Travelling to Portugal with 4 month old

[elm26]

Hi everyone

We are booked to go to Portugal for a week in September. We are staying in villa with some friends and their children.

Our DD will be 4 months old when we go and I've started making a list of what I think we should take.

Also, I think we need two checked in bags and my DH thinks we need one, it's only a 21kg allowance for the 3 of us for a week? Our DD is on prescription formula due to CMPA so I will need to take 2 tins of that which will be weighty enough as it is. Do you think it's worth paying £80 for another suitcase?

What am I allowed in hand luggage? Do I check her pram in with suitcases? I'm so confused and I've been flying all my life 🤦🏻‍♀️ baby brain!

So far I've got a list:

• Prescription milk x 2
• 2 packs nappies
• 1 pack swim nappies
• Bottles
• Milton cold sterilising tablets
• 2 x Sun protection all in one swimsuits including hat and neck covering
• a couple of sunhats
• calpol just in case
• sun parasol for pram
• a couple of sensory toys for plane (not noisy or musical)
• muslins
• high SPF baby suncream

The villa has a travel cot but I'm going to pack one of her own travel cot sheets and a couple of blankets.

What should I put in hand luggage for baby apart from a couple of toys and a blanket/muslin and the usual nappies and milk.

Any hints/tips for travelling with a 4 month old? I've never been to Portugal either so any advice welcome in regards to tap water etc for myself would be great.

Thank you!

I'd buy the second pack of nappies there which should help with space

Lots of extra feeds in case you get delayed

Pushchair to gate and then check it has always worked for us

Baby carrier for on the plane. Have never used a bassinet personally.

Went to Greece last year with DD 4 months old (and 2 older kids). Took play mat, bouncy chair and travel system inc car seat! Was so glad of the bouncy chair and play mat. Hard tiled floors though so needed towels underneath the playmat for sure. Also took the inflatable baby pool ring floating seat thing.

(I mean extra feeds in hand luggage!)

Most travel cots that are provided on holiday don't have a mattress provided (due to health and safety/hygiene reasons I think). They only seem to have the hard base and that's it no mattress, so I always bring a roll up portable mattress for it. You might struggle fitting everything into one case, formula tins do take up quite a lot of room.
The buggy/pram you can take right up to when you board the plane and then they can take it from you there. Or you can check it in and then do baby wearing in a carrier if you prefer

And agree about PP with the nappies. I only ever take enough for first day or two and then buy them once there and they are all fine, same with Wipes

In ear thermometer

Thanks everyone!

I didn't know you could give them the buggy at the gate! Perfect.

Great idea about nappies too. Will pack enough for 2 days and buy out there, thank you!

Will also order a pool float with the sun shade.

Thanks!

Oooh I didn't know that @Bellabon !

I will contact the Air B&B host and ask if it has a mattress.

Yes it's definitely worth asking because when I asked about one this year the host went out and bought one for us!

Thanks @Bellabon ☺️

Spare change of clothes for you in your hand luggage just in case baby is sick on you (I speak from experience!). Plus obviously lots of changes of clothing for them for the plane.

Thanks @Normandy144 I never thought about a change of clothes for me in case she's sick, she has reflux so I just thought about an extra outfit for her but that makes sense!

You may be entitled to take extra luggage for free due to allergies/ prescription milk. Check with your airline.

Tap water is absolutely fine in portugal.

Portugal is so child-friendly. We found that you can buy a lot of the same brands over there and the larger supermarkets have children's sections similar to UK supermarkets. You'll also have priority queuing in the airport over there, it's brilliant.

I'd recommend a pop up tent or parasol for the beach, it can still get pretty hot in September.

Oh, also- we took our car seat in a special travel bag and I packed all the nappies in with it, which saved a lot of space.

A baby carrier/sling for the airport/plane/general holiday life when she wants to be held and you don’t have the pram etc.

Yes to this too

Remember to pack your bottle brush! I went away without it once and was worrying because I couldn't get the bottles properly clean and couldn't find one in the shops.

Tap Water def not ok in Northern Portugal - don't know about South.

We found beaches windy, most folk have a wind break. If your air b&b doesn't have one they're cheap enough to buy there.

When we took made up formula through security they made DH taste it as it counted as a liquid, just a warning.

We have used bassentte in airplane successfully at 5 months - added bonus more leg room in these seats too.

Took car seat/pram as extra free luggage. Car seat went into over sized when dropping suitcase off, then pram left at gate.

Give a feed on take off/ landing to help with their ears. We also took a dummy for the plane, even though we didn't normally use one.

I'd echo Portugal being very child friendly, have a great time 🙂