitable (but more pricey generally).

DD was 10 months on her first holiday to Spain although we were staying in the holiday home of a family member so no experience of hotels.

DD slept for most of the flights (early morning one way, late evening for the other). I had a drink ready for her for take off/descent and she didn't seem to have any pain in her ears. We had a few new toys that she hadnt seen before too for distraction but she was mesmerised by her surroundings so didn't really need much entertaining.

Naps were usually in her pushchair when we were out and about. We have a snooze shade for it so we could keep her totally out if the sun wherever we were. We kept loosely to her usual routine but weren't too rigid about it.

I took some food for her (pouches etc) but she was generally happy to have something off our plates when we were eating out.

I took nappies and swim nappies with me but they are widely available there so I won't be doing that this year when we go.

Try to relax and not stress too much. I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[wigglesrock]

Our eldest was 11 months when we first took her away. We used Font Vella water to make up formula (our subsequent children went away at much younger ages).

I'm assuming the baby will be on your knee for the flight, we didn't get a luggage allowance but the buggy didn't count as part of luggage.

Buy nappies (Dodot) & wipes etc over there rather than bring them but I found swim nappies expensive so I'd bring them. Also a little watering can, sieve etc kept mine amused in the pool. Oversized t-shirts are nice & cool, just watch neck etc & feet.

Bring a change of top for yourself for the plane, just incase you get bleurged over.

[Theyaremysunshine]

If he's not good with sun cream I'd use Ultrasun which is great and only needs applying once a day. Luggage allowance and extras such as buggy/cot/car seat, are all variable between airlines, so you'll need to check.

[Lozza70]

Have travelled to Spain loads with 2DS both with DH and on my own. I usually do the following -
For flight
Change bag with nappies etc. you can bring water, milk, food etc through security. You usually only get asked to taste a few items. Would reccomend taking pouches as they are lighter to carry. Make sure you bring a change of top for you in case you have any incidents on the plane.
Get a sling to use when you get off the plane, you will not get your buggy back until luggage carousel
On holiday
You can buy formula, nappies etc out there all in the supermarkets. I usually bring a set of what I would want on the plane for the journey back in my case.
Bottled water is fine to make up formula, just look on the bottle for a baby bottle symbol to show it is low sodium.
A total sun cover for the buggy is really useful and I found both DS took loads of naps when we were out and about.
Calpol etc. as you will not be able to get this in the supermarkets like you do here
Have a great holiday, the Spanish love cute babies!

[Bedsheets4knickers]

Does your baby have cows milk with breakfast ??? If so and digests it fine. 7 days of cows milk substitute will cause NO problem what so ever . I made mistake with dc1 packing a whole load of milk. It weighed a ton. Dc2 just had cows milk bought over there. She's fine. Still loud and troublesome caused no drama at all. If you have a villa. You can make the exact same foods you feed baby at home. My tip is don't over think. Naps in villa and pushchair might need abit of rocking . Don't over pack nappies Spanish nappies just the same. Plenty factor 50 and keep hats. Go enjoy yourselfs x