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Ok, first let me start by saying that this post was supposed to be live by now but so much has been going on it’s been carnage trying to find time to blog. Anyways, I hope you are all well and have managed to get away this summer. We’ve been really lucky this year and had two holidays – our first trip abroad with the wee-man to Crete and then a week on the west coast of Scotland in a caravan. Below are some details on the steps we took when planning our first family beach holiday, and some key items we packed.
We had been to Crete in 2018 when we were island hopping in Greece and we loved it. Great weather, friendly people, fantastic food and just amazing beaches. We had also spotted a very fancy all-inclusive resort that we one day hoped to be guests at. When it came to planning the holiday the two things we had in mind were:
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Early or late in the season so that it wouldn’t be too hot for the little one.
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All-inclusive resort so that it would be as relaxing as possible without any need to plan anything at all.
We had a google around and also spoke to a couple of travel agent friends and decided on dates and resorts. As we were going at the end of May we landed a good deal on a five-star resort and thought that we deserved a treat. So we booked! Everything went swimmingly and we had a fantastic time, although the little guy did get chicken pox while away although they didn’t seem to bother him too much.
We have so many friends with kids that we simply put a post out on social media asking for tips on what to take with us on our first trip abroad with the little guy. We were inundated with information and that’s where I started to write a list of what I thought would be useful for us. I wanted to share our experience and our packing tips below and hopefully, you will find them useful for your next holiday. I’ve included links to products on Amazon to make it even easier for you to buy anything that stands out from the list. And here’s a link to a checklist you can make a copy of. Use the comments section to add to these tips and to share any ideas that I may have missed out on.
For the plane
We wanted the little guy to really feel part of the holiday experience and so we decided that he would carry his own little backpack with his bits and bobs in it. It also made security easier and kept track of who was carrying what items etc. My son carried his dinosaur backpack similar to this one and it contained plane-friendly toys, sticker books, his water bottle and some snacks. He’s obsessed with dinosaurs and Hotwheels cars so we packed those in his bag, and he also had some pom bears and some little boxes of raisins. He also had a pair of headphones in his bag for use with the iPad on the plane. Of course, they had to be Spiderman ones.
I carried my usual large Uniqlo tote bag similar to this one as it’s easy to see inside and find what I am looking for. I hate bags with loads of compartments as I always get panicked when I can’t quickly find what I am looking for. Inside the large tote, I had a small paper shopping bag from a recent SpaceNK purchase, and this was the perfect size to sit inside the tote and house a range of small Tupperware pots with snacks in for on the plane. My bag also had tissues and wipes, a change of clothes for the little guy in case of any accidents or spillages etc, my wallet and the passports and tickets and my iPad. I also had the little one’s favourite blanket in case the plane caused any anxiety and also in case the plane was cold.
In order to keep the momentum of moving through the various steps at the airport, we talked about getting through security and buying a new sticker book for the plane. I was worried they wouldn’t have one in the shop so I had one in my bag just in case. In less than twenty minutes we were through all the various checkpoints and feeling accomplished and relaxed. We had a nosey round duty free then we settled to have something to eat. Having separate adults and kids’ carry-on bags worked really well. I was happy not to be carrying tonnes of kids’ crap and he was happy to have his dinosaur bag to show off. Win-win!
Clothing
As we were only going away for a week I didn’t see the point of going crazy buying lots of new outfits that would hardly be worn, I was strategic in the buying and packing of clothes. We packed light cotton garments as much as possible as they would be easy to wear in the heat and they would also dry quickly. I buy most of the kid’s clothes from Next as I find the quality very good and the prices are also ok. I go a bit mad when they have a sale. I got two SPF swimming suits so that one could dry while the other one was being worn. I wanted these rather than just shorts as I was worried about sunburn. These suits were fantastic; we had no sunburn at all on holiday using these and also SPF 50 on any exposed skin areas. My mum got him a spiderman cape towel and this was handy to chuck in my bag on a daily basis to either wear after going for a swim or to use as a wipe after applying suncream. I packed four or five kids’ t-shirts and also light cotton pyjama shorts like these as they are comfortable. Pyjamas are key at night as the aircon meant the room was fairly cool, but the jammies kept him cosy. I packed a couple of pairs of jogging bottoms and two Hawaiian shirts and short sets for going out for dinner in the evening. I packed a hoodie for the plane and also in case it was chilly at night.
Shoes-wise, he wore his trainers on the plane, took a pair of crocs with him for by the pool and also had kids Birkenstock sandals. For the Crocs and sandals, I always buy with the ankle strap as it worries me he could walk out of the shoe or trip and fall without the extra support. With his footwear, he was able to put them on and off himself as well as run around and enjoy his holiday. I was more able to relax knowing that he was less likely to fall over due to stupid footwear choices.
Toiletries
Now, this was where I thought I was going to go mad but actually, I didn’t. But I did want one toiletries bag for all our stuff, if possible. I bought this toilet bag as it had plenty of compartments and folds up into a small size which is good for packing. I wanted to have the novelty and excitement of new things for the little one to enjoy, but also products that would remind my son of home. So we bought new toothbrushes for on holiday but kept shower gels and shampoos the same brand so that he would recognise scents etc. My son loves playing with a face cloth either in the bath or shower so I got a pack of new face cloths to take with us. He spent ages in the huge hotel shower playing with the face cloth and feeling content so that was a lucky buy that really helped him enjoy himself.
Protection from the sun was key for me as I burn easily, but also as my son has a very fair complexion. I also wanted something waterproof, easy to carry around and easy to apply. I bought two of these kids’ sunscreen and actually brought one home that we still use on sunny days here. I got the same brand after sun that both he and I used daily.
As my son still has accidents at night, he wears pull-up nappies only in bed.. I wasn’t sure what brands I would be able to get on holiday so I bought these and packed them. Their packaging comes fairly compressed so they didn’t take up too much room in the suitcase.
I got a box of plasters just in case, and I also got rehydration salts as well as Calpol just in case he got poorly. Luckily we didn’t need to use any of these items.
Snacks
This was my first all-inclusive holiday and although to some of you perhaps the clue is in the name of the holiday, I wasn’t exactly sure how much food, snacks etc would be available and when, so I packed some snacks of our own that are favourites in our house and that I knew would be a hit. I packed some Pom Bears, some raisin boxes, and some simple cookies..
Toys
We didnt buy any new toys for going away as we knew we would buy things when we were there. The key piece of advice we got was to buy inflatables for the pool at home and take them with us as they would be cheaper. We ordered a number of inflatables on amazon and we also had a pair of water wings to help with teaching swimming.
In the suitcase I packed a couple of story books for night time, some Hotwheels cars and a few other small toys that my son often plays with. A good friend told us that they gave their child daily pocket money on holiday and that could be used to buy a toy or whatever the child wanted whilst away. We tried this with our son and it worked well as it meant that once the daily money was spent it was gone until the next day and conversations around wanting to buy things all the time were fairly minimum or at least didnt go on and on as we had the pocket money to refer to.
I am sure that there are some things that you will have taken on holiday that arent on this list and I would love to hear what they are. There will be other bits and pieces that your child must have with them when going on holiday that we havent considered so please do share your thoughts in the comments. Dont forget you can download your own copy of our list here.
