Top 5 tips for a family holiday

Thursday 1 May 2014




Since having children we haven't been abroad as much as we did pre-children, but we have still managed at least one holiday abroad each year since Little Mr's arrival. Our first holiday abroad with Little Mr was to the Dominican Republic at a mere 16 weeks old, then Tenerife followed by Lanzarote. We are currently preparing for our next holiday to Majorca. It will be our first holiday as a family of four so no doubt upon our return our top tips may have changed but here they are based on our previous holiday experiences.

Here are our 5 Top Tips:

1. Do not over pack

For our first holiday I packed enough clothes and nappies for around a month and brought most of it back unused. Unless you are travelling to some where that has little or no civilisation then you will be able to buy nappies etc there too if you happen to run out. As we have always gone to sunny warm places for holidays I have found that the little ones wont wear the vests they would at home as they will be too hot so pack half. This time we are taking just two suitcases and packing the Little's clothes in with ours. We will be taking an umbrella buggy and the sling. We plan to put Little Mr in the buggy when tired or at the airport and carry Little Miss leaving one person to pull the two cases.

2. Leave your routine at home

Probably our best tip and the one we most look forward too is leaving our routine at home. we find that we quickly get into a 'holiday routine' later nights but longer or more naps in the day. we relax the rules completely and have a lot of fun doing so. We also aren't the type of people who want to sit on the balcony each night from 7 whilst the little ones sleep, so we pop then in the buggy and head out. We haven't found any adverse routine upon returning home bar the first day or so but even we are still out of sink with routine too.


3. Allow plenty of time

When we travelled to Lanzarote we were a little short on time when we flew home, as we were in a larger group and others wanted to get food. We were around one of the last families on the plane and so in a hurry we threw all of our belongings into the overhead locker. It dawned on us as we were heading up the runway we would have nothing to distract little Mr with or settle him. Cue screaming child until we were allowed to get our belongings down.  So always allow lots of time (or put your bag under your seat).

4. Koo-di Buggy UV Sun Shield

This has made it to our list as it is one of the best holiday purchases that we have made.  If you go on sun holidays with little ones I cant recommend it enough. I is perfect to pop on the buggy during walks out while the little ones sleep and gives complete cover so no repositioning all the time like you would an umbrella. We have used it many times by the pool as Little Mr slept. Although it really came into its own when we went to visited the island from the Bounty adverts when in the Dominican Republic and our boat broke down. There was no protection from the sun so whilst we waited what felt like an eternity to get the boat working again we pulled out the sun shield and popped it over Little Mr. This has already made it into our suitcase for our next holiday.

5. Plan Entertainment

We found by far our easiest plane journey (also our longest) was when Little Mr was only 16 weeks. I fed him on take off and landing, he slept and was easily entertained with a couple of baby toys. This year we are going to pre download most of the cbeebies back catalogue from BBC iplayer onto the ipad. We will also get Little Mr to choose a comic at the airport. He is just getting into games now to I will also pack a travel connect four plus the usual crayons and colouring that I take every where any how.

What are your top tips for family travel?

I have linked this post up with Binkylinky a fab linky for newby bloggers like me.



14 comments:

  1. Great post! Living in a holiday destination we see people travelling really well with their kids and others really struggling!! One thing I would say to those going to hot countries is to remember that their hotel rooms/accomodation will probably have air con (as well as on the plane) where it can be cold (i always think air con feels colder than the temperature says!) so some warmer things may be necessary. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. Good idea, air con does always make you feel chilly.

      Delete
  2. What great tips. We haven't been abroad but will be next year so will take note

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. We go away next week and that will probably be our last holiday abroad for a little while.

      Delete
  3. Great tips! We went on our first family hol a few weeks ago and took way too much stuff. It seems impossible with a baby not to take too much lol x #binkylinky

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha yeah there is always that worry you might not have quite what you need or if they run out of something. It's always easier said than done ;)

      Delete
  4. We are planning our first holiday as a four, later this year so thank you for the great tips - especially the sun screen cover. I had never heard of these!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great tips, so glad I read this! We're off to Majorca in June when our lg will be 6 months. Will try not to worry about routine as much haha! x #binkylinky

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We thought Majorca would be good as it's not too long a flight. It's hard to let it go haha! But works for us :)

      Delete
  6. Some brilliant tips here! We've not taken our children abroad before but we will keep these in mind when we do. I like your idea of leaving the routine at home, you are right, on holiday you make a new holiday routine to follow otherwise it gets stressful! Thanks for linking up #BinkyLinky

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's what we found on our first holiday sticking to bath, bed etc meant we were stuck not so much fun haha, but when we were brave enough to deviate it actually worked out fine.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Totally agree with not over packing. Our first holiday abroad I just packed the basics. We always come home with more than when we arrived, so needed the extra room for souveniers! Thanks for linking up to the #binkylinky

    ReplyDelete
  9. Entertainment for my little one is really essential on trip whether its near or far! Agree with all your tips =) #binkylinky

    ReplyDelete

Hi, I love to read your comments, thank you if you are kind enough to add one. Ruth x

Proudly designed by Mlekoshi playground