Going to tennerife next week with baby and toddler - help please!

[JennyPenny22]

I am starting to panic about what we are going to do! I haven't been abroad myself since I was going with my parents and even then only went twice! My kids are 20 months and 4 months and we are going with other family too for one week.

I have a few quetions!

• Do we have garanteed hot weather? Or do we need to bring stuff like cardigans, trousers etc just in case? Thinking more for the kids?

• What sort of facilities in the way of TVs etc should I expect on the plane?

• Any good activities to keep 20 month old (who isn't talking yet) amused on the plane? We will bring crayons etc but what else? That will amuse her for the whole of 10 mins

• What things should we have in our hand luggage?

• How many nappies, swim nappies, wipes and sun cream do we need to bring? We usually use washable nappies so don't have a clue how many disposables we would use!

• is 2 swimming outfits enough?

• What about towels? I think the hotel provides them for the pool but I assume we need them for the beach etc?

• We are going all inclusive, will I need to bring beakers etc or will they provide that?

SORRY for so many questions!!

hi, we first went on holiday when ds was 18 months old for two weeks - we did go self catering. We went to corfu. We took a small pack of pampers (and a handful in our hand luggage)and bought them whilst we were there (being an island they were not cheap!). We took two packs of wet wipes and i think this was enough. We did run out of nappy bags but we ended up buying sandwich bags! as we couldnt get nappy bags anywhere. I would budget on two swim nappies each day per child - although you can probably time when is best to go into the pool in respect of accidents happening!

I usually take colouring books/ scribble pad, pencils, a few toy cars (which are great when you eat out and are waiting for your meal, stickers - my ds loves stickers! i took spill proof beakers with me and am so glad i did.

make sure you take some calpol with you and mossy wipes as well as some antiseptic/anesthetic cream (ie lanacane)

i always take a couple of pairs of trousers and a couple of cardigans to last two weeks, and if needs be i hand wash them.

hope this helps

Thank you! That does help a lot. Can I ask, how did you find the plane journey with an 18 month old? That is the bit that is worrying me. She doesn't sit still for 2 mins - let alone 4+ hours!

it was easier than it is now (ds is nearly 6). i also took some snacks and juice on the plane as well. The hardest bit was getting on and off the plane. once sat down its amazing how time passes quickly. we made sure we had a window seat. one person entertain your 20mth for a bit and then swap. You could always get up and walk him to the back/front of the plane a couple of times. we also took kids magazines - basically all her favourite things! it cost us a fortune but was worth it.

break it up into 1/2 segements - half an hour picnic/colouring/puzzles/etc

Buy lots of crap interesting things from £1 shop

Our best buy was a £50 portable dvd player from argos - not only for plane but for quiet time in hotel/apartment.

Swim nappies can be re-used 4 or 5 days providing they havent been soiled.

yy £ shop / charity shop crap novelties
stickers especially
also happy meal type toys
unfamiliar picture books
comics
etc etc

get washable swim nappies
take beach towels
take beakers and plastic plates/bowls / forks for the toddler
take one large high factor suncream and buy more there if you run out
take one pack of nappies for each child and buy more out there, ditto one pack wipes

take a few cardi/trouser type clothes, esp for the 4mo as it can be windy in the evenings. Do not go mad though - remember you can wash stuff in the bath or send it to the hotel laundry rather than packing every item they own.

NB on many AIs people do 'dress up' a bit for dinner so take a few nice-ish things. The next day's clean top and a skirt, or a cotton sundress will be fine, but dh might need a shirt or a polo shirt rather than a tshirt, iyswim, and he'd be wise to have a pair of trousers.

Mrs Badger - about washable swim nappies. I have some I can bring but I was thinking that I would need disposables as they would only be able to have a rinse in the sink while we are there? And if they poo in them - what would we do with it for a week? Espeically my youngest as we haven't started weaning yet so is having explosive poo still?

We use washable nappies all the time here, and washable wipes etc so we are not, on the hole disposable people iyswim.

We have 10KG each for the kids luggage and 23kg for ours so we are quite lucky on that front.

MIL said we don't need beach towels because the hotel give us fresh ones every day? I didn't think we could do that? She has been to this hotel before though so knows a lot more than us.

You can rinse out disposable swim nappies unless they soil them.

hmm - maybe I am lucky but I have never had poo in a washable swim nappy...

re towels - depends how relaxed the hotel are re taking their poolside towels (which will be fresh every day) onto the beach - some places are fussier than others, so I'd go with MIL. You can always buy cheap ones there if you need extra to sit on or anything.