I will start this by saying we are by no means experts on this – it’s all new to us but we are here to share our experiences – what went well, and what we would perhaps do differently in the future!
We made our first trip abroad when our daughter, Annabel, was just 3 months old. We were travelling to Javea in Spain, which we know well so it was mainly just the travel which was daunting. Looking back, it was definitely a good age to travel with her for our first trip – there was no food to worry about, she still slept a lot during the day and we didn’t have a routine to stick to so going out in the evening was still fairly easy as she would generally sleep in the pram for at least some of our dinner! We also knew that there was a travel cot, and it would be fairly easy to pick up any essentials if there was something we’d forgotten.
We flew EasyJet from London Gatwick, and drove to the airport. We used Gatwick valet park to keep things as easy as possible and avoid having to get a bus from the car park to the terminal with all our luggage.
EasyJet allow you to take 2 items in the hold for free for each infant or child, so this for us was our car seat and buggy but these items could be a travel cot or baby carrier backpack, for example (it doesn’t include a suitcase). If your baby is going to be seated on your lap, you can also take a changing bag in addition to your cabin baggage, which we did.
We travelled with our buggy (not a travel one), and took our car seat as well to use in the car in Spain. Given Annabel was so young, we didn’t want to rely on a hired car seat just for safety. We checked the car seat in with our hold luggage (in a travel bag – linked below – also great for chucking in that extra pack of nappies!) but kept the pram with us to check at the gate. It was super useful having this while we were at the airport so she could sleep easily, and also for the storage in the bottom! We have the UppaBaby travel bag for our UppaBaby pram, which we just kept in the bottom of the pram until we got to the gate, and then packed it up – a little bit of a faff as you do have to take the wheels off the pram but we want to protect it from damage, and their TravelSafe program covers damage incurred to the pram during air travel.
In our changing bag, we had a little pouch (from Clementine and Mint) which was easy to grab and contained wipes, nappy and a change of clothes. It was the first time we had done this but it was actually super useful and so much easier than trying to take a whole load of bits to the toilet with you alongside carrying a baby! We also had plenty of muslins, dummies, changes of clothing and a few toys to keep her entertained if needed during the flight.
The flight was in the morning, so we popped Annabel straight in the car and dealt with getting her dressed when we were at the airport.
We allowed ourselves plenty of time at the airport to help try and keep the stress to a minimum and one thing we did enjoy was being able to use one of the airport lounges at Gatwick. We have a Priority Pass via AMEX Gold card which allows 4 lounge visits per year so we set ourselves up in the lounge at Gatwick so that we could get ourselves some food as and when we had a spare hand, and feed and change Annabel as and when required a little easier. It just helped us feel a little calmer and a little luxury for our travel!
We popped Annabel in the carrier when we got to the gate and managed to board alongside the speedy boarders (we hadn’t paid for that privilege because we knew families also get priority boarding!). Nevertheless of course we had to queue in the airbridge to get onto the plane (it wouldn’t be an Easyjet flight without that joy) – hence why the carrier was needed!
Annabel was breastfed and fed on take-off which seemed to work well and she then fell asleep for the whole flight – massive win!
Once we arrived at Valencia, we put her in the carrier to go through passports as the buggy was returned at baggage reclaim. Very kindly, one of the border security men working at the airport ushered us through to the front of the passports queue which was nice. So we got through the airport very quickly and then it was about 1.5 hours in the car to get to Javea.
Given it was October, the weather was a mixed bag but it was the perfect first leisurely break away. We didn’t do a huge amount but went for a couple of walks, took a little dip in the sea, went out for breakfast and watched the world go by – our favourite thing to do!
Spain is a very child-friendly and family oriented country on the whole, but one thing we did notice was the lack of baby changing facilities in restaurants in Javea – cue lots of pram and car boot nappy changes!
On the way home, we pretty much did exactly the same as on the way out. Unfortunately, we had to get a bus out to the plane from the terminal and had to wait on it for about 20mins while they sorted an issue with the plane(!) and then we had missed our air traffic slot so had to wait for about 45mins on the plane before we took off. We managed to just about keep Annabel awake for most of it, and then again fed her on take off and then she slept for most the journey, waking up shortly before landing! We were super lucky with how she dealt with the flights, and definitely benefitted from the fact she was young and still pretty sleepy!
First trip completed and it definitely went as smoothly as we could have hoped which was a huge relief. Each time we travel with Annabel there will be different challenges, particularly as she starts to get more mobile, so we don’t expect that everything to be as smooth every time but this trip has given some confidence that we are up to the challenge!
Links to some of the products mentioned above:
Big Adventures, Tiny Feet 
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