Tips for travelling with 8mo?

[AmericanAbroad]

We're going on holiday to Spain in a couple weeks with my 8mo LB. Any good tips for the airport / dinners out / etc??

It will be my OH, MIL & SIL so will have help on the flight, which I expect to be helpful. And staying in a villa, so most of the time plan to stay around the pool and cook there.

But we are actually going for a wedding - so have wedding events that mean 3 days we'll be out late, which I'm pretty anxious about as DS doesn't like to sleep anywhere but his cot.

Just after any tips from you wise mummies in my phone!

Sling for round the airport/getting onto the plane. Lots of snacks. If she's FF pre order formula to Boots after security. Use the family lanes to get through security/passport control. Sunshade for the stroller - keeps the sun off and we use it to help DS go to sleep out and about as it makes it darker!

No idea why I said she there! Apologies!

I say take the pushchair through to the gate-if you’re delayed it’s a godsend to have somewhere to put baby.

Spare clothes for you as well as baby in hand luggage in case of spillage, sick or nappy explosion.

Get a cheap stroller rated from birth! The back will almost be flat and it should have a hood - great for sleeping.
Take some familiar snacks, maybe baby rice and get LO used to Veg & fruit that are easily available. Ice pack for fridge/freezer, 2-3 reusable containers & insulated lunch bag will help to keep things fresh.
I also used to buy things from the baby isle in the supermarket like simple snacks - at least you will know it's suitable.
Babies need to cry when taking off / landing to combat pressure in the ears. Try and give a bottle, sucking will help with the discomfort.
Eating out, unfortunately it's not luck - but many places will accommodate a baby with some simple good off mum / dad plate!

We went to Spain when dd was 2 and there were no high chairs in restaurants. We took one of those clip on ones-not sure if it works with a 8 mo though.

Get a snooze shade if you’re out and about. Take a carrier (depending on where you’re going, a buggy may be more hassle than it’s worth when out and about (cobbles, steps etc). Don’t expect any cafes/restaurants to have decent baby change facilities. We had to do some fairly extreme changing, eg balancing on the toilet etc (when baby was younger). If you do need to change when out, look for a Starbucks - they have great facilities!

I've just got back from holiday with my 7mo.

If your child uses a dummy, make sure you have clip for it on the plane.

I took pouches and fed him dinner at 5pm as usual then did play/bath/bottle/ready for bed and into the stroller so he slept during our dinner. This worked most nights.

Sling for between stroller and plane... It's not so important getting on the plane but the buggy can take a while to come off and it was a life saver then.

I took a new toy for the plane and a new highchair sucker toy as well so he was easily distracted.

Bellofstclements has some great suggestions- especially about taking the sun shade to make the stroller dark and hopefully you’ll manage dinners out whilst the baby sleeps! Yes to lots of snacks, double the amount of nappies you think you’ll need and pack a change of clothes for everyone in hand luggage. Sling if you have one in case the airport in Spain doesn’t bring the stroller back to the gate. It’s a short flight so you’ll be fine.

I’d personally avoid family security lines. We tried it at Gatwick on a staff member’s suggestion and it was awful. A huge long line full of infrequent flyers with tons of stuff, not knowing what they had to take out of their bags, faffing with folding strollers and the wait for special liquid screening (formula and food pouches) took forever. We’ve flown a lot and that was the longest I’ve ever queued for security. Maybe we were unlucky but I won’t be trying it again anytime soon!

Thanks everyone! That's so helpful!

Can I ask how you've managed the time difference? Ive seen some say to slowly shift their schedule starting a few days before (say move everything 15min later so it matched by the time you're there). But by that logic we'd also spend half the holiday shifting back to UK time??

Is it worth it? Or do you just have them make the time jump with you and deal with a day or two of them settling in?

If it’s just Spain I wouldn’t worry about the time difference. It’s only an hour and your baby will adapt.

It’s an hour, don’t even think about the time difference.

I worried so much about routine the first time we took PFB DD from the UK to France. Now we live in the US and regularly do transatlantic flights and I realise I was being completely daft!

Personally I’d just stick to your normal time and if sleeping 7-7 becomes 8-8 on holiday then so be it, enjoy an extra hour in bed!

@Expressedways Hahah "sleeping 7-7"...what a wishful concept :)

That's what my gut was telling me, just didn't know if I was being overly laidback! Of course, he pretty much refuses to sleep when we're out of the house, so don't think I'll have a choice but to go with the flow and deal with an overtired baby

You never know, mine always sleeps wonderfully on holiday and sleeping through the night actually clicked for us whilst we were away and so did sleeping in the stroller. Probably wishful thinking but you never know!!
Hope you have a good holiday