First Holiday with Baby.

[kentmotorcompany]

Its all his fault^^^


So the wife and I are looking to book a holiday, the fist since our son Henry was born. We are thinking late summer (Sept/Oct).

Bit nervous about making sure we have everything we need for him when we are there. He will be about 16 months by then.

Criteria:

- Budget about £1,000-£1,500
- Short flight, so Europe really.
- Shortish transfer
- Somewhere baby friendly - have been looking at Club Med resorts, but open to PH suggestions
- Like to hire a car when we are there, but obviously need a Baby Seat/Booster seat - Can these be supplied by car hire companies?
- Don't mind all inclusive, but we don't drink much so we don't really get value for money out it
- Nice pool, near beach

I'm sure once we have done it for the first time we will wonder why we worried, but for now it feels all new again, so looking for some guidance.

Any other useful tips appreciated.

[DWP]

Mark Warner are fairly child friendly give them a google.

[Puggit]

You don't say how mobile he is. If he is mobile, god help you (and those near you) on the flight.

You can take your own car seat free with most airlines - check and if you can, I'd suggest doing this. You cannot trust what you'll receive at the other end (been there, done that).

[otherman]

I can remember doing that very thing. We used to stick to spanish type locations for the short flight, and also pick something with a short transfer as well. The islands like Menorca or Ibiza (there are family parts of Ibiza) because no-where is very far.
Most car hire places have child seats. We never had a problem.

Actually on resort if he's mobile (he looks like he's gonna be) you can save yourself a lot of stress by not trying to keep him in one place. The only way is to go mobile yourself and follow him about. It means one of you is on your feet most of the time, but a happy toddler is so much easier than a wailing one.

[chrismcg1]

Morning. We went to Menorca with our lad - he was about 18 months old - stayed in Cala' N Bosch - fantastic place. Two hour flight, really child friendly restaurants (all with brand new high chairs) - set around a lovely marina. Couldn't fault it. (We stayed in the Viva Menorca Apartments - again really good - 5 minute walk down the hill to the marina)

[sneijder]

My troll is the same age, and she's been on three trips so far.

First time I was reluctant to put her through it, but she was fine. I'd go so far as to say she enjoyed out last flight.

I'd suggest getting some of these ...



... for take off and landing. They suck them dry, and keep on sucking when it's all gone, that sorts their ears out.

What YOU have to do is carry all the baby crap and be sympathetic towards mum, she'll be the bag of nerves if she's anything like Mrs sneijder. Get to the airport T minus 2 hours and you'll be laughing.

You'll get some bitter types when it comes to travelling with babies, just remember that you can stash a good extra 5 - 10 kilos in with the buggy and no-one will bat an eyelid.

[LuS1fer]

I've done this several times.

We always book private villas or appartments - out of season they are good value and if you don't want or need a pool, remarkably cheap. Most offer high chairs and travel cots. Some will aslo offer a welcome pack of food, milk and water.

Pop to the local supermarket to stock up on food and water and get the bottled water with the pic of a baby on it as not all waters are suitable - you're looking for low sodium.

I would recommend Spain or Mallorca and in the latter case, the Cala D'Or area. If you go to the Costa Blanca and intend travelling any distance, use the A roads not the E roads as the tolls can soon rack up. There are less tolls in the south. Mallorca has no toll roads.

We book flights with the airline direct and then the villa/apartment via www.ownersdirect.co.uk

Hire car companies do supply child seats but in every single case, I guarantee it is utter crap time and time again and there is nothing worse than struggling to fit a bad seat with twisted straps and no instructions, often dirty, when all you want to do is load up and go.

Most airlines therefore have a "baby allowance" even without them having a seat. In the case of BMIBaby it was 10kg so we took our own baby seat with us which goes in the hold with the pushchair - we just put a stout plastic bag round it. That makes things so much easier.

Besides the pouches above, also take a bottle with powdered milk and a small bottle of water which they will allow you to take through so you can feed the baby. Useful on descents if the baby screams and annoys the other passengers. Put some toys in your hand-luggage to distract them.

Don't take a big pushchair either - take a small foldable one with a shade as it is invaluable at the airport while you're wrestling the luggage. Don't forget the hood/shade, the sun can be very hot even out of season.

Don't forget some form of flotation device - the rubber rings with legholes are ideal to sit them in in the pool.

[Zod]

We have three under five and take them everywhere. It's really not that big a deal. If you are going somewhere in the developed world, you can buy most consumables there.