"Australia: The portable DVD player has paid
for itself"
"Our first real family holiday was when Max was nine months old and we
went to Australia (my husband is Australian and his family wanted to meet
Max). We usually go for Christmas every other year. The main problem was
all the gifts people bought for Max; we had excess baggage like you wouldn't
believe. It was discounted enormously and still cost us £250. So now we
go in January (but still end up sending a lot home by courier).
"I bought the Mothercare bottles that can be sterilised in the microwave
and that was a big help. I did start using them earlier to make sure they
were OK. I also bought a smaller stroller to take on the plane. The carry
case was the best thing I bought. It stopped the stroller from getting
damaged and gave extra space to throw jackets etc in once we got to the
plane.
"I booked a Skycot, which was brilliant, and the cabin crew on Emirates
were just wonderful with Max and took him off all over the plane. He came
back with lots of toys that they gave him, so he was happy. I did find
that I took far too much on the plane: snacks, toys, books etc. So I've
since cut that right down and it's a lot easier. "
A UV tent was another good buy. It meant he could play on the beach but
we had somewhere to put him to cool down. Another sun aid was a sunscreen
for the stroller. I don't think you can get them here. It's very thick
and keeps the sun off of the baby totally but they can still see out and
you can still see them. It was great as it was over 40 degrees.
"One tip we picked up from another couple on the plane was a portable
DVD player. We bought one and it's paid for itself many times. It's great
for long car journeys and on the plane if there's nothing on the Skyscreen
he's interested in. A really good purchase and the earphones mean we don't
have to listen to it too." Anne
"France: The gite we stayed in was perfect"
"We went to France (the Loire Valley) for two weeks in June when Noah
was nine months old. We drove over, taking the fast ferry from Dover to
Calais.
"The only issue we had in the car was when we got stuck in a huge traffic
jam outside of Paris. Noah was starving and as I was driving my husband
had to try to feed Noah Petit Filous by twisting round in the passenger
seat, not easy when the car seat was directly behind him!
"We stayed in a remote gite but it was perfect: lots of grounds, a great
pool and no one else was there for Noah to disturb. We did lots of driving
over the two weeks, visiting chateaux and towns. At that point Noah wasn't
even crawling so it was all pretty much a breeze.
"Food-wise I took jars with me so I knew exactly what he was getting.
We had evenings out every other day but we were conscious of Noah getting
grumpy - more our issue than anyone else's.
"The only thing I hadn't thought about before going was the gite only
had a shower and no bath, but it did have a kitchen sink so Noah quite
happily bathed in that! "We are going back to France at the end of August,
driving further south, so a longer car journey and this year Noah is well
and truly mobile. I think we my have a few more issues this year - but
we'll cope!" Jane
"Portugal: Buy buckets and spades over there"
"Our first family holiday was to the Algarve in Portugal, when Hannah
was about three-and-a-half. We chose Portugal as we had been there with
friends before and loved the area (very peaceful, not too developed, child
friendly) and the flying time was fairly short at under three hours.
"We booked a villa, car hire and flights package with a company that
was terrific. I had two or three villas in mind from their brochure and
when I phoned to book I asked their opinion on which villa would suit
us best. As they knew all their villas personally they could recommend
the best one for us with a young child. It was a lovely villa with a private
pool, garden and all mod cons, which really took the stress out of the
holiday as we could do our own thing. Also ideal with a small child as
you are not tied to hotel mealtimes, etc
."The hire car was fine, with a Britax car seat. We went out exploring
a few times in the week: there is a water park locally as well as an aquatic
marina and theme park. Local supermarkets stocked everything we needed
and restaurants were great; we were welcomed with open arms and if there
was nothing on the menu that Hannah liked they made her whatever she wanted,
eg omelette, sandwich etc!
"The beaches are lovely, clean and safe but the sea can be a little
rough as it is the Atlantic. The weather was perfect and we had a great
time and plan to go back again soon. "My top tips for travelling with
toddlers would be:
Choose a destination with a relatively short flight/ferry/journey
time. Long-haul with a fidgety toddler would be really hard work.
Pack light: they hardly wear any clothes whilst away anyway!
Buy suntan lotion at home as it can be hard to find very good sun
protection in smaller villages.
Don't pack buckets, spades etc as they are so bulky to take. Just
buy them over there then ditch them when you leave. We left ours at
the villa for the next family.
Sarah
The UK: just sit back and enjoy it"
"When my daughter was ten weeks old, we took a short break to Gourock.
It was lovely, in a half-board hotel and just visiting the countryside
round about. Then when she was six months, we went on a caravan holiday
to Berwick Upon Tweed. She cried non-stop the whole time and never slept.
It was a huge disaster. We tried Florida when she was 15 months and it
was a success. Since then we've done numerous holidays with her. When
my son was eight months old, we did Butlins and it was a more positive
experience. They both love going away and get very excited now but the
caravan holiday has put me right off caravans!
"The advice I've taken on board is the more chilled you are and just
take things as they come makes for a more relaxing holiday. I've learned
to sit back and enjoy it instead of panicking all the time." Groovee
"Scotland: the campsite was lovely"
"We're just back from our first family holiday. We went up to my father-in-law's
caravan in Blair Atholl, Scotland. We were pretty nervous about it but
we really needed a bit of chill time.
"It turned out great. The caravan itself is lovely anyway and has a
really big awning attached so there was loads of room. The site it was
on was lovely and had great amenities. The weather was fantastic and it
is such a lovely part of Scotland.
"Luke is such a great baby and went down at his 6:45pm bedtime, no problem
at all, and slept through until 7am, so we all got a great night's sleep.
He also only has two bottles a day now, morning and night, so we only
had to clean and sterilise them once. I don't think it would have been
half as good if he didn't sleep through the night and we were constantly
cleaning and sterilising bottles. But I guess if he had been like that
we would have managed somehow! There was a family there camping with a
baby who looked no older than four or five months and they managed!" Steff
"France: a Steribottle disaster!"
"Our first family hols was a three-day break to northern France via the
Tunnel, when my daughter was three months old. It was good to get away
for a few nights and to try out a short holiday to see what it would be
like before planning anything bigger!
"Having the car was good for all the paraphernalia we needed so we didn't
have to stress about what to take. On the advice of one friend, I bought
loads of Steribottles so I could have a break from washing and sterilising
six bottles a day for three days. Unfortunately, I didn't try them out
before we left the UK and my daughter refused to take her milk from them,
screaming the hotel down until we cleaned the bottle we had brought, sterilised
it and made the formula up. We kept trying to use them to no avail so
we ended up doing a fair amount of washing up and sterilising, both at
night and before we could go out in the day. So I would highly recommend
trying them out before you travel to save space, time and money!
"But it was a great holiday and gave us confidence to try again." Sam
"Crete: Watch out for the unpasteurised cheese"
"We took our daughter, aged six months, to Crete on a self-catering holiday,
with friends who had friends there. I was still breastfeeding but took
a plastic cereal box to use for sterilising bottles, for water, etc. There
was no travel cot when we got there but one soon arrived and it was brand
new; the owner didn't have a clue how to put it up! I took my pram cat
net to put over the cot to protect her from flying beasties. She wasn't
mobile then so it was quite easy. I bought a smaller stroller to take
with us. The stroller is still going despite lots of abuse and more flights.
I took some powdered meals with us but she did have lots of fruit too.
She wasn't ill and didn't get sunburnt at all. I would agree with buying
sun cream here in the UK so you know what you are getting.
"The only problem we had was when the friend of a friend tried to feed
her unpasteurised cheese: I had to say she was allergic to milk! But then
I thought, they must have fed their children the same and they seemed
OK." Louise
First
family holidays 
