Thinking about getting a well-deserved holiday on the beach? Have a look at our tips and hacks on what to pack so that you enjoy your vacation to the max.
Travelling with a Baby
Your holiday starts at the moment you set off to meet summer adventures. Regardless of the means of transport you use. When travelling with a baby, the actual journey can be the most demanding part of your entire holiday. Prepare for it in advance.
What to Pack for Travelling with a Baby?
We deem the following items key — always have them at hand during the entire course of your journey.
- Enough food and drink. Fully breastfeeding mothers have a huge advantage here — your boobs are always at hand. For formula-fed babies and toddlers, get various types of favourite age-appropriate snacks — preferably those that your baby can consume on their own and that don’t represent a choking hazard. Fruit pouches are great! By the way, baby food is excluded from limits on liquids when flying. Use it to the max! We just recommend checking the limits given by your carrier in advance — to be sure.
- A favourite toy or book, or something your baby can play with for a while. Interactive books are a staple.
- Good reserve of diapers and diaper-changing accessories. Don’t forget to pack a changing mat which can serve various purposes — a great hack is putting it under your baby in the car seat. A helpful security measure for when you can’t change diapers when they’re due (such as during take-off/ landing of a plane, or when stuck in a traffic jam on a highway). Reusable changing mats are waterproof and more breathable than their disposable counterparts, so your baby’s bottom doesn’t get all sweaty.
- We wholeheartedly recommend audiobooks and favourite songs — anything that your baby can listen to for a while with interest.
- A baby blanket. It’s always a good idea to have something at hand to cover your baby with. Just in case.
- A back-up set of clothes. Accidents happen and we suppose you don’t want to find yourself taking out the entire trunk of your car in a rest area on a highway to find a clean bodysuit. If you’re flying, always pack some extra clothes in your handbag. Maybe even for a few sets, in case your luggage gets lost.
- When travelling by plane, always take an extra layer of clothes, preferably some pants and a long-sleeved top. It can get chilly on a plane, even when travelling in the middle of a heatwave.
Tips for Travelling with a Baby
- If possible, plan your journey for nap times. To maximise the use of the time your baby sleeps.
- When travelling by car with a baby that is awake, take breaks often. Half sitting, half laying down in a car seat is not very comfortable. Let your baby stretch, kick their legs, lie on their belly for a while. Even on a desolate piece of lawn next to a highway — where a reusable changing pad comes in handy again!
A Plane Hack for Travelling with a BabySmall children might struggle with changing air pressure in the cabin, resulting in feelings of discomfort or straightforward pain in their ears. To help your baby release the pressure, make them swallow — breastfeed them or give them the bottle. Even when it’s not feeding time. |
At the Beach with a Baby
What to pack for the beach? Here are our must-haves:
- Sun screen! Extremely important. Sensitive baby skin should always be protected by factor 50. Even in the shade.
- Sun hat. Babies get overheated or get a sunstroke before you know it. Much more quickly than adults.
- Diapers. We already wrote about diapers on holiday — have a look here to get tips on how to approach diapers smartly and effectively.
- Cotton muslin squares are a must-have. They can serve as a diaper, a light cover, a fast-drying towel, and a beach mat.
- Basic medication. We wish you all the best and sincerely hope nothing will ruin your holiday. But it always pays off to be prepared. When your baby suddenly gets feverish, the last thing you want to do is to frantically search for a pharmacy on a remote Greek island.
- Swim diapers. You can most likely let your baby be naked on a beach but the story’s different by the hotel pool. If your holiday is your baby’s first encounter with “swimming”, here’s five tips on baby swimming.
- We repeat ourselves. But you truly need to pack a reusable changing mat. You will use it by the pool, on the beach, even in your hotel room.
- Water and beach toys and various swimming tools are also a good idea to take with. And here comes quite an unusual tip for storing all these toys: use a laundry bag to transport the toys to/ from the beach. Most of the sand will fall out of the perforated bag on its own, while the toys dry nicely.
- Consider getting a beach tent or a big parasol. You can’t let a baby bathe in direct sun on the beach.