This year has been a whirlwind for us. At the beginning of the summer, we adopted two beautiful girls. Therefore travel firmly took a back seat and our primary focus has been getting to know our children. With numerous day trips to the park, soft play centres and theme parks by the end of the summer we thought it was time travelling with children should be at the top of our to-do list. Plus our feet were starting to itch. As they do not have passports a trip abroad was out of the question. That was quite a big thing for us initially. We were quite upset/angry that they didn’t. But we soon came to terms with it. Plus, fingers crossed it won’t be too much longer until they do.
So with no passports and our itchy feet, we decided a short break close to home, especially as it was our first overnight adventure, was suitable for Team ESLT. We booked a lovely New England style beach house at The Bay, Filey which comes under the Aria hotel resorts umbrella. A mere 45 minutes from home, we thought it was a perfect choice.
The Passport, Purse and Pants Rule
Whenever Mr ESLT and I have travelled before we have always been last-minute packers. The day before we flew anywhere was a race against time to ensure we had everything we needed for our trip. And if we didn’t? Well, then we didn’t. As long as we had passports, purse and pants we were good to go. Having kids, even for the short time they have been in our lives, has taught us several things, the main one being – preparation is key. It has become impossible to leave anything until the last minute and spontaneity as certainly gone out of the window.
This becomes even more vital when travelling with children. Therefore, we started packing at least a week before our break. This was to ensure we had enough time to pack everything we and the kids needed. Needless to say, even if we’d had a year, we’re sure there are things we still would have forgotten.
Everything but the Kitchen Sink
I, Vicky, have always forgotten something – usually my hairbrush or toothbrush. However, it has never really been a problem. I have always simply picked up whatever I’ve forgotten at the airport or once at my destination. Or simply live without it – obviously not a toothbrush, that would be too gross. Our beach house, although not in the remotest place in the world was still not close enough to some shops to enable us to simply pick up what we’d forgotten. Especially stuff for the kids.
We thought we’d done great – we remembered clothes for every weather possibility, swimming costumes for the on-site pool, enough snacks to not only feed our children but also every single other child on the complex and even their favourite teddy bears for bed. Travelling with children – completed it, mate! However, upon unpacking and throughout our trip the things that we had not packed or simply not even considered that we needed soon became obvious.
Therefore we have put together a list of the things in the hope it helps you when packing for your first time travelling with children.
Travel Baby Gate
Our children, through choice, share a bedroom at home. Because of the youngest one’s age, we have a baby gate at the door. This is to stop her from going for a wander when she wakes up. We have taught the eldest how to open and close it so if she needs the loo, there are no dramas. However, baby gates are big and bulky and depending on which one you have, they may be screwed into your door frame making them difficult to move easily. As our beach house was all on one level, there was no danger of her taking a tumble down a flight of stairs. Therefore, we decided to take the risk and not take a baby gate – big mistake.
After she had been put to bed, she appeared in the living room and wouldn’t settle. She was put back to bed and then reappeared. This happened at least 10 times per night before she finally settled. Not having the baby gate also meant she found her way into our bedroom at 4.30 am each morning. Whereas, at home, she would have gone back to sleep. It wasn’t until after we returned from our trip and Vicky was speaking to her friend who has a child of a similar age that we found out about travel baby gates. They fold down and come complete with a carry bag. Needless to say, we will be investing in one before our next family trip.
Travel Cot
Our youngest who is two and a half has been in a toddler bed since she just turned two. She can also easily get in and out of her sister’s standard single bed. Therefore, we did not even consider taking a travel cot with us. The beach house had one double room and one twin room. We thought this was perfect for us as, as mentioned above they share a room at home anyway. However, when we arrived we found the single beds in the twin room to be the highest beds we have ever seen. They were so high in fact even our 5 year old struggled to get in and out. Therefore our toddler and her little legs did not stand a chance.
As she is a roamer – this was not ideal as every time she slid off the bed there were cries of ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ as she could not get back up. We even found her big sister trying to help her by giving her a leg up at one point. Unfortunately, without much luck. Therefore, it was a lesson for us. Even though the accommodation listing was correct – two single beds, it did not state the height (and, in reality, we would never expect it to). Because of this, we now need to invest in a cheap and lightweight travel cot. We can then take it on all future trips for at least the next year or so just in case we come across beds designed for giants again.
Booster Seat
Prior to our trip away, mini ESLT used a highchair at home. Not only is she young, but she’s also quite short for her age, making sitting on a regular chair at a dining table impossible. We had the foresight to hire a highchair for the duration of our stay in the beach house. The hire cost was £7.50 for the weekend and it was worth every penny. However, issues arose when we decided to eat out. As we were on holiday we decided to eat out a lot which meant we needed a highchair for every meal. As the complex we were staying on is an extremely popular one, they were lots of small children staying the weekend that we did.
This resulted in a battle for a highchair. We were lucky that we got one every time we wanted one. However, people were always hovering and as soon as Mini ESLT had finished her food people were asking if they could have it. Following our trip, a friend who has a little one herself recommended a Nuby booster seat. It folds down and can be carried over your shoulder and simply pops up into a mini seat that clips onto any dining chair. She got hers from Aldi for £8. However, the cheapest one I could find was £20 from Amazon. We bought two booster seats – one to keep in the car for travelling with children when we eat out/take road trips etc and one for home, which means we have binned the highchair.
Dinner Set
If you have/look after little ones then, I bet, like us, you have a drawer full of plastic/melamine/bamboo dinnerware. As it is next to indestructible it is perfect for kids, especially toddlers, who love nothing more than lobbing their plate on the floor when they’re done. Therefore, the sensible thing would have been to pack some, but of course, we forgot. Therefore, we had to serve breakfast in and on regular and extremely breakable bowls and plates. All the while on edge that one of our darlings would drop or chuck something at any minute. And even though accidents do of course happen, it could have meant saying goodbye to our security deposit.
Cutlery
As we forgot to bring the dinnerware we, of course, forgot to pack the kids cutlery too. When the kids first came to live with us, we (possibly) unnecessary wrapped them in cotton wool and would only let them use plastic/ bamboo cutlery. Long gone are those days. They have now both progressed to kids metal cutlery. This was not so much of a problem for our eldest daughter who is more than capable and regularly uses adult cutlery especially when eating out. However, our toddler struggled at times and which resulted in her simply using her hands which isn’t ideal when the meal in question is Weetabix!
Spare Drinks Bottles
When travelling with children keeping them hydrated is key. Therefore our children always have a drinks bottle of juice with them (100 good parent points to us). However, only taking one bottle per child for the whole trip (major parent fail). They get lost, they break, they need putting in the dishwasher. We learnt the hard way that when the one you brought is out of action kids kick off and quickly and you need to find a Fruit Shoot tout suite. Junior ESLT was fine when eating out as she is more than capable of drinking from a glass. However, you might as well just chuck the juice directly down Mini ESLT as that’s where it ends up anyway if she’s left to her own devices when it comes to drinking out of a glass. So for future trips, we must remember to pack spare drinks bottles.
Baby Monitor (Both Parts!)
We live in a three-storey house, therefore we have a baby monitor camera in the kid’s room. In reality, they are of an age where, in reality, they don’t really need one. However, because of the distance between our bedrooms, we like the peace of mind having one offer. Plus we love listening to their crazy little conversations in a morning. As we were staying in a new environment and didn’t know in advance the layout of the beach house we thought it best to take the monitor with is. But that’s all we did take – the monitor. We left the camera back at home, rendering the thing useless. We didn’t really need it and probably won’t pack the baby monitor when travelling with children in the future. But had the kids been younger, it would have been a major faux pas on our part.
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