Share your tips for planning a family holiday with a baby or toddler with Thomas Cook - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Going on holiday with a baby or toddler in tow means you’re likely having to plan for things you’ve never even considered before. Whether you’re new to holidays with a baby or toddler or feel like you’ve got too much experience, Thomas Cook would like to hear the tips you have for planning a family holiday with a baby or toddler.

Here’s what Thomas Cook has to say: “Going away with a baby or toddler can, at times, be a little stressful; there are lots of readers out there with some great tips to help make things easier for other mums, meaning that everyone can enjoy their well-earned time away”

Do you find that it’s easiest to book a package holiday so that the big stuff is done all in one go? Perhaps you have tips for making a flight run smoothly? Or maybe you have ideas for keeping them entertained when you’ve had to scale down their toy collection for the week?

Whatever your tips, share them below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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Forgot to say, for plane travel get the technology out, plug in their headphones and let them watch peppa Pig on loop. Always worked fine for short haul flights, not a peep.

you can plan as much as possible but try not to get stressed if you forget something or if something goes wrong that you can't immediately fix

We've been really caught out with extortionately priced nappies at resort shops so bring your own - esp swim nappies - so make space to bring your own. Also as long as you already have an allocated seat number on the plane, then don't get on first and make the confinement even longer - get on last.

We've just done a 30 hour flight with a 2 year old and 4 year old.
Pack lots of activities for the flight, sticker books and coloring books. Changes of clothes for the kids, and a change of for you. Lots of snacks/water etc.
Book flight times to suit. I'm looking to book a holiday in Greece later this year and the flight times are all awful, leaving at 5am or landing in the evening.
Try and book accommodation with separate sleeping areas for kids. Take 1 cuddly toy, its easier to keep track of!
We also bought those wrist bands that you can write parents mobile numbers on, just in case they got lost.
I also carry cereal bars/crisps in my suitcase, just in case your delayed and/or can't find food on arrival.

Make everything as easy as possible! Now we have 2 small kids we go all inclusive so there is so no waiting around for food and they have plenty of options.

We take lots of colouring books, toys etc to keep them entertained and bath toys for the beach as well as buckets and spades

For the flight, I go to the pound shop and buy lots of little presents, wrap them up and put them in a trunkie so they have plenty to keep them occupied on the flight

Check what will be available to buy in the country you are visiting. We went to stay with relatives in Cape Town when DS was a baby. All the baby food jars had sugar added so I spent loads of time making puree.

I also had the shock of random people taking DS off for a cuddle in restaurants. Apparently that is normal.

The best thing we did was do night flights there and back so DS could sleep through most of it.

My tip is to make it as easy as possible, go all inclusive, don’t go on long excursions and make sure there’s plenty of indoor stuff to keep the kids out of the sun.

Take the grandparents!

Have very low expectations with small kids. It’s not relaxing. Take calpol sachets and pack light. They don’t really need a lot!

Lots of activity books and some sweets for an apology to flight neighbours in the event of a tantrum

Make sure you have pre ordered any cots or baby equipment you need as it might not be available if you haven’t- don’t want to be stuck without something vital like a car seat

We've got twins so we have to do double the work. If we're going somewhere with a microwave, I buy some microwaveable steriliser bags for the bottles. I always take my cold water steriliser tablets and container. I have lots of snacks for the journey. I take spares of pretty much everything that they play with because things will get lost and they're less tolerant to not having their home comforts as they're likely to be extra tired.

We travelled when our baby was 11 weeks old and found it useful bringing one of those pram’s with a car seat attachment. It made commuting so much easier in a hired car. Also, another helpful tip, take a small container with some dishing liquid and sponge to wash bottles in the hotel room. Hot water from the kettle and a container can be used for sterilising.

Keep it simple and low key, for their first holiday do not travel too far. With experience and age you can venture further afield.

Get a backpack carrier (much easier than a pushchair) and do as much research S you can before you go.

We've just returned from a week's break and I made my sons little activity packs for the journey with little things like snacks, games, bubbles, toy cars, crayons etc. It really helped to keep them entertained.

:)

book early and prepare!

Take an additional adult if you can!! extra pairs of hands and eyes are incredibly useful, and our DC loved going away with MIL as well as us.

Research the resort as well as the hotel. If you are choosing to go low season, (whilst you can) be prepared for a couple of days of inclement weather and think about what you could do if your can't enjoy the pool. Look at the distance from the hotel to the beach or the town and make sure it is with your and your DC's tolerances.

Look at flights at convenient times and choose resorts with short airport transfers. Most families will want to avoid a long coach journey after an early flight with small DC.

Take or hire essential equipment. For example, we were able to hire an extra buggy when DS was about 5. We found that by the evenings he was worn out, and it meant we could still enjoy an evening stroll after dinner and he was content asleep

finally don't be too ambitious. It's a holiday so ideally you want to do less than you would at home. Alternate any trip days with beach or pool days and have fun.

We've only travelled with a baby so far (DD is 8 months currently, travelled abroad a few times, first time at 7 weeks old), and these are my tips:

• Wear younger baby in a sling/baby carrier in through airport - frees up hands, less equipment to worry about in the airport.
• Take a compact, lightweight buggy. We have babyzen yoyo which folds to cabin baggage size in both pram mode and pushchair mode. Whilst we haven't taken it in the cabin so far as we used baby carrier, we will next time as she's a bit heavy now! Taking it in the cabin means you can use it the minute you get off the plane rather than waiting for it to come to baggage collection. Still great to have compact lightweight buggy with us even when we checked it in under the plane.
• Picked window seats when DD was very small as meant I could breastfeed comfortably during the flight. Plan to pick aisle seat next time so can get up and down with her as needed - as she'll be mobile.
• Pick somewhere to stay that has baby equipment available. Our next holiday we're going for a package holiday in which you can hire bits you might need such as cot, steriliser, high chair etc. For us travelling light makes the travelling easier, so even if you have to pay to rent these bits it's worth it.

Pack snacks, ipad, toys, trunki, try not to get too stressed!

If your baby can support its head I'd recommend taking a totseat fabric highchair. Steriliser bags are a must for bottles and use bottled water. As much as I hate the way technology is going with everyone's face in a phone, a tablet with predownloaded movies on is great for a flight with a toddler. Pack a spare bed sheet for a travel cot just in case

Think twice before taking your toddler half way round the world - it will
be stressful for all concerned and he/she will never remember it anyway. If you do take him with you, be mindful of the needs of other travellers or nearby guests. They won't always appreciate any disturbance cused by your little bundle of joy.

one little bag for toys/kids entertainment.. all 4 kids can only fill that one bag between them!

I haven’t yet traveled abroad with my little one but when I was young my mum used to always buy us a nice notebook each and some colouring pencils so we could write a holiday diary and draw pictures we used to love it and it kept us entertained. Also always good to remember Headphones and boiled sweets for the plane. I plan on buying a cheap or second hand lightweight pushchair for going away so it’s easy to travel with and I’m not worried about it getting damaged on the plane

So having enjoyed (and survived) several holidays with my kids whilst they were babies including long-haul flights my top tips would be as follows:

• If flying long haul try to book in a seat with a bassinet for the baby to sleep in
• If the flight is over 5 hrs long then a night flight would be best that way at least the kids sleep for at least half the journey
• Take i-pads and colouring books for toddlers as well as lollies in case their ears pop as well as other favourite snacks in case they need to be distracted
• Do take the baby car seat and pram - these can be easily checked in on most flights and the car seat is usually a godsend on the other side when there's still the transfer to the hotel that awaits

When booking hotels always go for a family friendly resort with childcare / kids facilities. This is the only way that you will get any downtime (when the kids are at the creche / holiday club) and no one will give you the eyeball when your kids start throwing broccoli and bits of food across the canteen (as the likelihood is they'll be in the same boat). After you've had your downtime it is nice to be able to collect the kids and take them to the beach, swimming or the playground and it's amazing if all the facilities are on site at the resort

Always arrange for private transfers from the airport to hotel - after a tiring flight the last thing you want to be doing with your kiddies is spending a few hours on a stop-start coach that drops people off at various resorts. Also by booking private transfers you're pretty much guaranteed to be the first one to arrive at your chosen hotel and be checked in and shown to your room within minutes of your arrival.

If you're kids have a bedtime routine which involves a certain musical sound, white noise, sleeping bag etc do take it along on the holiday as well as packing several of their favourite toys.

We looked closely at the local area. We found a little park that was ideal for a play and picnics and a beach that was perfect. There was also a decent supermarket nearby.
I don't like being tied to a hotel and their food for the whole day. We found a small block of villas where you could book a breakfast, lunch or dinner if you wanted to. The breakfasts were fantastic so we had these most days.