Maternity Leave Abroad - Cheaper, Cooler, Quieter!

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Being a teacher, going on holiday is always an expensive do, because all the prices hike up as soon as it’s the kids’ holidays. So just after having my second born (Pip) we decided to take advantage of going on holiday during term time. IT WAS A BARGAIN! We managed to get a holiday for the four of us in Pefkos Rhodes for two weeks for about £800. The hotel we stayed in was BASIC, but we managed to navigate two weeks with a 4 month old baby, still on baby formula and a 2 year old.

The weather was perfect, we travelled early June, so the temperature ranged from about 23oC to 27oC. So it was nice a warm, but not too hot for a baby. I would highly recommend travelling to Rhodes this time of year, it was still quiet but not a ghost town and not as busy as the summer holidays, perfectly in the middle. Pefkos is also beautiful, and not too far away from Lindos and Rhodes town, we did day trips to both of these towns, they were both really lovely. We stayed a little out of Pefkos, but it was only a little walk into the centre that was full of restaurants, bars and shops, we even found a soft play. The beaches were nice although the sea was a little rocky and you needed swim shoes. It was the perfect little get away for our little family.

THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF TRYING TO MAKE UP BABY FORMULA ABROAD...

When I said earlier that the hotel was basic, I meant it. Don’t get me wrong it was very clean and had plenty of space but for a self-catering apart-hotel the kitchenette was minimal. It had a sink and a stove top, that was it. With a 4 month old that was bottle fed, we had a few hiccups. We brought a Tommee Tippee travel steriliser – but there was no microwave, but it was brilliant for filling with ice to cool down bottles.

Fortunately, I did take Milton sterilising tablets with me. This is how we kept the bottles sterile. The kitchen had some big pans, so we boiled up some water, let it cool and then put a Milton sterilising tablet in. The sterilising liquid was good for 24 hours, so we left the bottles submerged in the water until we needed them and started the process again 24 hours later. https://amzn.to/3YHvcaa

The next baby bottle problem we had was making up the formula. We had to be super organised. There was no perfect prep machine making bottles on demand. We had to do it the old-fashioned way with boiling water and then waiting for it to cool, the waiting for it to cool was the issue, little miss Pip did not want to wait, she also requested more bottles than she normally had due to the heat and keeping her hydrated, we often gave her sippy cups of cooled boiled water to pacify her whilst waiting for the bottles to cool. We didn’t have a fridge so we couldn’t make them in advance and making them whilst out and about was also an issue because the water from cafés was always too hot and made the formula split. My advice would be to take quite a few bottles of the long-life long life bottled formula for days out and on the plane. https://amzn.to/3E52JBW

Don’t worry about luggage space when thinking about baby essentials either, as you can order what you need online, in advance, and arrange to pick it up from Boots in the airport (after security). I would also take far more formula than you need, to account for the mixes that might split due to the heat, the extra bottles the baby might request and if you’re like us and end up with a delayed flight on the way home!!!! We were cutting it fine, we had one premade bottle left when we got through security in the airport and then our flight was delayed. It was a night flight, and I was hoping that Pip would have the last bottle at take-off and then sleep for the rest of the flight. Luckily we just about managed, but if we had packed more than we needed, we wouldn’t have had that stress.

After doing some research into the products that I took away, Tommee Tippee have the product of dreams. If this product was available when my little ones were on infant formula this would be my no.1 product for making bottles whilst out and about. https://amzn.to/3qBS9yY

HOLIDAY ESSENTIALS FOR TWO 2 AND UNDER

1. The best thing I would say to take on holiday with you when you’ve got little ones – THE GRANDPARENTS!!!! We were lucky enough to have my parents come on holiday with us. The extra two pairs of hands and sets of eyes where a god send. Pip was a very chill baby, but with everyone taking a turn it meant that we all got a rest.

2. SPF – If you’re going on holiday with a baby, you can go to the doctors and get a prescription for SPF for a newborn, we just used extra sensitive kids sunscreen that had an SPF of 50+ for both of our girls. We used SPF similar to these https://amzn.to/45DrGQD

https://amzn.to/45dXATL A great hack for putting sunscreen on baby's and children's faces, is to use a foundation brush, just simply brush the sunscreen straight onto their face.

UVA/UVB sun suits. You can get these everywhere, we opted for ones with shorts, long sleeves, and matching hats. Take a few with you as they take a while to dry, and you don’t want your little one to be uncomfortable. We had ones similar to this one https://amzn.to/3qvL5Ed

3. Buoyancy Aids. The first thing Izzy did when she saw the pool… was jump in, to the deep end. She had a life vest on, so she floated. The one we used we picked up in home bargains, it was a speedo sea squad one. Top tip if your little one won’t keep it on… put it on backwards so they can’t get to the zip! We also bought a newborn rubber rings with the seat in for pip, I have seen that you can get fancy ones with shades on them too. It goes without saying – never leave children unattended with inflatables or near water.

Life Vest https://amzn.to/45AywGl

Baby Inflatable https://amzn.to/47GfkJm

4. When Pip wasn’t in the pool she lived in her nappy and a vest, in the shade. We had a brolly on her pram and a clip-on fan to keep her cool. You can get the clip-on fans from anywhere these days; I think I got ours from Amazon or Home Bargains. One like this one https://amzn.to/47BV5ML

5. Another item that comes in handy is the Koodi Sun and Sleep pop up travel bubble. This is a little UV pop up tent that’s just the right size for a baby to sleep in. It keeps the sun and bugs off them whilst they sleep, while keeping them cool. Top product for sunny holidays with a baby. I don’t think you can buy this exact one anymore but there are loads of alternatives online like this one https://amzn.to/3OKEOwg Babies should never be covered up in prams with blankets etc to shade them as it can make them overheat and restrict oxygen, always keep an eye on your children in items like these and ensure you read the safety instructions before use.

In conclusion, do it! Go away with the babies – they won’t remember any of it, but you will. It’s not stressful if you’re well prepared. My kids love looking back at the photographs of them in the pool when they were babies and so do I!