One of the main concerns of parents planning a vacation is taking care of the baby on site. The further away the destination is, the greater the question marks and fears become. What utensils do you need to pack in your luggage, what is available on site and what precautions need to be taken?
Bottle warmers, milk powder and co. – the packing recommendation
What exactly ends up in the luggage depends heavily on the booked accommodation and the destination. If you travel to a special baby hotel in Central Europe, you don’t have to worry. On site, he will often even find porridge jars of his favorite brand. If the baby is allergic or only drinks a certain milk, a sufficiently large supply of suitable food must be brought along. Unless there is a supermarket with the appropriate products in the area. You should not rely on good luck, but either ask the Internet or contact the shop or accommodation directly.
Holiday apartments usually offer a more or less well-equipped kitchen. Depending on the property, there may even be high chairs, cots, night lights and vaporizers. Here, too, the operators will be happy to answer the questions in advance. If you travel by car, you usually have enough space to pack your own bottle warmer, milk porridge, etc.
For air travel, the amount of luggage is limited. Nevertheless, it is advisable to have a few things with you. Especially when heading for long-distance destinations, the following utensils should be considered:
- Baby food (at least for the journey and the first few days until you can find products on site)
- Powdered milk
- Bottles / Drinking Cups
- Glass warmer
- Immersion blender
- Adapter
- Biscuits, nibbles, snacks
- Breastfeeding scarf, breast pump
Aids for the stay on site
It is certainly easiest for couples to go on holiday with a fully breastfed baby, because then hardly any equipment has to be taken with them. If the baby is just starting to eat, you can find fresh vegetables all over the world. Either the parents prepare it themselves into a porridge or ask the hotel kitchen about it. In the meantime, there are more and more families who practice alternative feeding for babies. Hanna von Babyled-weaning.de writes on her blog about the advantages of introducing the offspring directly to solid food. The porridge phase is omitted in Baby-Led-Weaning. If you are a fan of the method, you will have little difficulty on holiday. If necessary, the baby simply eats with the parents or is breastfed or bottle-fed. No matter how and where the baby eats, adequate hygiene must be observed. A quick look at the restaurant kitchen can help to identify good basic cleanliness.
Especially if the baggage allowance is limited, it is worth researching local equipment rentals. In some destinations, there are agencies where everything the travel family needs, from travel cots to bottle warmers to water wings, can be rented. An example of this is Bali baby hire. There are even well-trained childminders and nannies available if the parents want time together.
If you assume that there are no high chairs on site, you can also get table seats especially for travelers in advance. Then both mum, dad and offspring can eat relaxed.
Eating on a family holiday: The conclusion
Fears and stress about baby care on holiday are usually unfounded. In all regions of the world, babies are born and eat. In fact, babies are often much more flexible than is commonly assumed. Both for the reassurance of mother and father, as well as for emergencies, it does not hurt to make a few preparations. A sufficient amount of milk powder should be in the luggage of young, unbreastfed infants. Otherwise, a timely e-mail with precise questions about the equipment of the accommodation clarifies many questions. The more extensive the baby equipment on site, the more
