Having an infant is hard work. First, there’s the nine months of pregnancy, followed by labour. Then you have the weeks, often months, of sleepless nights on top of the general stress of adapting to parenthood. You finally make it through all of that, and then your little one begins to crawl, then walk, then run, keeping you on your toes all day long. Every night you’ll put them to bed, before flopping down on the settee and thinking to yourself: ‘I could really do with a holiday’. The problem is that, for a lot of people, going on holiday with an infant seems like an impossible dream. A nice idea in theory, but something that will ultimately prove to be way more stressful than relaxing, and therefore just not worth the hassle. My husband, bless his heart, was of this mindset once…though, after years of being dragged around the world visiting concentration camps and seeing every major production of the musical Wicked (a dream that finally came to an end when we missed the Japanese-language version in Tokyo by two days), he actually saw the supposed difficulties in travelling with a baby to be a bit of a blessing. Unluckily for him however, he married someone who doesn’t let anything-not even a bundle of wriggly, screaming joy-get in the way of her holidays. Next week, at 16 months old, our little girl will be visiting her fifth country, and while we will freely admit that there are challenges to travelling with little children, both my husband and I are now in complete agreement that our holidays have been completely worth it. So, despite the clear, obvious risk that in doing so, I will be condemning next week’s trip to being a disaster of epic proportions, I have decided to share the five things that I feel are necessary to successfully travelling abroad with an infant:
1. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN, PLAN AND PLAN
As I said, there are challenges to travelling with an infant, especially when they’re under twelve months. From car seats, to milk/food, to getting around with a buggy, there are a million extra things that you have to think about. So, plan ahead. Firstly, where are you going? There’s no need to limit yourself to package holidays and resorts (unless, of course, that’s your preference); Lily’s first trip, at sixteen weeks old, was a city break to Barcelona, and a few months ago we stayed in Croatia, hiring a car to explore Bosnia and Montenegro. These are places that I wanted to visit before having Lily, and I never felt the need to scrap my pre-baby travel lists. There are still holidays that I wouldn’t personally choose to do while she is so young (for example: I love the States, but despite all my bravado, I still wouldn’t fancy a nine hour flight with her), but I wouldn’t tell anyone that their particular chosen trip couldn’t be done. Secondly, what are you going to need? Don’t overload yourself. If you’re not going to be hiring a car, and you can get from the airport to your destination using public transport, then leave the car seat at home. Packing-wise, how likely is it that a resort town in Spain isn’t going to have nappies? People in other countries do have babies, which means baby goods are generally very easy to come across; you really don’t have to take a suitcase full of nappies and wipes. Thirdly, how are you going to get around? Somewhere compact that you can easily maneuvre with a buggy is obviously ideal. If you’re going to a large city, say Berlin, and have to rely on public transport, is it buggy-friendly? This is where sightseeing buses can come in handy. We normally prefer to be quite independent on our trips, rather than relying on tour routes, but a two day bus ticket in Barcelona got us everywhere we needed to go without having to worry about carrying the buggy up and down subway steps every ten minutes.
2. FLY BUDGET
(depending on your destination, of course.)
I have one very clear reason for this. On most budget airlines (I particularly prefer Easyjet for purposes of infant travelling), the seats aren’t pre-booked, and when travelling with a small child, you get to board before most other passengers. Get on the plane (preferably having let your child run riot amongst the other passengers while waiting to board), and grab seats as close to the front as you can. Once you’re in, stand your child on your knee and play with them, bounce them up in the air…basically, whatever you choose, just as long as the child is in full view. Other passengers will board the plane, take one look at your wriggly infant and immediately move on. If you’re lucky, and we always have been, the flight won’t be completely full and you’ll find yourself with a free seat next to you for the whole journey. Result! Not only is the extra space lovely, you’ll also feel quite insulated from the rest of the passengers; if you do end up with a screaming baby, not being able to see or hear other people makes everything so much easier to cope with.
3. APARTMENTS, NOT HOTELS
As someone who has always obsessed over hotel choices, poring over Trip Advisor and researching every little detail of every room in our chosen destination, I wouldn’t have believed a year ago that I would be recommending this. However, after staying in a hotel in Barcelona and then a private apartment in Dubrovnik (a necessity, given the extortionate hotel prices there), I can honestly say that I will now always choose apartments over hotels when travelling with Lily. Not only are they usually more cost-effective, but the extra space is an absolute godsend once your little one is on the move. You will usually have a kitchen, which makes providing meals a lot easier (and cheaper), and if you get a separate bedroom, it means you can pop your baba in the cot before returning to the other room to relax, watch TV, read etc without worrying about making a little noise. It’s a little more risky, as the apartments are usually privately owned, but Trip Advisor has started doing apartment reviews now, and the Holiday Lettings website (where I find our apartments) usually has feedback on most of their accomodation too. Do a little research, and you shouldn’t have any problems.
4. INVEST IN A CARRIER
If you have a young baby, you probably have a baby carrier or sling-a Baby Bjorn, for example-on which you carry your baby on your front. This worked brilliantly for us in Barcelona; by our next trip, however, Lily had grown out of it. This is where a back carrier came in perfectly. Infants often get a little whiny when they’re made to stay in their buggies for too long, and so on evening walks, or during activities when buggies weren’t appropriate (walking city walls, or visiting underground caves), we would give Lily a break by putting her in a back carrier instead. It was more relaxing for us (yes, the carrier gets to feel quite heavy eventually, but the weight is spread surprisingly well) and way more fun for Lily, who loved being able to see everything from up high. They fold flat, so you can put them in a suitcase, and you can use them up to around two years, so they’re an excellent investment even when you’re not travelling.
5. RELAX
I cannot stress this enough. From planning, to booking, to the actual holiday itself, the most important thing is to stay relaxed at all times. If you don’t, then you’re screwed before you’ve even begun. Of course, you’ll have millions of ‘what ifs’ floating around your head. What if they cry on the flight? What if they get sick? What if their sleeping gets disturbed? Just don’t worry. OK, they might get sick or they might not sleep, but it’s a hell of a lot more likely that they’ll be absolutely fine. And if they cry on the plane, so what? My husband was particularly terrified of this, but so far the most we’ve ever had to endure was one ten minute screaming fit, and, as it turned out, we were so preoccupied with calming her down that we couldn’t care less what the other passengers thought. Just don’t worry. It’s most likely that everything will be absolutely fine, and if it isn’t, you’ll figure out a way to deal with it. Worrying is unnecessary…and when an anxiety sufferer is telling you this, you know that it’s true. Relax, and all will turn out fine.
