Travel as a family: What to consider

Tag : thread guides
Before baby came along you may have been able to make the most oflast-minute flights with little thought about precise destinations,accommodation options and means of travel. Now though, you'll saveyourself a lot of headaches with a little forward-planning andcareful packing.


Destination and booking
Key to an enjoyable family holiday for all is to make sure you booka place that's family-friendly and reasonably easy to get to.Having a look at our advice on booking a holiday with baby in tow is a good place to start.
One important aspect to consider when choosing a holidaydestination for your family is what vaccinations you may all needto keep safe, not least travel vaccinations for babies and vaccinations when you are pregnant . You can find out more from your doctor and from traveldoctor.co.uk .. And don't forget that if you're leaving the country you'll needvalid passports for the whole family, even infants.
Packing checklists
Packing for a family holiday can be notoriously stressful but youcan make life easier on yourself if you make a list a few days inadvance and then re-visit it to cut-down on the non-essentials.We've given you a bit of a head-start with our packing checklists, for babies and todders
Cutting down the bulk
With all the paraphanalia a young baby 'needs' they could easilytake up four-fifths of any available luggage space, but there areways you can cut down, both by re-assessing what the essentialsare, and by using some of the the nifty travel gadgets that are on the market - specially designed to be lightweight andportable - such as sterilising options for bottle feeding on-the-go .
Sleeping
You may look at some travel cots and think that the genre is anoxymoron, 'I'm supposed to travel with that ?' Yes, travel cots are often bulky things, but they can also be darned useful if youtravel a lot or you visit friends and relatives who don't have cotsof their own for your little one. Thankfully there are now alsosome lightweight models that come in at 8kg or lower, so have alook at our best lightweight travel cots .
Hotels and some rented accommodation (houses, villas, flats etc.)will often offer free use of a cot, so it's well worth asking. Dobear in mind however, that you may not like what they provide (itmay be old and decrepit or may not be safe for your baby and herstage of development).
Getting about
Apart from deciding how it is you're going to get to wherever it isyou're going, you'll also need to think about how you're going toget around with baby once you're there. Among other things you'llneed to consider whether you'll need to take a car seat with you,which is far easier to do with the smaller, portable infant carseats than seats for toddlers and older children. You'll also wantto think about what buggy to take specifically whether it makessense to invest in a cheaper, lightweight buggy for travel. If youdo plump for that option then make sure you read our buyer's guides to lightweight buggies and strollers .
Staying safe
Keeping your baby or small child safe will be one of the mostimportant factors to consider when you choose your destination andaccommodation. Do ask whether the accommodation on offer issuitable for your age of child, particularly with regard to thingslike balconies, internal steps and swimming pools. If you're goingabroad then you can usually pick up socket covers quite cheaply atyour destination.
If you're travelling to hotter climes then one of the biggestdangers your family is likely to face is the sun, so make sure youtake suitable clothing and accessories to protect your family from the sun and heat . For beach holidays you'll also need to think about beach safety .
If you've got other useful family travel tips then why not shareyour valuable experiences with others by posting your tip on theforum thread below?