What to take on holiday for 5 month old?

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

Hi all,

we're going to Spain for a week in July, self catering in a villa. Dd will be 20 weeks old and I was wondering what people would recommend taking? She's mixed fed at the mo but will be completely FF by then.

I've bought sun lotion and a couple of UV sunsuits but other than that have no idea what she'll need! Thanks x

Split it up into areas

Feeding
what provision has the villa got for sterilising bottles? (microwave/plug point for steriliser or will you need to do cold water - including pot to do the sterilsing in). Plus you will need to take enough formula for week and things like bottle brushes. Dummies if you need them

Nappies/wipes/sudocreme (or whatever you use)

Flannel/baby wash/moisturiser/towel

Clothes and sunhats (take a couple for when she flings them off).

Bedding/travel cot if necessary

Pushchair - if you're out and about a lot in the heat it might be worth looking for one of the UV sunshade things that covers the buggy completely - give her a break from the sun for a bit.

Picnic rug - if you're planning to hang about on the beach or similar

Couple of toys if you have room.

I took my DD to Spain when she was five months. I took sun cream, a UV swim suit with one of those hats that goes over the neck and a buggy. Plus a buggy which was one of those umbrella fold ones and had a UV sunshade.

Also took baby wash to get pool chlorine and sand off her.

didn't worry too much about nappies and wipes as they do sell these in Spain!!! We collected shells etc for her to play with although a threw in a couple of books as well.

didn't worry about a travel cot as we cl-slept and DD was EBF so no need for bottles but if you are FF you obviously will need your formula kit.

I took my sling with me as well which is one of those long wrap jobbies and came in very handy to make emergancy highchairs/blankets/sunshade etc

I was worried about taking her away when so young but TBH it was dead easy and she was no trouble. We kept her up most evenings with us so she slept in which was bliss!

Thank you!

Will she be in a highchair by then do you think? I'm quite worried about the flight, hopefully she'll be ok. I think sterlising will have to be in a pan. Dh bought a uv protective beach tent on amazon which looks quite good.

Does anyone know the rules on taking made up bottles on a plane? I know in the US you are advised not to use sunscreen until babies are 1yr old. Is there a sunscreen that's recommened for babies. Was just going to get Ambre solaire.

Sorry for all the questions - new mum anxiety. Thank you for the responses, so helpful!

I bought some of the Nivea Sun Baby which DD was ok with. Might be worth getting sunscreen in advance and doing a skin test then if she's sensitive you can look for an alternative.

On the flight I kept DD up a bit whilst we were waiting in the airport - walked her around looking at things etc - then she slept most of the flight wrapped in the sling.

With regards to highchair, although I wasn't weaning DD at 5 months, she was very very interesting in food and it wasn't easy to eat with her on my lap as she'd would grab at my plate. I used to strap her into her own seat and give her a piece of carrot or similar to hold/mash/suck etc.

Dont know about bottles on planes but I can't imagine it would be a problem

Baby monitor and adaptor - you won't know the layout and you'll feel better sipping your sundowners if you are sure you can hear her.

From our local airport you can pre-order baby milk from the Boots airside, so all you'd need to do is take empty bottles through with you. Otherwise you may find yourself having to open cartons and try them (been there...). It may be worth checking with your departure airport though.

What we do for sterilising away from home is take a large food storage box, mark on the outside 5 litres and use Milton tablets: all we then need to do is fill the box with water and bung in a tablet. Seems to be okay for us!

Oh, and most importantly, enjoy!

Why are you stopping breastfeeding? It is so much easier to breastfeed when you are travelling. If you are weaning early, I would recommend holding off until you return from your trip.

Oh, 0.5 tog sleeping bags if you use them. Even if you don't use dummies, I'd really recommend them for the flight.

mmebluberry I'm stopping because I feel it's now time to stop!

Thanks everyone. Didn't think about 0.5 tog sleeping bag. Will def check out the airport formula thing - we're flying from gatwick. Great tip about sterilising too, thanks! Will also do a skintest. Took dd swimming today for the first time. She loved it! Can't wait to take her to Spain now!

Thermometer and Calpol just in case.

Also an insulated pack to carry a bottle round to keep it cool / warm

I also had a fisher price flask which you keep hot water in then you place the formula bottle in the tall lid, pour in the boiling water and it heats the formula up wherever you are (beach/restaurant etc).

Baby should be fine on the flight, it's only around 2.5 hours, I fed mine on the flight to ease any ear pressure.