holiday abroad with 18 month old

[Mog]

We have just booked our first holiday abroad since dd was born. We're going to Spain in October (half board) and wondered if anyone could give me tips on holidaying with an 18 month old.i.e. food, things to take etc

Mog - there is another thread about something very similar - under travel - from the last few days with good tips - have a good hol.

Bring swimming nappies as they have not yet made it to the continent and are super handy. Other than that you can find just about anything you will need there for half the price. You might want to bring a few favorite books, sippee cups, nighttime snuggle animal. I wouldn't bring much in the way of toys as generally kids like new ones and you are better off buying something cheap there than bringing something old that they are bored with. Be prepared for a few days of constipation when you first arrive (in yourself as well) from the change in water. A couple of extra cups of fruit juice should solve this. Don't forget that even in october the sun is much stronger there, so use lots of high factor suncream. Bring enough nappies on the plane for any delays that might happen. And bring a couple of plastic bags for tying dirty nappies etc. into when you are in awkward changing places. Our son always throws up in the taxi on the way to the airport (has done this at least 6 times now), so I go to the aiport prepared with an extra change of clothes, towel paper and ziplock bags to put all the vomity clothes in. Have fun.
ps bring tea for yourself...

I would take something to secure him into the high chair (I brought a portable material contraption which works really well) - I found the highchairs where a death trap on the continent.

Kooshies do a swim nappy - less bulky to pack (and cheaper) than buying the pamper/huggies version.

Found the thread - Holiday in Skiathos with a one year old - hope it helps

Thanks Janey, the thread was v.useful. does anyone know at what age babies can be given bottled water to drink? Also, we're going to the costa dorado and I'm not sure if I will have to boil dd's water for formula and therefore taking a travelling kettle with me. Anyone been there recently and know?

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I would definately boil the water for bottles - if you are using tap water, but I would used bottled personally.

I used bottled water last time we took dd1 to Cyprus for her bottles, bought the big 5L bottles, she was 4ms then, but I think some bottled water has a high mineral content, so I don't know how suitable that was - and I boiled that first as well! First time mum then, so was being extra vigilant !

I would def take sterilising tablets, and a reusable waterproof nappy - see other thread.

At 18 months couldn't you just use cow's milk? Then give bottle water for water drinks?

My HV recommended Evian for children as it has lower sodium and (I think) potassium.

RE the stand by seat - ask when you check in if the flight is full. If it's not, the check in people allocate you the window and aisle seats of a set of 3 and the middle one shouldn't get allocated. At least that's what's happened for us in the past when we've asked.

Definitely agree with the high chair comment - none of the ones we used on the continent had adequate safety harnesses, if there was any harness at all!!

Have fun!

Bozza,
Dd hasn't been keen on cow's milk so far and haven't pushed it as formula contains the iron and vitamins - now might be the time to try again a bit more forcefully though as it would solve one problem of making up formula. However, (and I'm not an overworrier, honest!) since we won't have a fridge in our room (half-board) can I rely on the food hygiene of restaurants and hotels when it comes to milk? Fantastic tip about seeing if there are empty seats on the plane- will definitely try this one.

I suppose it depends on how much of a milk fan your DD is. My DS only really has milk at bedtime and on his cereal. So when we were on holiday in a B&B recently with no fridge available (only Windermere admittedly!) I just bought a pint of milk every night and gave him what he wanted and then threw the rest away. I reasoned that a pint of milk is cheaper than a carton of formula (and DS at 18 months as been off formula for 6/7 months so for us it would have been a bit daft). I would defintely recommend you take a few cartons for the journey, when you first get there etc and also see about some for the journey home.

Depends where you are going in Spain regarding the water. Just do what the locals do. We go regularly to the South of Spain and you can buy large containers of water. No need to boil it.

Planes - request the very front row as there is more leg room and the airlines we have flown with do not allocate these unless asked for.

Milk - how about buying long life milk for bottles. We find this much better than fresh milk as it tends to go off quickly. You can always then take a small carton for when you first arrive. If you are still using formula milk, how about taking a small flask of warm water and formula in a container and making up the bottles when needed. This worked really well for us when ds was 8 weeks (his first holiday abroad).

Sleep - try to let the child have a mid afternoon sleep as this makes them better tempered for later nights.

Finally, Spain is very child friendly and people will go out of their way to be nice (usually!!)

Have a good time.

We took dd to Majorca when she was 9mths, we took formula milk and bought 5L bottles of water which we boiled. I also took some washing up liquid for washing bottles etc. I used boiled water for this as well, since she was crawling and she was into everything I didn't worry too much about sterilising.

As for food, we were half board and she ate the same food as us without any problems. If we went out for the day we popped into the local supermarket and bought a jar or two of heinz baby food.

Definitely take a harness for the high chair, we found that after a couple of days the waiters would keep a high chair for us as they were in short supply.

We also took dd to the Costa Dorada when she was 22mths, had a great time. You shouldn't have problems finding anything if you run short. MIL left the sunshade for the buggy on the bus, we got our rep to phone the bus station but no one could find it, so we went to Tarragona, found a Mothercare type shop and bought a new one.

Agree with not taking too many toys, take as many as you need to keep dd amused on the plane and buy more in resort.

Last thing, take plenty of wet wipes!

Ailsa,
When you say you boiled the water - how did you do this if you were in a hotel room?

Re. boiled water - I'd invest in a little travel kettle.

Travel kettle - it goes everywhere, even all inclusive!

Mog, the one thing I remember being brilliant when dd was 18 months were those little shoes that they can wear in the water/on the beach, I think Kooshies make them. They were so useful to protect her little feet and they dried out super-fast.

Enid - totally agree about the shoes , they're brilliant. I've also got one of those 'suntent in a bag things' - very useful

We went to Algarve earlier this year when ds was about 16m old. Self catering so milk was just bought from shop and put in fridge, but if still on formula couldn't you take some of those small cartons of formula, a bit heavy I agree but an altternative to getting him onto cows milk quickly. and we used tap water for drinks.

In our experience toys were unnecesary. The new sights and sounds and things in the apartment provided plenty of interest and sand and sea were the main playthings. We did find that he slept very easily, even in his buggy for hours at a a time which was fantastic! Fresh air and plenty of stimulation - he's obviously missing out at home!

Eating out was OK we found - there's usually soup available, and bananas can always be bought.

Definately agree about the Kooshies for swimming.

Oh and make sure you have his drink on the plane to stop his ears getting blocked.

Enjoy!

Has anyone tried the Huggies disposable swim pants? We're off to Cephalonia next week (hooray!!) and in a quandary about what to take. Ds hasn't been swimming before because of ear problems but we are keen to take him to the toddler pool there. Are the swim pants any more convenient than the aqua nappy things?

I used them last year and this year for my dd. They are good - prevent accidents in the pool etc. Basically, they don't take up quite so much water so they can stay the right way up in the pool. But they are expensive if you are using every day (and a few times a day if you are going in a few times.) We have just invested in a Kooshies reusable nappy. It cost $HK110 (about UKS10) which is miles cheaper if you are swimming regularly. Don't know if that is what you mean by aqua nappy.
Hope you have a lovely holiday.

I used them every day while we were at the seaside in italy. Although my ds is 21 mo. his poo's are not regular, so I find them essential in preventing messy accidents. Once he had done his poo for the day, I would often leave him naked for the rest of the day, but we were at the seaside, not a pool, so a second poo wouldn't have been quite so disastrous. I have not seen them outside the usa and uk so if you think you want them, bring them with you. Although they are costly, don't bother trying to reuse them as they lose their stretch and really don't work a second time.

Thanks! We too have a ds who has no pattern to his poo (and it's often twice a day) so it may be useful to take a packet of the huggies and have another type for once he's done...I'm not sure I want to spend the holiday washing out poo from reusable ones!