Tips please! Bringing 8 week old to Portugal! And please don't say I'm mad, cos it's booked!

[chipmonkey]

Have booked a 3 bed villa in Praia da Luz when dc4 will be 8 weeks old. My Mum will be coming with us so that will be a help.
Can anyone recommend a travel cot/folding Moses basket suitable for this age?

tiny babies are best to take away - first time i took ds he was ten months and found that harder as he has just started walking.

you could rent one?

If you are bfing, it will be no problem at all. We went to jamaica with ds when he was 8 weeks old. By the way, at the time, hv recommended that we make sure he had his first set of jabs before we went.
If it will be sunny when you are there, make sure you bring some sort of light gauzy thing that you can put over your dc4's buggy. I did not feel comfortable putting sunblock on a baby that young, but it was sooo sunny and ds was soooo white that even the smallest amount of sun was turning him pink. You will be able to buy whatever you want there (brands all the same everywhere in the world), but do bring a supply of nappies, etc. to last you a few days as it may take time to figure out where you can buy what you need. Make sure you have your nhs certificates for the eu in hand. (I think there are cards for this now) It will make seeing a doctor smoother if you are so unfortunate as to need one. If there are going to be mosquitoes make sure you bring a net with you. Bring a light folding buggy with big wheels that can handle cobblestones. Have fun.

Oh, Sofia, thank you for reminding me about the forms/cards! I always forget about that!
Yes we can hire a cot with the villa but I've never been impressed with the quality of cots provided abroad, sometimes they were very rickety! I know I'm probably being a bit precious about it but I usually am a bit precious till the baby gets more "solid"
Will be bfing but was hoping Mum would babysit some nights so may need to bring a pump! If I do I will use those steriliser bags, I think

An 8 week old can sleep in an open drawer on a pile of sweaters. I really wouldn't worry too much about it. They aren't even rolling over at that age and can be put to sleep on/in just about anything including a rickety cot. Bring handpump with disposable bags to pump into. Teats you can sterilize in a cup by pouring boiling water over them. Or as you said, the microwavable steriliser bags.
They changed the whole eu health card thing 2 years ago, so if you haven't been abroad since then, be prepared for a different process. I think they now give you a card that lasts a long time and is more official looking than a piece of paper that no one recognizes outside of teh uk and that has to be renewed each time you go!

We travelles a lot with ours when they were tiny. We used top take a small cot matress with us. Rolled up tight it took up very little space and we then put it on the floor in the corner of our bedreem if the didn't feel safe co sleeping becaue it was too hot or the bed was too small.

this looks good and packs down pretty small I think

I found that one myself MrsJC and agree it looks just right. Folds down nice and small too!

I took dd away at six weeks. Everyone thought I was mad but I too had my Mum with us. It was wonderful as I got to completely rest and focus on baby. I was spoilt so I hope the same will be for you! With regards to cot I have the Samsonite pop up one which has been excellent. I did buy the deluxe mattress with it. It is very light and has a mosquito net built in. I paid around £25 for it and used it loads until dd was seven months old. With regards to sterilising if you are not bf and need to sterilise I found the sterilising bags excellent but I swapped the tablets that they came with for Miltons one as you don't need to rinse Miltons IYSWIM. Have a lovely time and enjoy

MrsJC - just realised that is the one I have....

I took DS2 on holiday when he was 10 weeks old. If you have a big enough suitcase you can pack an ordinary moses basket into it, then pack clothes, nappies etc inside and around it. That's what we did. If you are bf it will be fine as you won't have to worry about bottles.

Agree on that pop up travel cot. Folds down tiny and is great!

Dont' forget to sort out his passport ASAP!

I know, MP! Funny thing is, the baby isn't even born yet and we had to book him/her on as an "infant" for the flight. I had to give a name and date of birth and we have neither! I gave the girl's name we have agreed on (can't agree on a boy's name at all!) and the due date but it will probably all have to be changed!