help needed from all those who have taken LO's abroad

[rhian85]

okay...

im in need of help and not sure where to put this so if in the wrong place then mods please move it..but next thursday we are off to spain for a week with christopher hes 16 months and im woundering what i need to take for him and what i can get out there...especially in terms of baby food jars as he is still on stagre 3 jars due to reflux (*having probs with finger/chopped food)

we are taking nappies, wipes, swim nappies,formula , sun cream etc and we were thinking of stocking up on jars before we go and puttin them in the cases but we are worried about the luggage allowance. i know somebody has mentioned that nappies are so expensive out there so how many packs should we take?

can we buy baby jars out there? are they the same brands?

what about water ? can he have bottled mineral water ? someone told me he cant

ANY help would be great as we are getting closer and closer and we are just not organised

 

[rhian85]

anyone ?

 

[purple13]

not sure about the food and nappies bit, but my HV has said that we can give connor evian when we go away - mineral water is ok as long as the sodium content is low

 

[Kylie1007]

How about some bite cream? Just thinking that because my friend got some today that was BOGOF in Superdrug and gave me the free one for my changing bag for the summer.

 

[Squiglet]

Where abouts in Spain are you going?

nappies can be expensive over here, for name brands like dodot (basically Spain's Pampers). Pampers isn't a brand here so if you see them they will be imported and therefore more expensive....but I get Carrefore (like Tesco's) own brand of nappies...they are 15€ for 122 nappies... so its not terrible and they aren't those nasty plastic ones either....

there are loads of jar type foods...obviously in Spanish... but they have little pictures on the front so you know whats in them, but a Spanish phrase book will easily decipher it.

chemists also sell high quality brands of baby food and if your LO has reflux, they will sell a brand of formula and food that might help that. When lil miss had colic we were given a brand of formula which was anti colic (never used it in the end but they had loads of things like that.)

There is a type of water called Bezoya which is specifically indicated in the use of formula preparation, without boiling, and giving direct to the baby as a drink... but its Spain not Nepal and you can drink the tap water. It doesn't taste nice (very chemically) but I've been giving the baby boiled tap water since birth and so far shes been fine (touch wood and all that)...

Anything you can imagine you need... they will have an equivalent here that is equally as good, once you get over the branding issue. You can only get medicine type thing from chemists and they are very helpful and usually in holiday areas, most will speak some English. They like their natural alternatives too. Prescriptions aren't free here, so most meds are quite cheap to buy over the counter....Baby things tend to be on the expensive side but not hugely... but if you have any other queries just ask...

 

[mamichuli]

Weelll, squiglet has pretty much answered all, but will add: really not worth bringing nappies, as Squig has said, Carrefour are good, as are Mercadona own brand (a bit more expensive than carrefour, but not bad) Lidl own brand also good and very cheap. In fact I would be more worried about jar food, not because of a lack of choice, but very different flavours here. I noticed when i was last in the UK how different the varieties were. Really depends on how picky the lil lad is. If he isnt too picky, you are best buying food here as suggested by Squig.
Wipes you can also get so no probs there. As far as luggage allowance is concerned, careful. If you are travelling on a budget airline it is prob around 15 kg per adult, and Christopher will have no allowance at all. If it is a regular airline it is around 20 kgs per person. Best to check on the airline web. I can tell you that they are very strict and will charge in the region of 12 euros per kilo overweight
Something else worth mentioning is that bars and restaurants in Spain are really child friendly. They will be happy to heat food and accomodate a baby. In fact, if it is a spanish family bar, they will probably treat him like a small king! They really do love their little ones in this country.

Hope you have a lovely holiday

Lisa

 

[Xena]

I'm off to Spain too next Wed (as I keep saying) and I feel like I ought to be worrying about what I can and can't buy, like you are....

but I'm not worried at all haha.

Am I just being naiively optimistic?

 

[clairescunny55]

we went for a week when millie was 6 months. we took everything we needed incase we couldnt get it there. and if it was different we didnt want to upset her tummy

 

[Supernen]

Yes the nappies can be very expensive but it's not so bad that you need to overload your bags with packs of them. I took my son to Spain last year and I found a little mini travel kettle was invaluable for boiling water to kill the germs before letting it cool enough for drink. You can pick one up in the airport for around five or six pounds. Have a nice holiday!