Tag Archives: Travelling with Children

Oct 30 2017

Terrified of travelling with toddlers? There’s no need to be…

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When you’ve got young children, you don’t need to wait until they’ve grown up before you embark on your first family holiday.

For the majority of parents with babies or toddlers, the concept of sitting on a plane that’s full of people trying to catch some sleep before their vacation starts is a nightmare. From tired, screaming toddlers to boredom and travel sickness, this can be a recipe for disaster.

However, with some careful preparation and planning, there’s no need to be terrified of travelling with young kids. Instead, holidaying with your little monsters can be an exciting and fun experience that you’ll all treasure forever. Just follow my simple tips and get planning a wonderful family holiday.

Holibobs

Pick the Right Destination

If you’re traveling with an infant, you’ll want to keep things simple. This may mean choosing a direct flight and one that lands as close to your end destination as possible. You might also want to consider English-speaking countries with familiar foods, and places that aren’t going to pose any health risks to your children (e.g. malaria).

Look for family-friendly hotels like Princeton NJ Marriott Hotel, too, as this will give you peace of mind that your kids are going to be well catered for. And if you’re jetting to an exotic resort, be sure to look out for great kids’ clubs.

Fill Your Phone or Tablet with Cool Apps

Before you set off on your journey, make sure your phone is full of apps and games your toddler will love. You might also want to download plenty of cartoons for the plane journey too. Some people frown at giving children tablets to play with, but this is far more likely to keep them entertained while there’s nothing else to do on the plane, and they’ll love acting like a big boy or girl as they get to use Mum’s iPad.

Consider Your Child’s Sleep Patterns

Long-haul flights may be difficult to time around your child’s sleeping patterns, but if you can, try not to disrupt their natural sleeping pattern. Book flight times that don’t involve getting up at the crack of dawn so your child will easily adjust once they get to the new destination.

Pack Some Extra Clothes

When you’re heading off on a long journey with toddlers, it’s a good idea to pack some extra clothes, just in case, there are any mishaps with food etc en route. Accidents do happen and if you’ve got some backup clothes, it’s much easier to deal with the situation and much less stressful for your child too. Don’t forget to pack plenty of nappies as well.

Get the Kids a Camera

Finally, one great way to keep your kids entertained while they’re on vacation is by giving them a camera. This doesn’t have to be a high-tech one but a child-friendly design or even a disposable camera. They’ll love to take photos of their adventure and it also provides you with a great activity when you get back home as you can create a scrapbook of their first family holiday.

Even though travelling with toddlers can seem daunting, especially when you’ve never done it before, it needn’t be. All it takes is some preparation ahead of your travels, some savvy parenting skills while you’re travelling and plenty of entertainment at your destination.

Jul 15 2016

Confessions of a Brit Abroad

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Us Brits are renowned for racking up some pretty impressive rap sheets when we get a bit of foreign sun on our backs. Traditionally it’s thought we literally dump our bags in our hotel room, strip down to our tankinis, don some sunnies, and head straight for the nearest bar. Fast forward ten hours and we’re on our backs on the street, bloodied, sunburnt and covered in our own vomit - before we’ve slept under newly pressed sheets for the first time.

But just how true is this?

The guys at Auto Europe have undertaken a survey to better understand British traveller’s holiday habits, and it seems we’re not the lager louts many think we are. They’ve grilled some 2,000 of us about our holiday escapades, culminating in this revealing infographic which does a pretty neat job of challenging some of the more sensational preconceptions about Brits Abroad.

£1,850ish for a holiday seems more or less fair to me. Craig and I tend to spend significantly over this sum now we’re parents, and our alcohol budget is constantly nibbled away at as the children profess undying love for bits of over-inflated tat. You might therefore think that 56 drinks over the course of a week is wildly optimistic, yet sadly we usually manage to double this after dealing with the stress of several tantrums, and hours spent ensuring our children don’t get swept out to sea.

Intimacy-wise, I bet those 8% who lose track of the time spent without their kit on aren’t parents. Craig and I are usually too knackered (or indeed drunk) to manage much more than a quick fight before bedtime. I can’t say we’ve ever made it to a sunbed by 10am either - trying to find a Greek alternative Coco Pops is no easy feat, and it takes at least 30 minutes to apply sun cream to any one child.

Social media would be a fine thing too. We usually manage to check ourselves in on Facebook at Terminal 5, but don’t have the time to sit editing tomato sauce from the mouths of our babes to make pics Instagram-worthy. Craig will manage to keep his inbox in check, but that’s only because he averages about 6 emails a day (mostly asking if he’d like a few extra inches, or whether he’d like a spa day for 70% off - NOOOO Groupon. Get lost.) whereas I’ll receive some 300 in an hour.

Holibobs

I totally get the whole diet-thing though. I can’t pretend I’m swerving burgers for salads on the Costa del Sol. I’m usually way too drunk to translate anything that isn’t served with frites on holiday.

Yet life wasn’t always like this.

Although life before children now seems like a bunch of sepia Polaroids, it did actually exist. In fact, red-eyed photographs of you aged 16 on the beach, quickly become your most liked on Facebook as you were some 4 stone lighter.

Most of us did in fact lose our purses on a girly holiday and have to ring our parents to bail us out. Most of us have managed some sort of a one-night stand on holiday too (even if you can’t now remember his/their name/s) … I find it helps to tell yourself they were bronzed, God-like and way out of your league to help overcome any wine-shame.

Somehow though, the best of these pre-child experiences, don’t quite seem to measure up to the worst of those spent with Craig and the kids. When someone has seen you cut in half to liberate a screaming mass of bloody baby, you somehow don’t feel anxious about how your cellulite-ridden thighs look in your swimming suit anymore. If I’m overlooking his receding hairline, he’ll just have to get past the fact my toenails aren’t painted. There’s a sort of quiet easy confidence that comes post-baby that means you never lose your shit if you forget to pack your hair straighteners either - as long as your two-year-old has that cute dress you impulse-bought from H&M.

Dex

Suddenly, it’s the sunset moments spent at a rickety plastic table trying to coax your toddler into eating what has been described as (and must therefore be taken as read to be) chicken breast nuggets, that stand-out to you. You forget you had a killer stress-headache and instead remember how the sun bleached your child’s hair that little bit lighter, that their face was that little bit browner, and you were that little bit more in love with them - now that’s what this Brit does abroad.

This is a collaborative post with Auto Europe - come and share your greatest holiday memories (so far) using the hashtag #AEMemories
Sep 8 2015

Sun Tent and Travel Cot: NSA Travel Centre Deluxe Review

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Travel-Essentials-by-NSAUK-logo-white

Pregnancy essentials… Travel essentials… Sun safety essentials…

When you become a parent, suddenly everything becomes “essential” and you’ll end up in a right flap if you accidentally leave it at home. Of course, this is complete nonsense and it is possible to leave the house without a change bag or zillion gadgets and actually survive to tell the tale. However, there are some nifty bits out there that will make the job easier, and this is most definitely one of them…

What is it?

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The NSA Travel Centre Deluxe is a really versatile bit of kit. Not simply a travel cot for overnight stays, it’s great for outdoor adventures too. When the sun is out and your kids are driving you to complete distraction at home, head to the park with this slung over your shoulder and you have the perfect shelter to shade from the sun. The best bit is that your kids will be so excited at the prospect of an outdoor den that they won’t run off and leave you sobbing in a field from the stress of it all. The same goes for your garden… the beach… a festival.

When erected it’s some 135cm (53″) long x 85cm (33″) wide x 60cm (24″) high, so plenty of room for housing two playmates, and a very generous travel cot for one little one at night.

Setting up

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But let’s face it, as useful as it is, if you’re going to have to faff about with a million poles, it’ll frustrate you just as much as your kids. So let’s address this head on - the NSA Travel Centre Deluxe is a joy to set up.

It arrives in a lightweight circular carry case. To set it up, just unzip the case and it’ll spring to life. You’ll want to do this with the kiddies stood well back as it might bop them on the head if curiosity gets the better of them. You then simply attach the sleeping mat inside the Travel Centre along the velcro seams in the base. Then take the air mattress and tuck it away in the zipped section under the Travel Centre.There are also ground fixing pegs included should you need to tie it down.

Simple. The whole thing takes around 1 minute so is perfect when you have an overtired or excitable child threatening to go into tantrum-mode.

There are no poles, no dodgy seams or fiddly frames - meaning there’s nothing for your little guys to beat, pummel or terrorise each other with.

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Packing it away

Once you get the hang of it, it’s easy. Having had something similar before (albeit not as good) I already knew how to collapse it. For those new to pole-free tents, you will stand there like a fool for a good 5 minutes trying to stuff it back into the carry case. The trick is to grab each end and bring your arms together - it will feel unnatural but you’ll find it works.

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Portability

I alluded to a carry case above. The whole tent/travel centre weighs a tiny 3.4kg (that’s less than my handbag) and the case is a mini 46cm in diameter so not much bigger than a dinner plate. This makes it perfectly sized for air travel, shoving in the car boot or hanging from your buggy. There’s enough room to also pop in a pair of PJs or a favourite toy if you’re one of those irritating super-organised parent-types.

Comparing this to a cumbersome standard travel cot, already you’ve saved yourself a few tantrums at the airport. It’s perfectly possible to bung this in your hand luggage and it won’t need to be declared as excess. Slung across your back, you’ll also still fit through doors without knocking out someone coming the other way.

Additional features

It offers UV protection equivalent to UPF 25+ from the sun’s harmful rays, so is spot on for afternoon play when the sun is at it’s hottest. It also includes an self-inflating air mattress, and a washable sleep mat to provide a comfy surface for baby to get his/her head down.

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It’s also super-secure. As the zips can only be opened from the outside, you won’t have a little person crawling around your hotel room at night. It has a zip open door with a separate fine insect mesh so makes a great little spot for a secret picnic. No worries that your food will get covered in sand or flies.

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There are also insect-mesh windows so mum and dad have a 360degree view of the inside of the cot from the outside, and your kids won’t be constantly ducking out to find you (- of course you have the option of closing these completely up to black out the light at nighttime). I can’t guarantee this means you can relax on a nearby sun longer and enjoy an uninterrupted glass of Pinot, but it certainly increases the possibility.

Want one?

Thought so. It was the wine right?

So, it comes in two sizes – the standard version, which is suitable for ages 0-2, and the deluxe version, which is 0-4 years (this is the one reviewed above). Our is priced at £84.99 although you’ll deals available from a number of retailers including Amazon and Safe Tots. In my opinion this makes it incredibly reasonably priced - I have reviewed a Magic Bed before which has a similar mechanism and is a fab travel cot, but it can’t compete on the playtent score so this one wins. I guess it all depends on your child’s sleeping preference.

Take a closer look at www.NSAUK.com, or check out more NSA Travel Centre Deluxe reviews on:

Twitter: @TravelEssUK / Facebook: @Travel-Essentials-UK

The Travel Essentials UV tent is a gold award winner at the Mother and Baby Awards and is highly commended at Practical Parenting Awards as well as having the Best Value Award Winner in the Mother and Baby Magazine.

 

 

 

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