Tips on what to take abroad for baby

[Shannon9955]

We are going to Spain in July, to stay with my in-laws for a week. My little girl will be 15 months by then so not formula fed anymore.

I have no idea what to pack for a baby besides clothes😂 are their any tips on what to get and what I need? Milk wise, without this sounding like a dull question. I can get milk out there from supermarkets and it be okay?

Nappies are the main thing and sunscreen. I've had Spanish supermarket milk and not found it that different.

Presumably inlaws have cot etc and you can buy nappies there. Sunshade, pushchair, clothes, favourite toys and blanket?

If your little girl uses a dummy then pack quite a few...

We made the mistake of taking only 2 with us and lost the first one somewhere along the route to our villa and the other on a day out on the second day.

No supermarkets near us sold any, only the pharmacies and they were €15 euros for a 2 pack which I found quite expensive. We lost the other 2 as well so had to buy another pack 🙈

Also baby sun cream, not child, there's a difference, naively I didn't realise. My DS came out in a terrible rash and it was because I used child suncream on him and not baby. Suncream was also extortionate like I'm talking €30-€35 per bottle.

We went to Portugal so could be different in Spain

If you are going to be on the beach or by a pool, I'd recommend SPF sun suits. Much easier than constantly having to reapply sunscreen.

And whilst there, get into the habit of coating your baby in sun cream as part of dressing them. Ensures no gaps! - and becomes a really good habit even as the little ones grow.

And a sealed cup for water. Keeping hydrated is vital.

@ToomuchtodoVerylittletime that's really interesting about the suncream. I'd of done exactly the same as you. What one did you use in the end?

I took the Nivea children's one out with me and that's what caused the rash.

I ended up having to buy a baby one from the pharmacy out there which was recommended by the pharmacist and it was a Portuguese brand that I cannot remember sorry!

But we went in may last year and so still had to apply suncream here in the Uk after and I used the Child's Farm baby suncream 50+ fragrance free and it was great. Probably a little more expensive than Nivea/garnier etc but only by a few £

Presumably she will be toddling by then, so Clarks Doodles/sandals and watershoes. Agree about uv swimsuit and swim nappy,

If you bring a baby monitor, do not forget A) the nursery unit, and B) the charger

Just to note that there's no guarantee SPF labelled as baby will agree with your baby's skin any more than one labelled child might - some people just react badly to the filters used in SPFs but generally a mineral/physical SPF (rather than a chemical one) is probably less likely to cause a rash. It really is trial and error though. In general I've found that pharmacies in Spain and Portugal are very knowledgeable about SPFs - they take them very seriously - and they're so expensive out there because they're good quality. You could try the Altruist sunscreen (Amazon and various other places) though - I find it excellent for my sensitive skin. I also love La Roche Posay sunscreens - they do a lot of baby and child ones, if that's what you're after.

I'm trying to remember what we found useful at that age - an umbrella fold buggy, a plug in night light, a little hand held fan maybe. I always found that my kids needed a lot less clothes than I packed, as they were mainly in swimwear all day!

by that age you really just need the basics. I found even at 10 months it was ideal as he was just having formula at the start and end of the day, not sure how we would have coped with making bottles during the day! He was eating normal food from the buffet too and didn’t need anything blended. You technically don’t need the happy nappy type swim nappies to go over a swim nappy abroad but I put them on him anyway and clearly a lot of people didn’t as there were quite a few accidents in the pool throughout the week we were there 😩 An easy throw on hooded towel or the zip up towel suits are good, he’d usually go in the pool, get a dry nappy on them sleep in the buggy in one of them most of the afternoon. I think the heat just knocks them out! We did buy a little clip on ran over there but I think it was more the vibration of it on the pram that made him sleep so well, rather than the actual fan. I would 100% get crocs now he has them, they would have been so handy for wearing during the day and save taking multiple pairs of sandals or pool shoes. I think the only thing to still be wary of is the tap water and I’d be more cautious over cleaning bottles etc there, mainly just because you don’t want them ill on holiday! We don’t sterilise his bottles now he’s over a year but I probably would just give them a ping in the microwave there

Oh! 15 months will be totally fine. Regular milk. Spanish snacks. Clothes, sunscreen, hat. Toys.

I have a 10 month old too but she’s my 3rd, it’s hard to know how different they’ll be in 5 months time! She’ll be totally different to now.