Holiday Advice

g0g

Hi,
I've done some searching on here and google but can't find an answer. What I'm trying to figure out is whether it's doable for myself, my wife and our 3-week (now) old to get a holiday abroad organised for the end of May (2011!!).

1) How long does registration take? The hospital told us we could go in after 3 weeks. Do you get PPS number and birth cert on the spot right away? Do both parents plus child have to be in attendance?

2) What do most people do for passport photos? I've seen lots of suggestions to take them yourself at home on a white sheet as in a chemists they won't to spend 10 minutes trying to make a baby look the right way with eyes open!

3) We have a pretty big buggy with clip-in car seat for holding the baby. Surely we're mad to lug this abroad? I was thinking maybe we could just use a Baby Bjorn and nothing else - is this a bad idea? I know the car seat could be needed for taxis etc.

4) Can anyone recommend great holiday locations with a newborn? We're just thinking cheap and cheerful in the sun, so Majorca is looking good.

Any other advice much appreciated!

crazy cat lady

You're biggest worrry is going to be getting the passport in time, especially if you haven't registered the baby yet. The passport application is a pain in the bum. Have to get it signed by the gards etc... Saying that, I think it took less than 2 weeks to get our little lady's passport back. We had it checked in the post office and sent off that way which costs a little more but well worth it. Had her photo's taken in the local pharmacy, not a bother!

I brought my Quinny Buzz away with me and I was travelling alone with the baby. It was actually great for hanging the hand luggage on. I wouldn't go anywhere where the water might upset the little one's tummy. You'd want to make sure that you have a kettle and sink etc... for making up bottles. Even if your baby is being breastfed, in the hotter weather they will probably need to drink water also.

We ended up going to the UK (the Isle of Wight) with our daughter when she was 4.5 months old. It wasn't too hot, lots to do, very family orientated. We'll be going to the Algarve in a few weeks though so I'm hoping she'll cope with the heat and food/water!

Wherever you decide to go, I hope you have a lovely time

And congratulations on the new arrival

Mom2Be

Hey..

(1) I registered my little one last Friday (15th)
Received her PPS number in the post the following Tuesday (19th) and the letter was dated the 15th so must have been sent that evening Yes both parents as far as i know. Child does not have to be there.
Got the birth cert printed straight away (€8)
My daughter is only 2 weeks since yesterday so not sure why you were told you could go in after 3 weeks!? Maybe its different in different parts of the country.

(2) I would just go to the chemist to be honest.

(3) You can wheel the buggy right up to the door of the plane. Air hostess will then take it and put it in storage. Collect it then same place as suitcases when you get off. Baby needs comfort on holidays and will be sleeping alot too so i think you need your buggy.

(4) Not sure it matters with a newborn where you go as your not going to need to have entertainment or playground etc. But as it goes, I love Majorca. Santa Ponsa was by far my best holiday

Hope this helps

bulmersgal

If you are married only one parent needs to go in, ring up the birth registration place and see have they got your details yet. They had my babies within 2 weeks and the hosp said 3 weeks. You'll get birth cert then and there and pps number the next day or day after its very quick

If you have the holiday booked bring in the details to the passport office with the form filled and they will get it done more quickly.

How Strange

The coombe also said leave the registration for 3 weeks. I registered my son on a Friday morning and I got the pps number early the following week but the registrar said you can always ring the next working day to get it over the phone.

As someone else said the biggest worry is not getting the passport back in time. You could put the baby on a White towel on the floor, take a picture (when she's awake), bring it to chemist on USB stick as a backup incase he/she is uncooperative. Getting the picture right took us ages!

LashingLady

It's definitely doable, I did it last Novembere when we decided to bring our baby on hols, I managed to get her registered and passported within two weeks.

Get the registration and PPS number sorted ASAP - the details should be well over by now.

Get photos done in a chemist - call around a few chemists in your area first to check who does it. Baby has to be awake so bring her round when she wakes up.

Get a passport form from the post office and get it filled in and get to the Garda station to get the photos and the parents declaration filled in.

When you have everything head into the passport office early one morning with all the documents and a printout of your tickets or the email from airline confirming dates. They'll process it for your quickly, but as far as I know the quickest is 3 working days.

We brought the pram on holidays. You WON'T get by with just a baby bjorn. Baby will want to sleep and you will need somewhere for her to be shaded from the sun. My baby spent almost the whole week in the pram covered with a cellular blanket thrown over it for shade and I bought a pram toy arch thing for her and she was happy looking at the cow and the sheep all day! On our buggy the carrycot collapsed to fold flat so I packed that in a plastic bag and checked it in. I then put baby in the carseat on the chassis going through the airport and left the chassis at the door of the plane to be checked in the hold. The carseat fits in the overhead bins, and as the seat beside me was empty after takeoff I took it down and strapped it into the seat beside me and baby was able to sleep and I had free arms for the flight. If you have the pram she will also be able to sleep in it at night. I was delighted I brought it I changed her nappy in it when we were at the pool, and I didn't have to stress about teh sun at all.

I would consider Portugal if i were you - not too hot this time of year, and only a two hour flight, very family friendly. We went to the Canaries in November, but the flight is quite long and it would be starting to get very hot there.

Mrs Fox

Great thread.
My baby will be 3 weeks tomorrow, and I'll only be registering this week, as told by the hospital.
Will also be applying for his passport as we're planning to go to Turkey in July -- at 3 1/2 months then would it be too long of a journey for him? (approx 5 hours) I'm dreading at the thought of him crying all the way.

g0g

Hi again. Just wanted to say thanks all for the helpful replies! Thought I might post my experience so far in case anyone else has similar questions.

1) Registration was easy enough. We waited for the three weeks, but looking at the dates on other people ahead of me in the queue on the day it seems like most people get it done within a week! Bear in mind it's quite a queue some days in the registration office! I stupidly picked the Tue after one of the bank holidays and was waiting around an hour in total!

2) Passport photo did take a while as expected. We decided to do it at home ourselves. I reckon we had to take 100 photos in total, and even at that the best photo we got had to have red eyes removed on computer and had to be brightened slightly before printing

3) When going to Garda station don't forget how much you need with you. We had his birth cert and photos and form but forgot our own passports!

4) Don't forget when posting away the form you need 4 (not 2!) photos and you need to include ID (passport or birth cert) for one parent. Although this was mentioned on the passport website I'm pretty sure it wasn't clear on the application form I got, so just bear it in mind!

5) Turnaround time on passport express is currently max 13 days I'm told - it better be as I posted it on Tuesday just gone and need it back by the 20th!!! :eek:

6) Thanks for the destination suggestions In the end we found cheap Ryanair flights to Sicily so are going to chance that! Fingers crossed the long flight doesn't break us all!

7) Airline booking seems a little confusing re buggies. Ryanair says one foldaway buggy allowed and pay extra for car seat or other things! The setup we have is a carseat clipped into a buggy frame, so I assumed that meant we should pay for the seat as an extra? For the sake of 20 quid to avoid a last-minute higher price from Ryanair on the day I just went with it!

Roll on the 22nd!

xzanti

Mom2Be wrote: »

(4) Not sure it matters with a newborn where you go as your not going to need to have entertainment or playground etc. But as it goes, I love Majorca. Santa Ponsa was by far my best holiday

Hope this helps

How long of a flight is it to Majorca from here? (Dublin)..

I'm shopping around for a Holiday for us and our 4.5 month old at the minute