Baby's First Holiday!
Taking your baby with you, on holiday, can be quite daunting. The thought of going from a party of two to a party of three is a proper step up! The luggage needed is enough to put most off, without thinking about how your bubba will fare on the plane!
My partner and I had our first holiday with our new addition when she was just 4 months old. Harper and I were very lucky that her daddy treated us to a luxury stay in the beautiful island of Santorini. Neither of us had been to Greece, so this seemed like the perfect getaway.
Step 1 of planning the holiday: Get Harper a Passport!
The earlier you send off for your baby's passport, the better. Passports can obviously take some time to come, so you want to make sure that you have it before you go away! Long gone are the days of having your baby on your passport.
Luckily, baby's passport photos are not so strict, you can take it yourself! We used a plain white sheet to take Harper's. Baby's can be asleep (have their eyes closed), so that was the best time for us to take the picture. You can use your hand under the sheet to hold baby's head still, as you need them to be forward facing with both ears in. A better list of the rules for baby's passports can be found here:
Step 2: Booking
I didn't have much input to the booking of the holiday, I was still in a post-giving birth mess! My partner handled everything, letting me relax, and I've never been the best at booking things! When booking your hotel, make sure they accept children! Unfortunately, it would appear that most of Oia, in Santorini, is not young child/baby friendly, due to the cliffs. A lot of the hotels will only accept children 13 and over, as do some of the restaurants.
Luckily, Elliott managed to find a stunning hotel that allowed babies! We stayed at Ducato di Oia, with the beautiful Caldera view!
Step 3: Packing
What on Earth do you pack for a baby? Well, I definitely packed everything but the kitchen sink! With it being a Summer holiday, I made sure to pack a high factor suncream! Plenty of vests, outfits, onesies, nappies, swim nappies (I forgot her swimming costume), a sun hat, baby wipes, her towel, etc. etc. The list was big! Luckily I managed to pack most things, as Oia sold barely anything for babies!
Step 4: The plane
The reason that we chose to take Harper so young, is that she is breastfed, so if she was fussy on the plane, I could just feed her. The same goes for if your bubba was bottle fed. Top tip: when travelling, you can order your milk to the boots at the airport.
We were very lucky that Harper was so good on the plane, even the passengers near us were complimenting her for being an angel. She slept most of the way, and I just fed her when she was hungry.
Lastly: The holiday!
We had the most amazing holiday! Oia is not necessary the most baby-friendly, and I'm so glad we didn't bring the pram (so many steps), but our lush hotel room provided the perfect base to relax and enjoy the fabulous views. We had an infinity pool which Harper enjoyed as well as us! Breakfast was brought to our rooms, then we ate lunch and dinner at various delicious restaurants. I sampled a range of greek salads, eating more feta cheese then I have consumed in my entire life! Our last dinner was at a divine fish restaurant, right on the sea! Be warned though: a lot of people tried to touch Harper, and poke their hands near her face and mouth. It was very hard to dodge these people!
Elliott has also booked for us to go on a private tour of the volcano that you could see from our room. It was so amazing to walk on the top of the volcano, even in the rain. Our tour guide said that Harper was the youngest to visit the volcano!
Santorini is definitely worth the visit! I would highly recommend going there. I would also recommend taking your babies away before they turn months. It was definitely a lot easier then it would of been to take her away now!
Francesca
