Well we did it, our first sun holiday together with our wee prince and loved EVERY minute of it.  When deciding on where to go, top of our list was flight time.  With Malaga only 2 hours 20 minutes on a flight, this was ideal for our first trip with Noah. We popped into Geraldine Martin who is a Travel Counsellor here in Letterkenny and within 45 mins we had a week in Torremolinos all booked.

I actually found travelling with an infant in an airport less stressful than when we used to travel ourselves. With priority boarding, we didn’t have to wait in long queues to board and when going through security there was a separate entrance for people with children and again no long ques here. For the flight itself we packed a bag of tricks to keep himself occupied.  This included;

• Ipad with quite a few episodes of Justin’s House downloaded on it (Thanks Andrew)
• Dinasour torch from M&S
• White Buttons
• Juice
• Books

They seemed to do trick, he was no bother on the plane, I had visions of him not wanting to sit on either of our knees and running up and down the aisle torturing everyone, but no he was happy to sit on mammy’s knee and watch Justins House with Do do and raggy.

 

Timor Sol Appartments, Torremolinos

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Top 10 Tips For Travelling To The Sun With A Toddler

1. Plane – Pack a magic bag with an Ipad with their favorite programmes or some games downloaded on it, colouring books and most importantly food just incase you’re unexpectedly delayed like we were on the way home.
2. Suncream –  I used Garnier Ambre Solaire Factor 50 Spray for Noah. Found it really good,easy to apply, quick to dry and best of all didn’t stain any of his clothes.
3. Meal Times – Just like the plane trip, gadgets and toys.  I found the busier the restaurant the better. Noah is a people watcher just like his mammy.
4. Pool- When you get there,buy a few small toys for the pool. We bought a wee fishing net with fish, Noah loved throwing the fish into the pool and then going to find them with the net.
5. Buggy – Bring a buggy that totally reclines for nap times, with a good hood that keeps the sun out and a storage basket for the essentials.
6. Ipad – Its definitely worth downloading episodes of their favorite programs or even games,great for the plane, meal times
7. EHIC- If your travelling within the EU, make sure you have an EHIC card for each person.  It replaces the old E11 and means that if one of you get sick you wont have to pay. We got our forms in our local primary care centre.
8. Hands Free – Try to keep your hands free for the flight, so pack a rug sack with everything you need. You will need all hands on deck to get baby out of the buggy, buggy down and get on the flight, same for when you reach the other side.
9. Passport Dates –  Children’s passports have to renewed every five years,unlike adults which is every 10 years. The last thing you want is to have your holiday booked and find out your child’s passport is not valid.
10. ENJOY….a friend said to me on Friday as I left work “make sure just to relax and enjoy” and I did, once I got through security at Dublin airport I totally relaxed and went with the flow and it was the best week ever and loved every second of making holiday memories in the sun with our Noah. If anyone is contemplating heading to the sun with their baby/toddler DO IT, lifes too short.

Joanne Xx