Help! First Baby, holiday too soon??!!

[Richie]

My little Lauren, will be a mere 3 months old when we take her to a hotel in Algeciras, Spain, at the end of July. EAK!!
At first i was excited, but now i'm petrified!!!
Formula milk, steriliser, kettle, fridge - all things I'd taken for granted here - but how will I cope there?! I guess I can take the formula, and my steriliser, but what about the fridge and kettle? And what about limescale in the kettle? (I use a brita filter jug here....)
Then there's the following...
-can I take the (collapsable) pushchair, on the aircraft? Won't the frame get damaged, if I have to check it in?
-how will she cope in the heat?
-what do i do about a SAFE sunscreen cream, for one so young?Of course she will not be in the direct sun at all, but does that mean I don't have to use any at all?
-what if she gets bitten by mosquitoes? Is there a SAFE repellent, for one so young? Is there a safe bite cream, for one so young?

Does anyone out there, have a 'baby checklist' for taking them on holiday?
thanking you all in anticipation!
(Am I just being silly?)

calm down!

I didn't go on holiday in Spain with a 3 month old, but I do live in Spain and went on holiday to the UK with a 3 month old, so that should count...

Fridge: should be one in your hotel room, but if not, just make up the formula as and when (I used to leave a line of bottles filled with the right amount of boiled water on the side).

Kettle: don't count on it, the Spanish don't really do them. You may have something that looks like a kettle in your hotel room, but it will be a milk heater (for coffee). I would bring a travel kettle and just clean the limescale later. Or, you could use low-sodium-content bottled water instead (without using the kettle. Since most of Spain's bottled water comes from round here I imagine that is hard too).

Pushchair: every airline I've been on (including easyjet, don't know about Ryanair) lets you take a collapsable pushchair right up to the boarding gate. No-one has ever minded when I took an enormous semi-collapsible pram either. Call the airline. Some let you take a car seat and a fold-up carry cot as part of your luggage allowance too.

sunscreen: I never bothered with sunscreen.

heat: babies adapt very well to it, although dd sometimes gets heat rash (little specks of red where the sweat can't get out. Can't remember if they sweat at all at 3 months though! ). She'll need shade and lots of fluids - probably more water than you give her now.

mozzas: babies don't sweat very much (if at all) and mozzas are attracted to sweat. Dd never got bit until she was 6 months, although she did sleep under a net just to be sure. I would stay away from chemicals.

have a good holiday!

ps - the pushcahir goes in the hold separately so doesn't get damaged (mine never has anyway)

dont worry about water filter. Get some sun screen. chill about the pram. get a repellent and enjoy!

We took dd to the caribbean when only 5 months and it was really no problem at all. Added bonus was that the heat made her sleep really well! She did get bitten by mozzies though not too badly and it didn't seem to trouble her, but I found out too late that there is some safe stuff you can buy..I think it's called Mozzie Mike but I'll check for you as they sell it in the shop down the road.
A friend took her baby to Portugal when only 5 weeks and said she had a blissful time as baby would sleep in the sling allowing her and hubby romantic meals every evening.

Don't panic! keep her in the shade and with a hat on and she won't need sunscreen. Or you could just use one for babies - they are in the chemist. I used citronalla sticky patches which I put on ds's cot on holiday - but he never got bitten. Get the patches from Boots if you want them. You can take your pushchair right up to the gate. It will be fine. I breastfed which is dead easy on holiday, but take your regular formula (or buy it there, even!), and add it to the water when you need to make up a feed (as someone else has already suggested). Take a travel kettle with you and fill several bottles which you have either washed thoroughly in hot soapy water or used a steriliser tablet to sterilise. Personally I'd go with the hot soapy water. I certainly wouldn't lug a steriliser on holiday with me! And I never filtered any water in my life. Oh, and Spanish babies survive the heat OK, so I expect your dd will too. Have a great time. Three months is a good age as hopefully your dd will sleep long enough in her buggy to let you have long, leisurely lunches and even sit by the pool and read - here's hoping!

You can also buy a little device that looks like a ladybird. It attaches to your pushchair and is a mossi repellent. Seen it on www.thebabycatalogue.com

Have you tried the baby wipe style suncream? It is factor 30 and one wipe would do the whole baby I should think. I use Pampers Sunnies and the work well, but aren't cheap.

If you are planning lots of time on the beach you could consider one of those pop-up UV tents. They fold really flat so could fit in your case. Pop it up, put baby inside and she is safe from the sun.

Ask at your travel agents about access to formula and nappies in your resort. Spanish babies must use them so they must be available. It would save you taking those along with you and lighten your luggage load a bit.

And, most of all, have a fab time!

I didn't mention formula.

You can buy it, but you can't buy SMA (Hero is probably most similar) - really of brands in the UK you can only get Nestle in fact.

Dodot are pampers and huggies are also available. The cheap ones are just as in the UK too (just differnet brands)

You might want to consider buying a Shade-A-Babe - I seem to remember Algeceiras was very windy (can those who live in Spain confirm?) so a normal parasol shade might be a pain. Mine cost me £30ish and I think it's brilliant. Info on them is here

I did a link

We went to Jamaica with ds when he was 2 mo. old and had no trouble at all. I was bfing so had no need for formula etc. I just kept him in the shade as I didn't want to put sun cream on such a young baby. Be a bit careful of reflected sunlight as a very small baby with very pale skin can get sun burnt even in the shade. You can get a mosquito net for a cot. In fact, call ahead to the hotel, they may be able to provide you with one.

We took dd to Spain when she was about six months old - we figured it would be easier to travel with her when she was small than it will be when she gets a bit more mobile.

We didn't have any problems with taking the pushchair up to the door of the plane (I phoned the airline in advance to check), although it came out on the conveyor belt with the luggage at the other end rather than being given back to us at the door, so we had to carry her through to baggage reclaim (it wasn't really a problem).

We took enough disposable nappies for the journey and an extra day, then bought a pack of nappies when we arrived. Unfortunately, we could only get a large pack....so we carried the rest home with us (which rather defeated the object of travelling light!).

And we loved the fact that so many people in Spain stopped to coo over her...enjoy your holiday!

Water: Use Evian or something with a similar mineral content (I think it's mainly sodium and potassium that you need to check)
Nappies/wipes: Buy them out there
Milk: Take sachets if you can, they're easier to pack or buy out there.
Steriliser: a tupperware box plus tablets works well and should be less bulky to pack
Pushchair: It will be fine. Ours has flown umpteen times and survived perfectly.
Sunscreen: Hat, tshirt/UV suit, UV tent.
Mosquitos: Mosiguard repellant is safe I think. You can spray it on clothing instead of DD if you prefer. Natural bite remedies might be OK.

Enjoy it!

took dd to greece for three weeks when she was almost 3 months. took ds to caribbean when he was 5 months. choose whatever works for you from all this good advice but I'd say

babies do get bitten by mosquitoes, but don't come up with raised lumps at this age, they look like small red spots (puncture wounds). use a net at night, I wouldn't be too happy about mosquito chemicals on one so young.

sunscreen - use a bit against reflected rays, but more important is to keep in the shade and with a hat on. also babies dehydrate quickly so keep a good eye on her fontanelle and offer her water regularly as well as feeds

wouldn't lug a steriliser - I second soupy's big tupperware and milton sterilising tablets idea, that's always what I have done. or if you are self catering and it happens to have a dishwasher, just use that on hot.

be careful of UV tents if it is very hot - they can turn into little ovens and it is easy to have a false sense of security about how protected they are when actually they are dehydrating inside and at risk of heat stroke. better to put in the shade with a bit of breeze around and check very regularly.

you'll have a great time!

bring a small travel kettle and boil water. keep bottles filled with boiled water but only make up feeds at last minute and they will be less likely to spoil in the heat

pushchairs are fine in the hold, they have a separate section for them and it will go with the other 20 pushchairs on your flight!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!
Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU, , to all of you who responded with all your helpful messages and ideas. Very much appreciated. I feel better already about the holiday, thanks!
(Got her passport photo done today - cute!)
I shall adopt all your ideas and take the advice you have gven!

Richie, the stuff is called Mike Mozzie and is based on citronella oil. Hope you have a fantastic holiday.

Don't worry, I went away with my 4 year old and 3 month old with no DH. We had a great time.

It is far easier to take a young baby on holiday and hard work when they're crawling so you're going at the best time.

I sterlised with plastic bags and Milton tablets. I boiled water on the stove and burnt my fingers a lot whilst rinsing the bottles!

I used tap water and boiled it, no need to buy expensive mineral water especially as some have added salt.

We took a couple of blankets/sheets she was used to and used one in the pushchair in the evenings.

She was on solids, I took a few jars with me and bought some local ones.

Don't forget to take an insulated bag/bottle cooler. You can buy disposable bibs that you might find useful.

HTH.

anyone know whether it is safe to take a 6 week old baby on a 12 hour flight?

aalice - if I were you I would contact your travel agent or airline of choice and ask them for up to date advice. The advice on travelling when pregnant or with a new baby seems to change from one minute to the next - and some airlines won?t allow you to fly if too heavily pregnant or child is too young. Equally, the rules might well be different on long haul flights compared with shorter hops.
Another thought - don?t know your destination, but at such a young age their immune systems are relatively immature and if the area needs vaccinations, could be a problem. They aslo find heat a big problem as the baby?s inbuilt body thermostat isn?t too good yet so hot weather could be an issue to consider.
Personally, I wouldn?t do it unless it is really urgent/important. It is such a long distance and amount of time - the stress could be quite hard to deal with. If it just to have a nice holiday, why not wait a few months if you can or look at more local destinations without that long haul. However, I am sure that plenty do it and ultimately, it is your choice - just get informed and be prepared for all eventualities.