To bring/not bring a baby abroad

aidz

Hi,
Looking for some advice. My partner and I are expecting our first child at the end of March. Both of us are looking forward to it!!

Anyway, my best mate is getting married near Valencia at the end of August this year. Both myself and my partner intend to go.

As we dont realise the total extent of raising a child just yet, heres were the requst for help is needed.
We intend to go to the wedding for 5 days. Should we take our newly born (5 months at that stage) with us?? Is it unpratical (or unsuitable for a baby in such expected heat). We do have the option of leaving our expectant child with my partners parents. Sounds reasonable at the moment, but i may change that view when the baby is born .

Perhaps it is irresponsible one way or the other.

Advice greatly appreciated.

embee

Hi aidz,

First of all - congratulations on your impending arrival!

We brought our daughter to France in early September when she was 6 months old, and it was absolutely fine. The heat was 30 degrees or more every day, but all you have to do is make sure baby is kept in the shade as much as possible, slathered in suncream and has a lot of fluids as well as their bottles/breastfeed to keep them from getting dehydrated in the heat. Babies get hot and sticky and sweaty when they're dehydrated - tis easy to see. Our wee one drank water and diluted fruit juices as well as her bottles. We brought a drum of formula with us (didn't know if it would be safe to use the water in France etc) and also some ready made formula cartons for the days we were in the airports. Try to bring a cooler bag to help bottles last as long as possible. Clothes wise, they just need loose, cool clothing - cotton dresses are great for girls, no need for vests etc - hat is uber important! For boys, light cotton or linen trousers with vests or t-shirts should be fine. Bring a couple of natural fibre blankets to cover baby when s/he is sleeping - they can get cold when they're asleep. A light cardigan and some cotton socks too in case it is unseasonably cool. Factor 60+ suncream - it is very thick and gloopy but is an absolute necessity. We used the Nivea Baby cream and she wasn't even a half a shade pinker than when we left Ireland.

I would recommend bringing a light buggy that will fold and unfold easily with you. We bought a second stroller aside from our big buggy - the big buggy was just way too bulky to be lugging on and off planes and in and out of hire cars. Also try to make sure you have a sun parasol.

I find its easier to bring a 6 month old on holidays than it is to bring a 2 year old to be honest. 2 year olds are walking, running, chatting and have very little sense of danger or boundaries. Bringing a 5 month old baby on hols should be grand - I can't imagine you'd have any problems.

Of course, the flipside is that you might welcome a break away with your partner when your baby is 5 months old, and bringing the baby might restrict ye in that one of ye can't drink, ye are going to bed early etc. By the time your baby is 5 months old, you will be out of that very early newborn phase where you're afraid of leaving the baby with someone else. There is every chance you'll want the break away (and then spend a lot of your time in Spain pining for your baby!), but thats babies for you The grandparents might also be dying to mind their grandson/daughter for a few days too.

Its really a decision you should make closer to the time, and certainly once baby has arrived.

Good luck!

di11on

My opinion is that 5 months is way too early to leave the baby with someone other than his or her mother. Thinking back when ours was 5 months, I know that if we were away without her, we probably wouldn't have enjoyed ourselves for the worry!!! But that's us, our baby and our parents.... I'm sure the right decision for you will be obvious closer tot he time.

Have you written off breastfeeding? If you choose to (many advantages to it for baby, but that's another discussion ) then it will be difficult to leave baby behind. I'm sure there's ways around it though - I'll leave that for mums to discuss tho

We've travelled with ours when she was around that age, and I'd have to agree, it's easier than travelling with a toddler! Baby might actually sleep rather than bounce around the area of your seat for 2 hours demanding entertainment

Best of luck with everything... you're in for a tremendous ride... enjoy every moment!

embee

ennischappie banned from Parenting for personal abuse.

I would advise everyone to read the charter if you haven't already - abuse of any kind towards anyone will not be tolerated.

Coffea

Just make sure that the couple getting married don't mind a baby being around on the day.

You'll be away from friends and family while you're in Spain so I presume you'll have to bring your son/daughter to the ceremony and reception.

It's the couple's big day so make sure you're aware of what sort of wedding they want.. and if it's a child-free one I suppose you'll just have to put up with it

Coffea

And I forgot to say congrats!

Clytus

Hi OP...Congrats on your impending.

We were in exactly the same position as yourselves. Our lad was born last march and we had booked a holiday in Portugal for early september...so he was just about 6 months old going.

We did make sure that the place we booked was very family friendly,away from the big night life areas and was of a high standard.We eventually booked the Balia Golf resort on the Algarve and it was absolutly perfect. The pool was spotless,the apartments sparkling,very quiet...perfect for a young family,and our lad had a ball.It was very expensieve...but well worth it.

It is important to get a good baby shade...bring a stroller instead of the buggy...theres special bags you can get on line that steralise bottles in the microwave( making sure the apartment has one)....bring jars of baby food...nappies ( although the local brands are as good,its hard to make out which are the ones that will suit you).

Your best bet would also be to bring some of the Milupa baby foods. Easy to store,easy to make up,easy to travel with.

As for bottles,my wife found a great formula dispencer. Its 5 individual containers joined together. You fill each one with enough forumla as you need ( Im gonna guess by 5 months junior will be on about 7-8oz). Fill the bottles with water and put them in your bag.....then when babog needs a bottle you hold the container over the bottle ,open the lid and bingo....fresh bottle.

Mr Magnolia

I was going to start a thread of a similar vein myself. Congrats aidz btw, you'll love it.

Our baby will be 7 months old in June and we're considering booking a week abroad too. Great recommendations here. I'll make sure my wife has a read of this this evening.

noby

When our son was six months we went to Barcelona for five days, leaving him at home. While there's no problem bringing a baby that old, as other posters have said, the first six months of your first baby's life are pretty intense, so maybe a break where the two of ye can let off some steam would be an attractive option.

Khannie

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Our baby will be 7 months old in June and we're considering booking a week abroad too. Great recommendations here. I'll make sure my wife has a read of this this evening.

We took our little girl away for two weeks in october when she was 8-9 months old (along with her big brother). We had some trouble settling her the first few days but overall it was brilliant. If anything I'd say a week isn't long enough if it's for a holiday (just to get over the settling in period).

edit: at the time I started a thread looking for advice on what was good to bring. Some brilliant stuff in it. I'll see if I can dig it up.

edit again: here it is. Seems she was only 7 months old. We had (deliberately) weaned her off sterile bottles in the run up to the holiday so that we wouldn't have the nightmare of requiring sterile stuff while away from home. That was worth doing.

Other stuff that I remember: Our buggy got wrecked beyond repair in the plane hold. They absolutely _do_not_care_ so try to pick one up in lidls or dunnes or argos for next to nothing if you can. The lighter the better.

UV suits were great for letting her have a swim.

I cooked veg soup over there with local veg. This was great for feeding her.

We got totally robbed on nappies by one of the local supermarkets (worked out at a euro a nappy....f*ckers, but we were very low and copped it late) but another one had huggies at a totally reasonable price. Shop around and shop in plenty of time over there.

Enjoy!

Mr Magnolia

Thanks Khannie. I was thinking about taking 2 weeks to get the value out of it alright.

noby

Well, this time round we'll be bringing a six month old ( with her two older siblings), so I'll read Khannie's link with interest.

Mr Magnolia

Khannie wrote: »

Other stuff that I remember: Our buggy got wrecked beyond repair in the plane hold. They absolutely _do_not_care_ so try to pick one up in lidls or dunnes or argos for next to nothing if you can. The lighter the better.

UV suits were great for letting her have a swim.

I cooked veg soup over there with local veg. This was great for feeding her.

We got totally robbed on nappies by one of the local supermarkets (worked out at a euro a nappy....f*ckers, but we were very low and copped it late) but another one had huggies at a totally reasonable price. Shop around and shop in plenty of time over there.

Great stuff. I'll remember all that. Thanks again all.


BTW: There's a great thread in humour at the minute. You should take a look, had me in stitches.

kellyr4

I work for an airline so we travel alot and always bring our daughter who is now 19 months old. Her first trip was to Mallorca at 8 weeks. Since then she has done alot of travelling. The way I look at it is that Im not going to use up my annual leave days from work to be away from my daughter.

I would agree that it was alot easier bringing her away when she was a small baby as opposed to now. We went to Barcelona last weekend and she wanted to walk everywhere................she keeps us fit! But I would still never consider leaving her at home. I believe that experiencing new places and activities will help in her development.

I would second the advice for bringing a cheap buggie away with you. The airline handlers throw them around the place, and like last weekend when there is no airbridge you have to leave the buggie on the ground at the steps of the aircraft when boarding even if it is lashing rain...............so not recommended to bring the bugaboo!

The UV suits are brilliant. You only have to worry about applying sun cream on their face / neck/hair and they can splash around witout worry of burns.

We flew to Miami in November and the best thing i could recommend for a long flight is a colouring book, colours and a packet of stickers (Dora ones are our daughter's favourite) She had the walls of the plane around our seats destroyed by the time we landed but she had great fun doing it.

While im on the topic, id just like to say that we went to Miami for a Carribean cruise. I could not recommend it highly enough for a baby / toddler.
Parent and baby have access to food 24 hours a day in the restaurants / buffets and 24 hour room service is free. Fantastic for hot water for bottles!
The entertainment and activities on board were amazing. They also offer babysitting services but we did not use them.

flynnc8

kellyr4 wrote: »

The UV suits are brilliant. You only have to worry about applying sun cream on their face / neck/hair and they can splash around witout worry of burns.

a packet of stickers (Dora ones are our daughter's favourite) She had the walls of the plane around our seats destroyed by the time we landed but she had great fun doing it.

Omg never even thought of stickers my 20 month old loves them and we're due to go away to Majorca in April... Thats another thing to add to the bag....

RE: UV suits..... Anybody know where I can find a decent one that will last the wear and tear of a very active toddler?

I think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with bringing small babies away. Once the child is properly cared for in regards to sun care and steroil equipment etc...

Khannie

flynnc8 wrote: »

RE: UV suits..... Anybody know where I can find a decent one that will last the wear and tear of a very active toddler?

You should be able to get them over there for reasonable enough money. Not sure where to get them here tbh.