It’s been a week since we went travelling with baby to Gran Canaria and although we’ve been back a week, I’m still not through the washing pile!! So, while I wait for the next load of washing to finish I thought I’d evoke that last minute packing feeling (yes, I am the kind of person who packs at 9pm the night before leaving for holiday) and tell you all what I packed, what I didn’t need and what I wished I’d taken!

In case you haven’t been keeping abreast of our family trips (you are forgiven), here are the details so you know whether to cut the amount for shorter trips or double it for longer (it’s a bit like a recipe!), or increase/decrease the clothing layers.

  • Destination: Gran Canaria,
  • Weather: approx. 24 degrees so pleasantly warm but not boiling
  • Duration: 7 days
  • Baby’s age: 8 months (he’s having 3 meals a day and between 3 and 4 bottles of formula)
  • Other details: all inclusive (not to make you jealous, but in case you want to take more baby food!)

Travelling with baby – the clothes and stuff

Travelling with baby - the clothes

travelling with baby – the clothes I took

In rows from top (I couldn’t get my head round numbering the picture, sorry!!)

  1. 3 romper suits – 2 short (for popping on after a swim and for bed) and 1 long (which he wore on the plane)
  2. 5 t-shirts
  3. vests – 3 sleeveless, 5 short sleeve – all 9-12 months so they wouldn’t cling if it was hot – he slept in these every night.
  4. woolies – 1 cardigan (we used this ALLLL the time), 1 jumper (we didn’t use this once!)
  5. 3 sleep suits – it was too hot for these but he did wear one on the way home.
  6. 2 tracksuit type bottoms – very useful for popping on with a vest when it was getting a bit cooler, I wish we had taken more.
  7. socks – I always have lots of these, we didn’t really need them!
  8. shorts – the shark shorts were not comfy enough for regular use but he looked cute in them! The other shorts were 0-3months and comfy, so we did use them with a vest!
  9. 2 bibs – 1 was a bandana bib in case he suddenly started teething, the other a wipeable bib for dinnertime.
  10. 3 long sleeve vests – we didn’t use them all but it was useful for evening times.
  11. waterproof mattress cover and sheet – to go over the cot mattress in the hotel – I used this even through they supplied a sheet as a) waterproof bit might protect Reuben from whatever is on the mattress and b) the smell of home might have helped him sleep better (not sure if this worked but he slept ok!)
  12. 1.5 tog sleeping bag – I’m sooooo glad we took this. He slept in it every night and also wore it at night when we were watching the entertainment with Gabriella (he would fall asleep on his dad during this!). I also took a normal sleeping bag but we didn’t use this.
  13. loads of burp cloths
  14. 2 sun hats – Essential!! If you’ve seen the swimming post, you’ll know he even wore these in the pool and underwater!
  15. wetsuit and swimming shorts – we only used the wetsuit, as I was paranoid about him getting burnt! When he was in the shade in the dingy that we got there, he just went in swimming nappies or his birthday suit.
  16. towel – I thought maybe we should have taken 2 but 1 was fine for using by the pool. There were towels in the hotel room that we used after bath time.
  17. jacket and 2 blankets – not on the picture. We also took a jacket  (it was only used to get him to the airport at 5am) and 2 blankets, which were really handy for covering over the buggy during nap time (I’m not sure if it helped him stay asleep longer but I like to think it did!).

Travelling with baby – the other things

The ‘other things’ required a suitcase to themselves! This is everything from nappies to nail clippers.

Travelling with baby - from nappy to nail clippers

Travelling with baby – the ‘other things’

In rows from top (I wish us both luck following this one!)

  1. Buggy and Rain-cover – we didn’t need the rain cover, as it didn’t rain. But it might have done!
  2. Nappies – I only took enough nappies for the first few days and bought some out there. I wish I’d brought more as the ones were bought there were truly awful.
  3. 1 pack of wipes – this was enough
  4. 2 packs swimming nappies – this was 1 pack too many! I thought he would be in swimmers all day but really Reuben used 1 or, occasionally 2, per day.
  5. 1 box of formula and 2 cartons of ready made milk – Reuben is now exclusively using formula and this amount of milk was exactly right, we came home with a wee bit of formula left. My theory was that if we ran out we could buy more there. Some people advise to make sure you have enough in case you can’t find your brand and baby turns his nose up to what ever you offer him out there!
  6. Bottle brush and cold water sterilising powder (see point 23 too)
  7. Baby rice – I only used this once and then it exploded all over our luggage on the way home. I just wouldn’t bother (unless your baby has just started weaning!) Reuben just ate what we did.
  8. Nappy bags – I normally have one of those super cheap Asda nappy bag packs that end up distributed all over the inside of Reuben’s changing bag, so this Toss and Tie Nappy Bag dispenser that Nuby sent me just before we left was a neat-freak’s god send!
  9. Sudocrem in a tube – love it
  10. Hand sanitizer
  11. Baby Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, bonjela and teething granules – in case for some miraculous reason Reuben finally starts to get teeth! We didn’t need any of it but obviously wouldn’t have travelled without it.
  12. Flash anti-bacterial wipes – we used them on the highchair tables and other dubious looking things
  13. Baby food holders and spoon – they are great for storing little bits of fruit for snacks; however, because of the abundance of food (all inclusive and don’t my hips know it!) we didn’t use them as food holders much. They actually came in handy as something for Reuben to play with, especially when we sat him in water in his little dingy!
  14. Insect repellent – we didn’t need it but could have done. Be sure to check it’s suitable for your baby’s age!
  15. Baby sun cream – we took factor 50 for Reuben and Gabby
  16. Nail clippers – so glad we had these, Reuben’s nails seemed to grow even quicker out there!
  17. Baby food – just in case! Handy for the plane out and on the way back. Although we had 3 I only used the third when we got back home and the cupboards were bare.
  18. Some toys – I’ve only pictured a mirror and some bubbles here but we took a whole bunch of toys in his hand luggage.
  19. Changing mat
  20. Some books – on the way back for the last half an hour, his animal sounds book that we got free from Bookstart was the only thing I could keep him entertained with. He LOVES the cat.
  21. (see picture below) 4 bottles – we were going to only take 3 but I’m glad we didn’t, it just made it easier to have an extra one on hand so you didn’t have to keep running back to the room to clean and sterilise bottles and boil the kettle.
  22. Milk dispenser – nobody goes anywhere without one!
  23. Travel steriliser – we had a microwave, however, I wasn’t sure if we would. I wanted to take this anyway so we would have something to use the steriliser tablets in (see point 6).

travelling with baby - bottles and travel steriliser

travelling with baby – bottles, milk dispenser and travel steriliser

travelling with baby - Baby Einstein's

Travelling with baby – Entertainment (Baby Beethoven)

24. Entertainment – and finally…Baby Einstein’s – Baby Beethoven. I meant to also bring some songs on my phone or ipad for him but never got round to it. Fortunately (but not for the plane passengers), I had them in my head. Heh heh.

And, of course, don’t forget to get your baby’s passport well in advance and any relevant travel insurance.

I found that we pretty much had everything we needed, except perhaps more comfy little trousers or shorts (he spent probably too much time in just a vest!), and I was confident that if we didn’t have it we’d be able to buy it out there. You may not be as confident or relaxed about travelling as me though, so I’m sure there’s a whole bunch of things a more careful traveller would have taken too.

Other things you might want to make sure you have when travelling with baby are baby’s favourite toy, music or programme. Also you could consider taking blackout blinds and a breathable cover for the buggy…Reuben struggled to sleep outside in his buggy during the day – too much going on!

I hope that’s useful…what have I missed?! Please do let me know in the comment section below.

And, happy holidays if you’re off soon (Sarah!) xx