Have you been on a ski holiday with a baby? Tips please

[goingdoolally]

Any tips for how to get the best out of ski trip with a 9 month old? Especially what to take for them with the luggage limit and how to survive Gatwick. We are staying in a chalet.

I took my eldest when she was 10 months. We stayed in a chalet but went with easyjet, and took the grandparents for childcare.
I think you need a spare set of clothes for everyone (in case of vomit) and lots of milk/food (enough to allow for a delay of maybe 4-6 hours).
we took a few nappies but you can get nappies and babymilk in most resorts (the chalet may be able to get some in for you if you ask), and at 9months they can cope if it's a different brand i would think.
We took a puschair - handy for the airport and for the resort - i wouldn't like to risk carrying a baby in my arms and slipping on ice. remember though if one of you is pushing the puschair, one of you will have to carry ALL the suitcases, so maybe 2 big ones rather than 3 small ones.
we took our own plastic spoon and cup. My DS loved it. she loved eating her breakfast and seeing everyone come down a bit later and say hello to her. it was very easy to give her yoghurt and fruit.
We didn't take her out in the snow because she was just learning to walk, but she loved being with grandma every day.
we took her out for a meal in a restaurant once or twice, and she loved that too, but she needed to be wrapped up warm while we went outside.
I think it worked well, so good luck. Lots of people say be careful going up in cable cars because the low pressure can affect babies' ears.
Enjoy your holiday, and try to get some rest!
(the next time we left the kids with grandma in the UK - that worked very well, and everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly (esp grandma!))

To be honest (and you may not want to hear this) I found taking my kids as babies hard work. We took the older two when they were around 10 months so have tried it twice. My youngest is coming up for a year and we have decided to give the family snowboarding holiday a miss this year.

Be prepared to spend a lot of time inside, so plenty of entertainment needed. As for travelling, I think that's fairly easy as they're so entertained by what's going on around them.

Which resort are you going to? I took my youngest @ 3 months and it was fine. She was on SMA at the time and I had to take it all with me as you can't get it in France.
Have a lovely time.

We are going to meribel. Mainly breastdeeding at the moment so obviously going to have to switch to formula in the day over the next month. I give him occasional aptimil. Wonder how I can find out what is available there to get him used to it?

Def a change of clothes for you as well as the child in the hand luggage: I witnessed a poor mum being projectile vomited all over by her 9 month old the other week on the transfer coach (and due to the weather it was a much longer transfer that originally though - 4 x longer). Her baby had never been sick before so she had nothing with her poor thing. Baby was absolutely fine and smiling both before (and after) he was sick so no warning either!

Pack Baby monitor so you can sit downstairs and have meal in the evening. Do you have childcare in the chalet? If so how happy is DC at being left and have you thought about how much skiing you'll be able to manage. Remember sunglasses for them and cosy snowsuit. Columbia have lovely down ones with flaps over feet and hands to keep them warm. DC mainly wore babygro, extra socks on top and snow suit on top outdoors with hat. Babygro and sweater indoors. Lots of babygros! Forget any fancy outfits. Sunscreen for when they're outside. Nappies and babymilk is ridiculously expensive so try to take your own. Aptamil ready mixed cartons are great for travelling although quite heavy and check that chalet has a steriliser otherwise take microwave steriliser bags. I've had various ski trips when DC was 3 months, 18 mths, 3 and 5 and it's very different to ski holidays without kids but with realistic expectations can still be wonderful. Good luck

If you do decide to use formula during the day, take your own. We made the mistake of thinking "oh of course it's available in the resort" and I don't know if it was the sole reason for his unhappiness, but he didn't like the local stuff at all - milk does after all taste different and is produced differently in different countries.

We took our daughter when she was 8 months on a Crystal Holiday. They didn't "count" her in the numbers for the transfers so if the coach had been full either myself or my husband would have had to have stood all the way on the transfer. So you might want to check this with who ever you book with. Luckily it wasn't quite full so I could strap her in.

Sterilising - We were in a catered chalet and the chef boiled our bottles in a pan each night to sterilise them. They did get me a microwave but I didn't know about the steriliser bags so didn't try them.

Also, when we were booking our holiday, we booked in a large group of about 4 families. Only a couple of rooms had space for a cot and they tried to put my baby in with another family in our group!! Bit bizarre!!

I did buy the local formula and she liked it. Probably quite lucky for me really cos if she hadn't, it would have been a bit tricky!!!

It will be brilliant. Be prepared not to ski all day like in the pre-baby days tho :)

Travel will be easy - like a PP has said, kids are very busy looking around and you prob won't need toys as such for the journey.

If you have one, take a big-wheeled pram (e.g., phil and ted's) as Maclaren-type strollers do not push at all well on snow/ slush. Large-wheeled prams are fine and you can take them anywhere.

If you can fit them in your case, take nappies with you as these cost loads in France. Ditto baby wipes.

Don't forget to pack baby sunglasses with an elasticated strap on them. Also, some sort of waterproof snowsuit for outside play, and some suitable footwear.

If you have ski boots, stuff them full of whatever will go in - nappies, spare bottles, formula etc.

Be prepared for your baby to not eat as much/ be off food if you are going to anywhere at any altitude (e.g., resort at or above 2000 m.) It can make them go a bit funny IME

I agree with everything narmada mentions above especially the BRILLIANT part!!! We took our DS when he was 11 months and it was fab.

I would also say, don't forget to get EHIC for LO. We had a trip to the docs for some drops when he contracted conjunctivitis out there and it was so easy with the card, not to mention a relief not to be stung with a 80EUR bill.

I would also take Milton tablets for emergencies and a sunshade/snoozeshade for the buggy (we found this invaluable).

I would also stress the take as much milk/nappies/wipes as you can as they're super expensive out there. Also, like others have mentioned it can be a struggle to get certain brands. You can preorder milk etc via boots to collect in departures once you've passed security which is quite handy too.

Take your swimmers etc if the resort/chalet has a pool : )