Holiday time is upon us. Travel in confidence with our top tips from local mums. Thank you to all the mums who contributed to this feature.
Travelling by plane
Catherine from Menston says: “It’s worth asking when you check in whether the flight is full or not. If it isn’t, ask nicely if they would keep the seat next to you free. It worked for us one way. Also, the hostesses on the flight were pretty good at moving people around so there were spare seats next to those with a baby on their lap.”
Barbara from Menston says: “Although bottles of Calpol meet the 100ml limit, I’d highly recommend taking sachets on the plane with you – and hand sterilising gel!
“Imogen was brilliant on our recent trip out to France but, on the way back, the landing took forever and she howled for about 20 mins. All I can recommend is to stay calm and remember to smile (through gritted teeth) when the people in the row in front turn round and tut loudly!!
“And, never ask the Immigration staff in the UK to stamp your child’s passport – or their teddy bear passport. I can assure you that there is nothing more irritating (I always used to say that I could do it but that they would have to wait until the 200-300 other passengers had been through. It was amazing how many people quickly changed their minds).”
Amy from Ilkley says: “I got Daniel’s passport stamped in Paris. The immigration man said – “On peut rien lui refuser!” – I took that to mean that Daniel’s so gorgeous he couldn’t possibly refuse… my French isn’t up to scratch these days.”
Lucinda from Burley says: “I flew Jet2 from Leeds and we took our Maclaren and Maxi Cosi car seat for free as outsize luggage, no hassle. The pram to the steps of the plane is a godsend.
“You can take water for baby feed onto the plane, you just taste it at customs.”
Kirsty from Menston says: “We took our Phil and Teds Sport pushchair on holiday to Greece. We took the wheels off at the gate at the airport check-in and put them in our handbaggage. I then put Felix in a Kari-me sling, so I had my hands free to carry bags. We put the buggy in a big blue Ikea bag with one of those things you fasten a car boot with when you carry furniture. Then, we handed it to staff on the gate and it went in the hold. At the other end, we put Felix in the sling til we could get the pushchair off conveyor belt.”
Di from Ilkley says: “We bought a buggy bag from Jojo Maman Bebe. It was great as we could fit the McLaren and loads of extra stuff in. We then checked it in, so we needed to take a sling as well so that we could carry Isak around until we got on the plane.”
Barbara from Menston says: “We recently flew out from Liverpool which has baby changing both land side and air side. I used the papoose to cart Miss H around in and so we didn’t need a pram at the airport at all.”
Jenny from Addingham says: “On the plane, don’t take a carton of ready-made formula. As there are no sharp implements on the plane, they are impossible to get into!”
Catherine from Menston says: “You want to spend the least amount of time possible on the plane as there is so little room – pretend you didn’t hear the call for all those with children to get on first (unless it’s a flight with unallocated seats). When you’re on the plane, take a few favourite toys and get them out one at a time – using each one until they are thoroughly bored with it. The hostesses were more than happy to heat up baby food for us.”
Diane from Otley says: “Breastfeeding a LOT on the plane kept our daughter quiet and reasonably happy as did walking up and down the aisle when allowed. People did make faces as she did have a screamfest when we were 40 mins delayed – but I would have too if I was 5 months old!!”
Travelling by car
Helen from Otley says: “When we went down to Devon (5 hour journey) we travelled at night – left at his (our baby) bedtime and then just fed him at each stop (twice in all) – that was when he was about 4 months old. He was awake for about an hour on the way back and was quite happy playing in the back on his own in the dark! We attached lots of toys to his car seat. I think we were lucky!! Generally I try to do any longer journeys when he is ready for a nap.”
Louise from Bingley says: “We travelled to Cornwall recently by car and spent a lot of time debating how to do it. We decided to set off at bedtime, 7pm, after doing Evie’s bedtime routine as normal. Then, we stopped at around 10pm in a Travelodge south of Birmingham. It worked out quite well as she settled easily. We got up early the next day and carried on through with a couple of stops in Bristol and Exeter. The main thing was not to rush and give yourself plenty of time. Evie did have one tantrum when we had to stop, but settled o.k.
“On the way back, we did the journey in one day, set off at 8am, had two good stops where Evie could have a good stretch and got home at 4pm. In hindsight, we would do it that way again rather than stopping overnight.”
Travelling abroad
Baby passport
Your baby needs his/her own passport to travel abroad. See your dedicated baby passport section for details.
European Health Insurance Card (formerly known as E1.11)
You need to add your baby to your own EHIC. You can apply online. The card will be sent to you within 7 days. Lucinda from Burley says: “Dont forget your E111 for your baby ( or whatever it is called now) if you do not have it and have to go to hospital you have to pay yourself.”
Kirsty from Menston says: “I think it’s a good idea when travelling with children to just make a mental note of where the doctors and local hospital is. You should probably also carry your travel insurance and EHIC (ex E111) card around with you.”
Travel insurance
Your baby also needs insurance. There are great deals available. You can sign up to some cashback websites and get cashback if you buy from one of the online firms they have listed.
What to take
Barbara from Menston says: “Nappies in France were really expensive (due to the exchange rate they were £10 for a pack of 31 pampers) so, take this into consideration and, if you have any spare space in your bags / weight allowance then it could be worthwhile taking some extra nappies with you…”
Lucinda from Burley says: “In Spain, it cost us £28 for a box of milk, more than double formula prices at home!!! So we have been through 2 so far, quite a bit. This is partly due to the € exchange rate. Also, all supermarkets are closed on Sundays ( I forgot and was panicking as had no milk and no car to get to a pharmacy).”
Amy from Ilkley says: “There is a new website set up by 2 Leeds mums, where you order nappies, milk, ect. before you go and they then send it to your holiday destination by UPS. It’s not cheap but I suppose it saves on the hassle of buying the stuff when you are there.”
Kat from Ilkley says: “I would definitely recommend you take with you a harness and reins if your little one is using a highchair. Only a couple we used while away had adequate harnesses to restrain Charlie so if you have the harness and reins with you you can use these to keep baby safe!”
Kat from Ilkley says: “Also make sure you take your car sunshades if you’re hiring a car. And where possible, take your own car seat. We did the first time but not most recently and I regretted it. You can check the car seat in, but the airline takes it on the basis that they aren’t responsible for any damage it suffers.”
Kirsty from Menston says: “We took the Phil and Teds Sport on holiday to Greece. We wouldn’t have managed without it. We went on off-road walks to deserted beaches. The very large underneath compartment was great for beach towels, sunshade, picnic etc. We wheeled over stones and boulders, beaches etc and it managed it all. On the way to one beach we got lost and a couple directed us but said ‘Oh you wont get down there with the buggy it’s really rough terrain, hard enough walking!’ We tried it in the buggy and it was a bit hairy, big downhill section, but we managed great and got to the beach.”
“We ended up using a hired car seat to feed Felix in as there wasn’t a high chair in the apartment. I wish we had have taken one of those travel high chairs. None of the restaurants we went to had a high chair apart from one, and it was already in use when we were there.”
Catherine from Menston says: “If you’re going to go swimming, don’t forget your swim nappies. When you get there, don’t be tempted to put the swim nappy on too long before you get in the pool. They are designed not to absorb too much liquid – and that includes wee!”
Coping with hot weather
Amy from Ilkley says: “When it was really hot (26C in Daniel’s bedroom at night!), I put him to bed in just a nappy and then put just a vest on him when I did a dream feed at 11pm. We also tried spraying him with a water spray (Vittel) to keep him cool in the day – can’t say he was particularly impressed. He liked the wet flannel better (as he could chew on it).”
Lucinda from Burley says: “Try suncream on baby before you go, I sprayed Charles with one factor 50 and he had nettle-type stings all day. E45 suncream works well for us.”
Louise from Bingley says: “Another top tip would be to get one of those pop up tents for the beach, or take a bouncy chair to sit them in. It’s lovely for them to feel the sand between their toes but I was always fretting about Evie getting the sand in her eyes! And of course, she loved to crunch it!”
Catherine from Menston says: “Don’t bother packing lots of clothes if you are going somewhere hot – George spent most of the time just in a vest.”
Getting about abroad
Kirsty from Menston says: “I kept Felix in the Kari-me sling on the coach from the airport in Greece as there were no seat belts. I didn’t know if this was the right thing to do, but I thought it would stop him getting flung across the coach if there was an accident. We also hired a car to get about. The infant carrier car seat was free and was of a very good standard. This was from the company SIXT.”
Catherine from Menston says: “We found it really hard to get rear facing car seats from hire car companies abroad so unless you are sure that one will be provided it might be worth taking your own out on holiday.”
Coping with the change in routine
Di from Ilkley says: “A few nights before we went away to Edinburgh, we put Isak to sleep in his travel cot in his room for a couple of nights and then a couple of nights in the spare room. We wanted to get him used to sleeping in the travel cot and in a strange room. We also put a flat sheet for the cot in our bed for a night, so it would smell familiar to Isak. We tried to stick as much as possible to his usual routine whilst we were away. It all paid off as he slept fine when we were away.”
Kirsty from Menston says: “For the first week in Greece, we were nervous to go out in the evening, so we stayed in the apartment at night so Felix could have a regular bedtime. He slept in a travel cot provivded by hotel. In the second week, we thought ‘stuff this! We’re on holiday!’ and we started to go out. We’d get Felix ready for bed in his pj’s then I would breastfeed before we went out. This meant I felt I could have a couple of glasses of wine as I didn’t have to feed him again til morning. We then drove into the town and put him in the pushchair upright so he could look around. About 9pm ( 7pm our time), he would get a bit grizzly so we’d lower pushchair flat into a sleeping position and wheel him for a quick walk on cobbles. He’d fall asleep while we had a meal and drinks. He tended to wake up slightly when we transfered him into car seat to go back to apartment. Sometimes, if he didn’t settle back in car seat on way home I’d sit in back with him and give him a bottle of formula while Laurence drove. Then we’d get him straight back to bed when we got in and he was fine.”
Louise from Bingley says: “We rented a lovely apartment overlooking the sea in Cornwall, but Evie had trouble sleeping at night. I would recommend packing as many familiar things as you can, toys etc to help settle them, and try to keep your bedtimes the same as at home. It’s tempting to kept the babies up later as they’re on holiday, but, it seemed to unsettle Evie even more.”
Share your views
If you have any other top tips to share with local mums, please let us know and we will add them here. Share your holiday experiences in the baby chat section.
