My travel "must haves"

Admittedly it is easier travelling when you are no longer sterilising but there is still a lot to think about when you are going abroad. I am a worrier and was concerned about even washing Charlie's bottles in tap water in the Dominican Republic so antibacterial wipes were a must.

Also for the trip there we spent some time sat at the airport where it was hard to entertain a crawling baby, plus we were restricted with space to pack toys so I took a bag of balloons. They take no space and will amuse them for ages. I inflated them partially when we were on the airplane so when they were popped they did not make a noise or wiss around all the other passengers heads!!!

Another great thing I packed was a set of stacking cubes, the ones that fit inside of each other. They were only a cheap set from Supersol, around 3 euros I think I paid, and they were great for not only on the plane but when we were there, play time in the room and also perfect for the beach. We made sand castles with them and some have a print on the bottom of them, each cube different and we could make stamps in the sand with the picture. They were brilliant!

I tried without success to get a sunshade for Charlie's pushchair before we went although I did see one online in the UK but it was too late to order. I packed a cot white flat sheet and we used this when he was asleep in his pushchair to keep the sun off of him (he had block on him too as I think white cotton is factor 10) and help keep him cool.

Sunsuit, an absolute must! Makes life a lot easier and you are not worrying about having missed a bit with cream and that they might burn. Charlie is the same colour after 2 weeks in the Carribean sun as he was when we left! Healthy for him.