Holidays with a baby. Is it possible to have fun or is it only a misery for the whole family? I’ve always believed I can go on holiday with a baby and enjoy it. And I did it. The most important thing is to believe, to have a positive attitude.
Some can wonder is it not too big change for an infant? Well, it’s nothing in comparison to coming to this world! And in fact, everything is new for him.
What about a change of climate? This was for better, I mean we traveled in October from cold Denmark to warm and sunny Spain.
What about feeding? Nothing easier than that when your baby is on breast only. And 4-months Tomek was. It is so great when it’s warm outside cause I don’t have to look for places to hide. I can feed him almost everywhere, on the bench, on the beach, in the park. The same with changing diapers. No need of looking for a special place cause everywhere is as good as at home.
What about sightseeing? Well, it very much depends on your expectations. I was ready for not sleeping until midday, lying till the evening on the beach and finishing the day with a bottle of delicious Spanish wine. I have a child so I go to sleep quite early and I get up quite early as well. I do not spend all the day in the sun and do not drink alcohol. But sightseeing for me is walking around, meeting people, trekking in mountains. I do not have to visit every castle or museum, although I could do those with a baby.
One more thing about traveling with an infant is that you don’t have to watch him all the time cause he doesn’t walk yet! You can put him in the stroller and he’s safe there.
Suitcases ready
I am so proud! Three of us, almost four weeks of holiday ahead and we managed to pack our stuff in:
- one big suitcase
- two small backpacks
- stroller with the bag
- car seat
Sure it was easier as we were traveling to warm country so one sweater and one long jeans were enough. The rest was shorts and T-shirts. Nappies, cotton pads and similar we took only for few first days. The rest we would buy there. Especially that it would be definitely cheaper than in Denmark! I could just take a little more of “klud“, however, I cut them into small pieces and it was enough.
What is it?
It is a great invention to clean baby’s bottom or anything else, for that matter. Danish name is vaskeklud and we call them in short “kluds”. It is thin wash cloth which you soak in the water and use instead of wet wipes. I used the latter few times outside when I didn’t have access to running water and I was very disappointed. They hardly clean anything and irritate the skin, as they contain chemical compounds. I started to carry a thermos with warm water because after “kluds” the skin is clean and smooth, usually, there’s no need for additional creams. Does anybody know if there is something like Danish vaskeklud in other countries? I was searching on shop’s shelves without success. And this is really a wonderful thing!
On a plane
I love flying. The fact that a man constructed such a machine, which is rising above the clouds to take us to our destinies, is amazing. My favourite moments are those of starting off and landing. You see our Earth from totally different perspective, we are up in the sky and the rest is small and insignificant down below. Incredible! The only thing is to pass this love to Tomasz.
We flew with Ryanair and were allowed to take a foldable stroller and car seat free of charge. We had some doubts what the word “foldable” means, but as we found out, ours fit this category. We were just surprised to be asked to unfold it at customs control and put it to scan. At this point, we had to take Tomasz on hands and go through the gates with him. In order to do that we had to wake him up, what he wasn’t happy about. He calmed down after few sips of milk.
I’ve read it is good to feed a baby during starting off and landing because sucking helps with altitude changes. You can explain to an older kid that he should swallow or give him a candy, but with the small one, the best is to breastfeed him. Tomasz was fine with flying. He grumbled only a bit, probably bored with the same scenery behind the window 🙂
Arrival
This year we decided to spend stationary holidays (not like last year when we traveled through Europe, about which you can read here). At the Alicante airport, we picked up our rented car. It is funny. You take the keys from a box after entering the booking code. When your journey is over you just leave the car at Goldcar parking and put the keys in a mail box. Their workers will check the car later and take money from your card for any damages.
Tomasz likes to sleep in the car. I was sitting with him on the back seat. It limited view from the car and prevented me from driving. But it costs 100 euro extra for an additional driver so we decided it would be all right if only Jurek was in that seat.
Our apartment in Javea (around 100 km from Alicante) we found on airbnb. It was in really good price and very well situated. Parking was next to the building, the shop outside the gate and the beach just on the other side of the street. The apartment was big, actually too big for our needs. There were three rooms, (we used only one), the living room, the kitchen and two bathrooms. In the biggest room, which we occupied, the double bed was standing. We brought a single one from the other room and connected them, making a place for Tomek between us and the wall. Like this, he had much more space than in his own bed at home. He learned to roll over and sometimes, in the night, was “coming” to me for breakfast.
Sightseeing
My baby boy is wonderful! He was sleeping on the plane and in the car. Naturally, not always. I remember once he was crying loud during driving home from the whole day trip. He wasn’t hungry nor diaper was wet. He was just tired and nothing helped till we reached home and comforted him in our arms. Tomasz also liked walking in a baby carrier. At the beginning he was watching surroundings carefully, then calmly fell into sleep rocking by daddy’s walk (usually daddy’s, sometimes also mummy’s).
We fulfilled our plan, visited magical places, admired Spanish landscape, took a bath in the sea, wandered narrow streets of few cities. We tried some local food and made big shopping for very good price (I mean food shopping). We had a great time with a lot of sun.
More details in the next post!
Coming home
The end of holidays is always a nostalgic time for me. I was happy to go home and see my dear Kaprys, on the other hand, I was sad to leave warm Javea behind. No new areas to explore in the nearest future. Memories and posts on the blog will have to fill the void. And planning new adventures next year. This time together with Kaprys!
Leave a Reply