Taking our baby on holiday - advice needed!

[TeddysMother]

Hi so we're taking our 14 month old abroad to Majorca and I am stumped. I would love your help please!!

I am going to take his some swim outfits (full body ones - some short sleeved) for in the pool. I also have him a splash about swim vest and I'm looking at taking with us a pool float with a little canopy on for him (this kid HATES hats).

But other than that... I need help please!

When he is not swimming, I know to get him out of his wet clothes. But what should I have him wear then? Just his normal nappy and keep him in the shade with suncream as a precaution?

Should I get him something to sit with us at poolside? Like a little fold up chair you can get from Bright Sparks? Or just put a towel on the floor for him? We have a little pop up tent I could take - it's a small beach one I got when he was a newborn for the garden.

He's only 13 months at the moment and he's FULL of energy and wanting to walk off all the time. Should I take two swim suits to the pool - one wet and one dry? Put him in the dry one and if he feels warm dampen it the tiniest bit to cool him? I can't see him wanting to sit still.

How long is too long in the pool? Thinking more of him getting cold.

Also... Any tips and tricks please!!

I know the baby powder sand trick, and would love more!!

Thank you in advance!

Relax!
All those things could be bought in resort if you felt you needed them.
I would not take a little chair but then mine never actually sat down at that age. I presume you'll have a little push chair, that would do.
The main thing is to be prepared for one of you to be at his side all the time while the other parent can relax.
Swim vests dry very quickly so you would not need to change him assuming you are going in summer. The hat is tricky, mine wanted to be in the pool or digging on the beach all day and a hat is a must. You might have to get one that fastens underneath.

I would either use the buggy/pram or let him curl up on the sun lounger.

Get loose clothing, I wouldn't put a baby down with just a nappy, not even in the shade.
DD. hated wet clothes, we had to change her immediately so I had two sets and then normal clothes as well.

I would try with sunhat and sunglasses. Do you wear them? Make a big fuss how you wear them. Maybe he will be happy to copy you. The best we found were these legionaire style ones with the longer back.

Bring swim nappies, not sure if and what price they are now, when DD needed them I found them really expensive, especially if you don't have a car to go to a larger supermarket.

Do a proper siesta in your room.

Be prepared to be active a lot, it's not a holiday anymore where you can relax with a drink, you need to be with him constantly.

Keep him at least in some clothing as much as possible, even if it's hot. There is a lot of UV in the shade and you can only do so much with sunscreen.

Where are you going in Majorca? Something useful to know is that almost every town has one or more places known (not entirely politically correctly) as "the Chino". These are unprepossessing shops a block back from the beach with names like "Bazar" or "Hiper", where you can buy cheap and cheerful towels, clothes, sun stuff, toys, and all manner of crap that you don't necessarily have to take home.

Thank you!

Yes we will have his pram with us, I'll definitely bring that down to the pool with us 😊

I used the swim clothes when we had the 30+ heatwave the other week in his swimming pool. He just wouldn't dry, I had to take him out of it as he was cold. I found that a bit crazy as I know my swimsuits in the past dry really quickly!

I've bought a sun hat with that neck flap and a strap, I hope it stays on. Sunglasses freak him out more, even when I've tried to show him mine on. He's absolutely not a fan of anything on his head or face 🤦‍♂️

Thank you!

Hooded towels - best thing ever! Provides coverage and airflow.

You are thinking too much about this I think.

spf50 sun suits with long leg, long sleeve x2. This reduces the need for endless rounds of sun creaming and leaves little to have to cream. One to wear and one drying. If he gets cold and isn’t in the water just a t shirt and shorts so his skin can breathe.

sandals (sturdy, practical for early walking not cute/fashion driven)

3 evening outfits

hat - no matter how many times he takes it off put it back on

spf 50 hat to wear in the pool

that should see you good for the whole holiday. You don’t need much. Washing dries very quickly and will only need a sink wash. Don’t buy loads of clothes you won’t need again (that said heatwave 3 is incoming here!)

bring small but lightweight toys like a small ball, stacking cups which can then be used to stack, and water play. Etc

Take calpol with you. It use to be the case that you can only buy it in pharamacies in spain. They use to sell sachets which were helpful for flights.

Take swim nappies with you as they are cheaper in the UK. Similalry sunlotion and baby wipes are usually cheaper here.

We only ever take two swimsuits per child, that's enough. Keep one, a towel and nappies in hand luggage in case of any lost luggage (plus useful if you can't access your accomodatiom straight away and don't need to hunt through suitcase to hangout at the pool).

Take a little plastic watering can for the kids pool/beach. A dump truck toy was a big hit with my dd at that age on the beach ( Cheap ones as you'll probably lose it.)

Take more spare changes of clothes & snacks on a flight than you think you need(!)

Baby cutlery can be useful.

Have fun!

I can confirm about the meds - we do not sell them in supermarkets in Spain. Anything health-related must be bought at the pharmacy.

Try and adopt the local rhythm especially for being outside. Don’t try to stay out during the day by the pool or beach unless you can be guaranteed 100% shade. Us locals go back indoors before lunch, and try not to go out again until 6-7pm or whenever it has cooled down.

Right now the eastern coast and Balearics are experiencing a heatwave of 38-40 degrees during the day. I’m not leaving my apartment until 9pm unless I really must go out. Be careful and don’t try to copy the schedule you have in the UK.

We got this in Spain - a sort of small pool which looks like it has a cover (this pic is over 20 years old) and filled it with balls as you can see. He was happy sitting in that. Other than that we didn’t bring much. He was just fascinated at the surrounding landscape and finding the odd lizard! When not in pool it was nappy and a t-shirt, if out in public a pair of shorts. Came home with just the slightest of tans due to trying to keep him in the shade as much as possible and sunscreen. Have to say bonus was the eczema behind his knees and elbows cleared up while there!

Realistically I think you need to manage your expectations about "sitting by the poolside" unless he's having a nap in the buggy!

We took our 16 month old daughter to Australia, she’s now 30 and when I think about I can’t believe we did it, youth was definitely on our side🤪

She literally Lived in her spf onesie during the day and casual clothing in the evening, cool cottons and the odd dress. She’d have naps in her buggy and was painted with spf 50, I think she was paler at the end of the adventure.

All you can do is be sensible and go with the flow 🤗

haha this, OP you have a toddler not a baby! Don't plan for much sitting by the pool. See if you can find a local park/playground for an early morning or evening trip. Keep him in the shade, in nappy, or loose cotton clothes. Don't worry about him getting cold, he isn't a tiny baby.

Depending on whether he can climb. For my twins at 11 months we used 2 sun loungers angled against a wall to create a triangle space in the middle. And put some toys in the middle for some playtime out of the pool. But I agree the time for sitting around the pool for parents will be taking it in turns to relax. And then taking advantage of naptime in the pushchair.

After the pool to dry off we used hooded towels till dry then re-suncream and change into shorts and t-shirts. And you will spend the next 4 years putting hats back on his head!! I would also take a couple of hats- mine always throw them/loose them. We also used reusable swim nappies as you can then just swill them out in the sink after use and leave to dry- saves buying/taking lots of swim nappies (but I had twins so double the nappies!)

OP the easiest thing to help corral your toddler round the pool is a travel cot.

I used it for my DC to sleep in at night (the cots provided abroad aren't usually very suitable/safe as they don't meet UK regs) and as a playpen during the day.

I'd set it up between our sunbeds and a parasol so that it was always in shade.

It was brilliant as DC was always in view, at zero risk of falling off a sunbed, DC had somewhere safe to take a nap and to play in when not with us in the pool etc.

We'd also buy a small inflatable boat and some water toys which we could put in the playpen and add a little water so that DC would happily play in there splashing about etc

How long is too long in the pool? How long is a piece of string?! My DD is older than your DS but when we took her to Mallorca this year (at 20 months old, having previously been at 8 months) she was quite happy to spend anything up to an hour and three quarters in the swimming pool. DH and I tagged in and out so that we both got some lounger downtime while the other played in the pool with her.

If you haven't got one already, get a reusable swim nappy - don't waste luggage space on disposable swimming nappies! You can just rinse a reusable one when you're done with it and it will dry off ready for the next use.

Do naps in your room where possible - pushchair naps will get very hot for him so an air conditioned space is better. Assuming you're in a hotel and all in the same room, get a cot SnoozeShade to make it darker (also handy if you need to put him to bed while you sit out on a balcony or anything like that - means you can put a light on when you go in without making it very bright).

What else you need might depend on what kind of accommodation you're in - we stayed in an all inclusive that was really geared towards families, so other than bringing an inflatable for the pool and a few cheap beach toys we didn't actually need much.