ADVICE NEEDED! First Time Travelling with Baby

[kg2014]

Hi all,

This is my first time posting on Mum's Net, please bear with me! :)

I am taking my 5 month old DD on a family holiday to Cyprus, and I'm struggling as to what essentials I need? I'll take all the obvious stuff, but is there anything you found helpful on your travels?

Also do I take a suitcase for her or take it in mine & DP?

This is my first baby so all this is very, very new to me!

Thanks all, I look forward to hopefully receiving appreciated advice! :) x

Hi, we went to Cyprus when my oldest was 6 months, I have always packed kids stuff in with ours you usually get an extra 10 kg for infant so just add it in with yours, also you can usually take two baby items for free eg : buggy, car seat or buggy and travel cot etc. ( obviously check this with airline)The main thing I would advise is to minimise your daughters wardrobe for the hols! I think I took every item of clothes my dd owned 'just in case' and she ended up wearing only vests!! Well maybe the odd few pretty dresses! the full body swimsuits are good and maybe a little beach tent if you can squeeze one in for some portable shade! I took nappies from here but you'll find there's nothing that you need for baby that you won't be able to buy there if needed there's even mothercare etc in some towns, obviously depending whereabouts your going if you have a car there etc.

We're just back from holiday with 7 mo DS and key things were:

Full body swimsuits/hat
Microwave sterilising bags
Milk/pouches of food which we collected from boots at the airport after security
Parasol for buggy

I had loads more and packed all his clothes practically but he barely wore any. He slept in vests rather than pjs so they were a waste of time.

We have just returned from Menorca with a 7 month old and some of the stuff we found really useful were:
Buggy sun shade, the parasol we had was crap so this was much better!
Giant muslins for wrapping around the legs in the buggy, daytime naps etc
Small first aid kit with calpol, teething powder
Beach tent
Small inflatable paddling pool, we picked one up for £3 and it was really handy
A sling, really useful in the airport and good for naps if little one won't nap in the pram
I'm still BF so depending on how you feed then milton steralising tablets will be easier than dragging all your kit.
With regards to luggage it will really depend on your airline, I don't believe infants automatically get an allowance. We flew Easyjet so paid the extra for ds to have a case, well worth it in my opinion

Am I the only one who read this as 'time travelling' with a baby?

Yes sorry didn't realise these pesky airlines don't all give infant the 10kg - thomas cook defo do and I think monarch do (or did!) I thought that's how they could justify charging £40 to have your baby sit on knee!

No FirstOfficer, you are not

Good luck OP

A baby bottle with as small a teat as possible, with water in it. Offer it on the way up and the way down in the plane so DD has to suck/swallow. It helps enormously with pressure in their ears which can be v painful for babies. This worked brilliantly for me and we had quiet plane journeys at 8mo and 1yr8mo. 2yr8mo was a screaming meltdown but that's another story

kg its our fist time away with our DC soon too. Jet2 only allow 10kgs for "equipment" which is a pram, carseat, cot etc and 1 small bag that will fit under the seat. As such, he is having my 10kgs for his clothes, i am taking his changing bag as my hand luggage (but will say it's his)

After a memorable flight in which DS was spectacularly sick over both of us just as the fasten seat belts sign went on, I would say you can never have too many wetwipes handy. Also, make sure you have a change of clothes for both of you easily accessible.

Small bag of non-noisy toys and books for he flight.

Definitely give baby drink up and down.

You can usually take buggy right up to the gate. It usually doesn't meet you immediately though, so a sling may be useful.

I always take a big scarf, when he was tiny it was good bf coverup, if the plane is cold it can be used as a blanket, or just to pad your legs if you are the seat for he journey.

I have found airport staff all over the place to be incredibly helpful when you are travelling with a baby, especially at Gatwick, where they have family only aisles, and a lovely security person even helped me take off my stupidly-chosen-for-travelling boots when I had a baby in a sling.

I would add that sunscreen is important if they're fair - ideally keep them completely covered up and out of direct sun under one year old, but realistically a bit of sunscreen on their face is going to be a good idea. Just make sure they can't lick it at all! I've found the Mustela baby one best by far but there are lots of good ones.

Earplugs for the passengers around you. I have just come back on a flight where a baby screamed the whole time. A NIGHTMARE>

If there is an option for a bassinet seat, I'd take it. I also take a full size squashy pillow on with me (its amazing how it will squash down into a bag).. the pillow is great for padding out a seat and making it comfortable for sleeping, and its also great for me when feeding. Some kind of dark scarf/sarong to help block the lights out and make getting to sleep easier. I always pack toys and very very very rarely use them. A baby carrier/sling will make getting off and on the plane SO much easier. The best flight we took was when we paid for a seat and took the baby capsule on board, our then 6 mth old DD slept almost the whole 7 hour flight.

We have taken DS to Cyprus (Paphos) since he was 3 months old.

The best thing about Cyprus is because of the tourist/ex-pat/local pop all the supermarkets stock the sort of baby ranges you get here. There's powdered milk (the gold top tin is the equiv of SMA red top tin here.

Calpol has been tricky so take in suitcase with powdered version for the flight.

My point with all the above is that I could have saved myself a world of aggravation in packing by just taking enough for two days and buying on arrival.

Definitely feed/offer drink on take off and landing.

We took a cheapy inflatable paddling pool from Asda when we stayed in a villa because the pools are so deep so it's nicer for them to have a shallow splash in.

Floaty seat for the pool. Stacking cups: can be used for water and sand.

The Cypriots ADORE babies, expect to have DC wheeled off on a tour of the restaurant by the proprietress wife.

Oh and take your car seat. There's always a scrum for them and they're always minging.

If you are very partial to whatever brand of nappies, wipes, nappy sacks you use, take them with you. (Or see if whatever it is that you use is available in the country you are visiting.) When DD was a baby she had bad eczema and dermatitis and a country we visited once didn't seem to have fragrance free wipes (at least not in the 4 shops I tried), so that was a bit of a problem for us. Same country didn't sell nappy sacks - I showed the shop assistant one and she looked at me in wonder and astonishment.

Also check whether you can get the basic kids' medications out there (Calpol, etc - although PPs suggest you'll be fine). If you can't, take them with you.

I take packs of disposable hospital bed mats with me and always have a few in hand luggage - if you have a vomity baby for whatever reason, you can put one over yourself, the bassinette (if you get one), etc and things stay clean. Also useful for using as a changing mat (either in the plane loos, or on the seat if it's just a wee and a very quick change).

Good luck and have a lovely time!

I speak from experience: if you are going to make up a bottle on the plane, take a sealed water bottle as otherwise the bottle may spill though your bag, leaving baby with no spare clothes once they vomit on themselves ...

Oh and I find a front pack / sling invaluable as well as you often have to surrender your buggy at the check in counter and it's hard work carrying a baby through all the passport queues etc