HELP - ABBYMUMSNET NEEDS YOUR HOLIDAY SURVIVAL TIPS

[AbbyMumsnet]

Hi all,
I'm doing a couple of pieces for a travel web-site that I need your help with.
The first is focusing on holiday "survival" tips. For example: surviving the family packing without incurring massive excessive baggage fees - so what are the essential items you shouldn't travel without and what can you leave behind? Surviving the journey itself - tricks to make the time fly/what must come in your flight bag and so on. Surviving the heat... and the insect life - so tips on good child-friendly products and sun protection clothing that won't make your kids look dead weird. Surviving foreign food when you're child's a fussy eater... It's not a very long piece, but if you have any top tips please send them my way. I'll use your MN names if I use your tips.
Also, I'd be really interested for any tips and anecdotes re' what elements combine to make the perfect beach holiday for a family? And how do you ensure that you keep varying ages of kids happy?
Thanks in advance. x

Hello all - just to let you know that the piece is up here... Thanks for all your help.

Oh... and a fair few of you get a name-check.

take a sat nav!

You can get alternative maps on ebay cheaply. we saved so much time last year having a sat nav and not driving roudn and round in circles trying to decipher foreign road signs.

oh bugger, too late

Littlelapin - if only life were so sweet. Thanks for your help though!

Experience based on travelling around south India and SriLanka intrepidly (no package - just flights to bangalore with open return ticket)

Sunlotion: EUCERIN Junior is fab
plenty of light coloured tshirts, muslins (for bandana, wipes, change mat), and nappy rash cream such as metanium or bepanthen if you go somewhere hot, and remember nappies may not be readily available, so prepare for early potty training.

Careful with mosquito repellent, your child may rub his face, then his eyes....

If you go anywhere you need malariaprofylactics and travel with small children, reconsider, it may take away your childs apetite.

take rubber bands, they are perfect for a lot, including tying the mosquito net to the sheets to make sure it stays in place.

If you go somewhere very hot and exotic, note that the roads may not necessarily accomodate pushchairs, as most local people carry their kids around, even when shopping.

You CAN "sterilize" dummies in a travel kettle.

DO bring your own sterile needle kit, this is vital! (as local needles came dripping in water as it had been rinsed after the last patient ... - this was in Morocco)

DO NOT trust a tour operator that says "you can buy visa on the border" CHECK with with the embassy/consulate of the country you intend to visit, especially if you come via a different country through rather unusual means (my husband was arrested on the border between Jordan and Egypt when we decided to take the ferry across from Acquaba to Port Said, in was nearly deported home to native country with all our money AND my passport)

DO carry your own passport and tickets, do not let your partner take care of yours, and vice versa, you never if and when you get separated, or if one of you is arrested....

CARRY fresh lemon around, and add to water when having meals, as the antibacterial agents in water prevents food poisoning to some degrees, and for the same reason, if going to very far off places, take a hipflask with shot of vodka or cognac.

Avoid well known american burger joints like the plague, it is familiar food to you, but not necessarily to the person who stores and cooks the food. Eat in local places where the locals eat, and the food is sure to be fresh and prepared as it should. The only times we got tummy upsets were when we were eating in establishments foreign to the culture we were in.

French Chicken soup is Neither French nor Chicken if you are in Egyp.

will probably think of more later.

Pack as little as possible re clothes. If it's hot the kids (even the little-uns) will wear barely anything at all! That goes for the adults too!

Factor 50 and a natural mozzie spray are an absolute must. As is after-sun, a few old t-shirts that you don't mind getting wet at the beach / in the pool for the children, sun hats and glasses.

Nappies - take what you need and buy a packet when you get to your destination.

Always pack toys for the plane. My DS takes his own little hand-luggage bag of toys to entertain himself. DD is just over the age of 1. She has crayons and a colouring book. Take lots of snacks for them. If they want to get up and have a wander (if very small or toddlers) then let them. Most passengers actually like the distraction!

If you're hiring a car, make sure you book your car seats in advance. However, bear in mind that they are not new seats and will probably come with no instructions on how to use them properly. Be prepared to ask someone to fit it for you, or bring your own. Having said that, we took our own rock-a-tot with us and ended up with it being lost by a certain 'Easy' airline!

Be prepared to stand your ground re getting on the plane first if you have small children. Using low cost airlines means that most think it's their god-given right to smash all and sundry out of the way just to make sure they get on the plane first. (God forbid they let the elderly, infirm and those with children on first!)

Also bear in mind that if you aren't going on a package deal and are using a cheap airline that many of them now have special pre-booking fees to allow passengers to get on the plane before anyone else. These people will also do all in their power to shove you out the way, trip over your pushchair or elbow your children in the head to get on because they have their 'golden ticket.' Shameful but true!

On the beach - make sure you take a towel and if you have access to one, a cool box. Use frozen bottles of water to keep your snacks and drinks cool. Also bear in mind that your children will absolutely cover themselves in sand. You will of course find sand in many orrifices for days afterwards!

Thank you - but was just letting people know that the piece was out. But will keep these for later pieces!

Stacking cups are great for littlies to play with on the beach. they can be used to make sandcastles, or for water, or for collecting stones or shells.
NOTE: Do not take them out on the plane though; if you lose one, you can never stack them again.

For 2yo plus stickers are great - they can put them on the backs of seats, on themselves, and it's all low maintenance.

I'm a routine/healthy eating nut usually (well for the kids anyway ) but on holiday that goes out the window. If there's no babysitting available then the kids dome out with us (in buggies) so they can fall asleep if they need to)

if you're going to Europe, shops sell pretty much the same stuff as here, although the brand names might be slightly different - you should recognise them by the packaging though.
BUT make sure you bring enough swim nappies - in the Algare and in Lazarote there seems to be a lack of them!

Train your littlies that they are not allowed out without suncream, and not allowed in the water without arm-bands. My 3yo will come up to me and tell me that he needs his bands on because he wants to go into the water, and when he comes out of the water tells me to put more cream on him.

If you are staying in a resort / complex chances are there will be a babysitting service, so make sure you and your DH get some time on your own.....it's your holiday too.