There’s not much news on the getting ‘permanently out of town’ front but we’ve been making the most of my maternity leave (and friends organizing weddings abroad) and have just got back from a fabulous week in Santorini. Taking your baby on holiday can feel like a bit of a mission but it was 100% worth it and a few last minute purchases made life so much easier.
Santorini is not renowned for being a super baby friendly place – the people are lovely and welcoming but it’s hilly, cobbled and not everywhere has a high chair, and even fewer places have baby changing facilities. That said, if you take the right things with you then you can have a fantastic trip.
Firstly, we flew British airways who have a generous infant baggage allowance which definitely helped so we took:
Hold luggage:
- 1 x suitcase that Husband and I shared (counted as Husband’s hold luggage)
- 1 x suitcase for Mr Small (counted as Mr Small’s hold luggage)
- 1 x large bag with the travel cot and hiking carrier (counted as my hold luggage)
2 pieces of special baby equipment luggage:
- lightweight pram (that we took to the plane door)
- car seat
Hand luggage:
- 1 x rucksack
- 1 x changing bag
(we could have taken an extra piece of hand luggage as well as the handbag/laptop allowance)
So, with all that space we were able to take the kit that would make our lives easier.
Here’s a list of the game-changers that we took with us (in no particular order), rather than make this an epic post I will do specific blog posts on some of these items soon:
- Osprey Poco Plus baby carrier – perfect for keeping Mr Small in the shade and getting around the hilly streets and to see the beautiful views
- Munchkin travel highchair/booster seat – brilliant in the cafes that don’t have highchairs, and doubles up somewhere to carry baby snacks and food
- JoJo Maman bebe folding changing mat – means that everything is within reach at all times for on-the-go nappy changes (and when you don’t want to take out a big changing bag)
- Skip Hop fold and go table mat – for when you want to give your baby some finger food but don’t necessarily want them eating off the table (and you don’t want a mess in your bag afterwards)
- Romper suits – nice and loose and cool for hot weather
- Lightweight trousers – for when Mr Small was in the carrier but I wanted his legs to be covered from the sun (TOP TIP; take a pair for trousers that are a size too big so they cover the feet too and mean you don’t need to put socks on so baby stays cooler)
- Snoozeshade Deluxe pram cover – this allowed us some lovely lunches in little tavernas while Mr Small napped in a nice dark pram
- Summer Infant Rayshade – a great shade extender (the biggest I found), especially if your pushchair doesn’t have a big hood of it’s own
Taking the travel cot was probably not entirely necessary as the accommodation had a good one but ours came in useful at the wedding we went to so it was worth it for this trip.
I hope this is useful for those of you planning your first holiday with a baby… next post coming soon ‘baby friendly activities in Santorini’….
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