Holiday with 7 month old

Thumpette

Hi all,

We're so excited to be taking a little holiday with our 7 month old in 2 weeks. Just wondering if anyone has any sage tips!

We're going to Lanzarote, staying in a hotel half board. I think now an apartment might have been a better choice but sure!

The main things I'm wondering are:

Food- I'm breastfeeding so milk should be easy! For food im planning to let him eat suitable fruit etc and bring a load of Ella's kitchen pouches for when there's no fresh alternative.

Sleeping- he's in the bed at the mo. Hoping to transition to cot but that can wait till after holiday. I only have 2.5 tog grow bags. Will I need a lighter one?

Flight- total unknown. Any tips?

Transpoet/ transfers. We live close to the airport so normally taxi it. How does that work with carseat? Do we book a taxi with a carseat? Do we bring our own? How does it work for busses/ hire cars over there?

Buggy- have an Uppababy which I'm guessing would be a pain to get around. Wondering do we need to buy/borrow a stroller or will we manage fine with baby carrier? Have a good one and used to using it but thinking he might sleep in stroller during evening meals etc.

Abything else I'm not thinking of?

Thanks so much!

Pawwed Rig

You don't need to use a car seat in the taxi. I doubt the driver would object if you wanted to though.

Thumpette

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

You don't need to use a car seat in the taxi. I doubt the driver would object if you wanted to though.

Thanks, yeah I heard that alright, would just be freaked in case we were in an accident.

Millem

Thumpette I always bring my car seat and check it in
At airport. Wrap it really well as one of mine got damaged

I brought a MacLaren quest. I wouldn’t trust them with my bugaboo.
Buggy is very handy in airport especially if you get delayed! No idea of temperature in lanzarote....but in Ireland during the summer I use a 1 tog grobag.

Typer Monkey

Hi trumpette, we went to Lanzarote this time last year with a 10 month old and a 3 year old. I ordered a return taxi journey online in advance and booked 2 child seats at the same time. They were waiting on us when we arrived and it was great peace of mind. I can't remember the name of the company we used but i just had a google and found a company called 'family transfers .com' who provide the same service.

I was dreading the flight too but I gave the baby a bottle on take off and he slept for two hours..the flight coincided with his nap time.

We stayed half board and found eating out fine. We just gave him little bits of our meals that he would eat and he had wheetabix, fruit, boiled egg etc for breakfast. We used to raid the breakfast for bread, fruit, cheese, crackers etc for snacks for later in the day. I had brought ellas kitchen pouches too which came in handy..we had a microwave in the room and I brought a small thermos with a spoon attached (Boots own brand) and I heated the dinner pouch up be4 we left for dinner and transferred to the flask. Remember to pack some baby feeding spoons, a bowl and sippy cup etc. Anything you forget tho can be bought in a pharmacy there tho.

Enjoy the break! We had a fab time and would have loved to go again this year but I was still on maternity leave last year and we'd never get the time off work together at this time of year ordinarily.

borderlinemeath

We go to Lanzarote every January, heading in 10 days

First time we brought our little girl she was 4 months old so hadn't started weaning, but we did buy a stroller rather than bring our Uppababy as didn't want to get it damaged. I'd borrow or buy a stroller, handy for out and about and also my little girl used to nap in hers. You can bring your car seat with you, better off if you're hiring a car, although it depends on where you're staying in Lanzarote, if you're in the main resort of Puerto Del Carmen then it's only a few minutes in a taxi but if you're further out it might be more cost effective to have a car.

The flight when she was 4 months old was grand, I had a bottle with me in case she got upset but she was fine. Depending on how full your flight is, and who you're fly with you'll probably get the middle seat free if you book the aisle and the window.

As for night time sleeping, first year when she was 4 months old it was roasting, and nights were very warm so she was in nothing more than a vest, last year was chilly at night so it was babygros and blankets, so bring all options! TK Maxx normally have out of season grobags so you could pick up a 1 tog. And IKEA normally have them too.

We've always stayed in hotels rather than apartments, there's always fresh fruit laid out at breakfast and vegetables at dinner so plenty of bananas etc for munching on. And most of them have kitchenettes anyway. Don't forget to bring a small amount of washing powder with you, essential for washing out soiled vests!

Oh and a great tip I got on here for bringing the car seat, get a bag or cover bag for it, and you can stuff it out with the bulky items like nappies etc - save room in the suitcase!

Cakerbaker

We went away when our baby was that age. Bf when taking off and landing, it helps with the air pressure and reduces chances of ear pain. Bring some toys and fruit / snacks for the plane.

We brought our upppababy, we figured he was used to it and it was very comfortable on uneven / cobbled streets. We did buy the travel case and checked it in with our luggage. Was handy as we were able to fit plenty more into the case with the buggy. We used a sling for the airport which was handy when getting on the plane as you have both hands free for boarding cards / any bags etc.

Oh and pack a change of clothes for baby and a change of top for yourselves for the plane just in case...

Food wise, he was grand with fruit, bits of bread, veg, yogurt and bits of what we were having along with bf. He did bf more than usual with the heat.

We also bed shared, just put a light blanket on him in the bed as it was warm enough where we were. I’d say 2.5 tog would be too warm though that’ll depend on what you’ve your air con set at.

Enjoy!!!

Staplor

Book a private transfer and get the car seats. Well worth paying extra.

Pawwed Rig

The car seats we had in Lanzarote in the rental car were fairly poor quality tbh. Wouldn't have been too confident in them if anything had happened.

borderlinemeath

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

The car seats we had in Lanzarote in the rental car were fairly poor quality tbh. Wouldn't have been too confident in them if anything had happened.

It'sthe same everywhere tbh. The cars are mostly brand new yet the car seats are worn out and look fairly unsafe. And they cost a fortune to hire in comparison to the cars!

Thumpette

Thanks a million for all the tips. We're staying in playa Blanca so probably will get a car so bring our own carseat. Do they take carseats and strollers as extra hold luggage?

borderlinemeath

Thumpette wrote: »

Thanks a million for all the tips. We're staying in playa Blanca so probably will get a car so bring our own carseat. Do they take carseats and strollers as extra hold luggage?

We're staying in Playa Blanca too

You're allowed 2 pieces of baby equipment so your stroller/buggy and your car seat are allowed in addition to your baggage. When you're checking in online make sure to tick the box saying you have 2 pieces of equipment. At the airport you bring the car seat to the outsize baggage check (if it's Aer Lingus T2 it's in around the underneath of the escalators to the left of all the self service Aer Lingus check in desks). You bring your buggy to the gate and they load it on as you're getting on the plane. When you get to Lanzarote, the buggy will come out on a different carriage belt to the rest of your luggage (something tells me it's belt 6, but don't quote me!) Not too sure if they do that with Ryanair though, the only time I've flown with them they left the buggy on the tarmac as we disembarked.


Wrap your car seat as best you can, bubble wrap etc. Put it into a bag if possible.

Cakerbaker

Thumpette wrote: »

Thanks a million for all the tips. We're staying in playa Blanca so probably will get a car so bring our own carseat. Do they take carseats and strollers as extra hold luggage?

It may depend on who you’re flying with. Aer Lingus and RyanAir allow you to bring a buggy and either a car seat or travel cot. Charter flights may be different. We brought our buggy on a charter but I’m not sure about a second item as we didn’t need one.

Edit to add: there’s no charge for them!

Thumpette

borderlinemeath wrote: »

We're staying in Playa Blanca too
e.

We'll be holiday neighbours!

Thanks so much!

Pawwed Rig

borderlinemeath wrote: »

It'sthe same everywhere tbh. The cars are mostly brand new yet the car seats are worn out and look fairly unsafe. And they cost a fortune to hire in comparison to the cars!

There was no extra cost for the car seat for baba and booster seat for big bro

Gee_G

Hey...
We went to playa Blanca a few years ago with our then 3.5yr old. We had hired a car with a high back booster for him but we weren't happy with the one that was provided so we got Googling.
Anyway, there is a lovely company in Playa Blanca that hire our car seats and all sorts of baby things, high chairs, buggys etc and they deliver it to your accommodation and collect it when you're leaving. Our car seat only cosy something like €20 for 10 days. I can't remember the name of the company but if you Google baby equipment hire playa Blanca you should find it. Might just save dragging all the stuff with you!

Kathy22

Hey Thumpette we stayed in Playa Blanca in November, also did half board in a family room and it was perfect. There is loads of fresh fruit and food at breakfast and we took some bread and cheese for our little guy to nibble on during the day. They had porridge and yogurts too suitable for babies. My guy was a bit older than yours at 17 months. We rented a car on our last holiday and didnt bother this time around. We ended up booking a hotel transfer with this company https://firstminute-transfer.com/index.asp and it was really reliable. They had a car seat in the minibus for us to use. We bought a stroller (the babylo scat) for our holidays, its only about €150 and super light and folds tiny. A lifesaver as couldnt be dealing with dragging our bugaboo around plus I was afraid they would damage it. Enjoy your holidays Playa Blanca is lovely.