Wendy Shand, founder of www.totstofrance.co.uk, a company specialising in genuinely baby and child friendly holidays, believes that parents should still travel, but they need to make some adjustments and be smart in their holiday choices.
"The first thing parents should think about is whether their holiday destination is going to provide a relaxing experience once they're there. Many people head off on holiday, suffer a nightmarish journey to get there, only to discover that they can't relax for a moment because the place they're staying at is not child friendly and in some instances, extremely unsafe. Unenclosed swimming pools, ungated stairs and unprotected electricity sockets are just some of the dangers facing children in a foreign place," says Shand.
"Many destinations claim to be child friendly but quite often this simply means that they provide a travel cot and possibly a high chair. Babies and toddlers need a lot of kit to keep them happy and safe - everything from blenders and sterilisers, travel cots and potties, stairgates and pool fencing. Parents take these things for granted at home. But in a foreign environment, an idyllic holiday spot can quickly turn into a danger zone for little ones. So make sure that you can relax once you get there before you go through the trauma of the journey."
If you're confident that your destination will give you the relaxing retreat you're looking for, then it's certainly worth embarking on your trip. Journeys with small children are seldom easy, but there are ways that they can be improved: Know what the security restrictions are before you leave home and pack accordingly. Most airline websites feature lists of what can and can 't be taken on board, particularly as hand luggage. The key things for parents are a) buggies - these can be taken onboard but will need to be x-rayed and examined thoroughly, and b) baby milk - this can be taken either in powder form or premixed, but the liquid will need to be tasted at security. Alternatively you can buy it airside unless you 're flying to the US.
Take more baby food and nappies than you need in case of delays. Also keep a secret stash of healthy snacks like raisins or breadsticks to avert a meltdown. This is another reason to ensure that your end destination provides as much baby-related kit as possible so that you can free up space in your bags for extras needed during a delayed journey.
Consider alternatives to air travel. If you're holidaying in the UK or nearby neighbours like Ireland or France, cars, ferries and trains offer viable alternatives. Ferries and trains don 't have the intensive security checks and limitations on luggage that airlines impose and children have more space to move about.
Have a few tricks up your sleeve to keep children entertained - quiet compact toys like an etcha sketch, crayons or stickers are good. While waiting in queues, a bottle of bubble mixture will help pass the time (but it won't be allowed on a plane in your hand luggage). Consider buying a new toy and wrapping it - the novelty of it and the unwrapping will help keep them entertained for slightly longer.
Use your imagination. You might think there isn't much to do on an airplane, but use the things at hand. Most long haul flights provide a free bag with socks and eye mask. Socks make great hand puppets as do sick bags (unused of course). Play peek-a-boo with the eye-mask. Plastic cups make good crinkly sounds when scrunched for babies or make good stacking toys for toddlers. The inflight safety card or magazine can double up as a tool to play several games like 'how many pictures of people can you count?' or 'find something green'. Stay calm. Your children will pick up on your tension and become more fractious themselves. Plan in advance. Prepare for delays.
"Ultimately, no matter how stressful a journey is, as long as you have a great place to relax once you get there, it will be worth it," says Shand.
Tots To France is a unique, family orientated holiday lettings agency with a range of family friendly properties throughout France. Established in April 2006 by a mum of two, Wendy Shand - the founder - spotted a gap in the market to provide genuinely family friendly accommodation for the very specific needs of families with small children.
All Tots To France properties provide the basic necessities that parents take for granted at home - these can be as simple as ensuring that pans are big enough to cook for the whole family to making sure that there are changing mats and potties. Properties range from small gites, for two people up to large chateaux for 12+ people. All properties are within an hour 's drive from an airport so that travel time is kept to a minimum. Baby Packs are supplied on request including the right size nappies, nappy sacks, wet wipes, jars of baby food and full fat milk. A welcome pack of shopping service is also available at all properties and most have english baby sitting as an optional extra.
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