Travelling with babies - my top tips

So, time to share my top 'holidaying with babies' tips...

1) Get sunhats with wide brims that tie under the chin. Ours didn't have ties so Miss E and Mr A spent the whole time pulling them off. Green Baby do some great ones.

2) It sounds obvious but don't put them in light-coloured clothes to travel in. I don't wear light colours myself for long journeys, so I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea to do so for the babies! They looked thoroughly dirty and bedraggled by the time we arrived at our campsite.

3) Always have an adequate supply of snacks. Snacks are great for distracting them when they get grouchy, and help them stretch if their next meal is going to be delayed until you reach your destination.

4) Good playthings on the plane include cardigan with buttons or a shirt (my babies will spend ages playing with the buttons), chunky necklaces, balloons (these are small to pack but are fun when blown up). I also took along a hand puppet, which was great for entertaining the babies when waiting in queues.

5) Miss E and Mr A were perfectly happy on take-off and landing - we gave them a milk feed if one was due, or a biscuit or some dried fruit to eat if not.

6) The UV swimsuits we bought the babies were a great buy (see them modelling them here). Ours were from John Lewis, and they took away the anxiety of them getting too much sun and were lightweight enough for them to happily sit in them during the day.

7) We wished we had bought one of those pop-up UV tents for the beach. We'd planned to use a parasol to give the babies some shade, but actually it was too windy for a parasol, so a little tent would have been perfect.

8) Pack baby clothes that are good for layering - so long-sleeved tops, tshirts, cardigans etc. Most of Miss E and Mr A's tops are vests, so it wasn't easy to just peel off a layer when the sun came out, or to pop a layer on when it got a bit chilly.

9) We bought some fabric travel highchairs that pack really small and can bit fitted to any dining chair. Ours were from Kiddicare, but they are available from lots of places, and they were really useful for bars or cafes that didn't have highchairs.

10) The advice we were given was to buy nappies out there rather than pack many from home. However, nappies don't actually weigh very much, and we found that they were really expensive to buy when away, so we wished we had taken some more with us.

11) Young Daddy and I both got quite a few nasty mosquito bites, but the babies escaped being bitten. I was sure to lather them in mozzie-repellent in the evenings, and we took mosquito nets that fitted over their travel cots (ours were from Mothercare).

12) Mums - strapless tops and bikini tops are not a good idea, unless you're happy to flash your fellow holidaymakers when your energetic baby yanks them down.

13) The bowl of water play idea was a great one in hot weather because it kept them nice and cool.

14) Another obvious one, but pack spare sets of clothing for the babies (and you if you've got room) on the journey in case of accidents. Mr A was sick on the plane so I had to change his outfit.

15) Cheshire Mum did a great vlog about using sterilising tablets to sterilise bottles when away, and we found this way of sterilising was really straightforward.

16) Because of the restrictions on taking liquids through security we took through sterilised empty bottles, a box of formula, and bought bottled water once we were through security. If you don't make a habit of using bottled water then it's not a problem, and apparently health visitors recommend Evian because it has a low sodium content.

17) For food for the babies while away (if they eat purees), we just packed our little handheld blender and some baby rice and bought stuff to make purees when we were out there.

18) I packed a picnic blanket in my hand luggage so that the babies and I could sit down and play in the airport. This was really useful when we arrived at the airport in Sardinia and we were waiting for our luggage and the pushchairs. 

If I've missed anything, or you've got any questions (or any tips to add) please ask! We definitely found that going away with the babies was a lot more straightforward than we expected and I can't recommend it enough.

Twins on tour - a week in pictures

It was cold when we arrived

But we had a little paddle in the pool anyway

We bonded as a family

Then the sun came out

And we all had fun on the beach

We visited the playground and enjoyed the swings

And ate some delicious food

It was a wonderful first family holiday and we can't wait for the next one...

The Italian Job

We survived!

Yes, the Young family made it all the way to Sardinia and back in one piece, and we are still smiling.

Our accommodation was great (a snazzy mobile home), Sardinia is beautiful, and we got out and about as much as we could including trips to the beach, a local market, cafes, a restaurant (yes, just the one, but for us that's a huge achievement), and gorgeous Italian towns. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great, so it was too cold (or windy) for swimming (one of the things I'd most been looking forward to) so we'll save that for the next holiday.

By far the best thing about our week away was spending time as a family, with no distractions. Our days were spent enjoying each other's company and trying new things and we were all very happy campers. Miss E and Mr A charmed everyone they met with their smiles and giggles and I have never felt so proud of them. They were fantastic to spend time with and amazed me once again with their capacity to adapt to new situations. And we've obviously trained them well as they slept through every single night we were away (I am available for hire for a very reasonable hourly fee!).

Things I've learned about my babies this week:

• Sand is apparently very good to eat, though tomatoes and red peppers are not
• Having spent eight and a half months loathing being hung upside down, Miss E has decided it's one of her favourite things in the world (fickle little lady)
• Mr A's eyes are the exact colour of the sea at Costa Rei
• Miss E has a very sweet tooth and would give up all savoury food if given the chance
• Mr A thinks that ice-cream is very strange indeed, but he'll still eat it thank you very much
• Miss E and Mr A are wary of strangers initially but warm up after a couple of minutes
• Both babies are very happy and contented little people

And what I learned about myself:

• I enjoy spending time away from the computer
• I think of myself as an anxious person but at some of the most stressful times (mainly on the journey), I was calm and positive
• A cold beer on a hot day is heaven
• The attention I get walking round with twins makes me self-conscious and proud at the same time

I shall post some more photos throughout the coming week, and I'm also compiling my own list of travel tips to share....

Holiday wobbles (and that's not just my thighs)

It's now less than two weeks until we jet off to Sardinia for a week, and Young Daddy and I have just had a major wobble about it all. Questions such as, 'are we mad?', 'will we actually be able to relax when we get there?', and 'will we even survive the flight?' have all been heatedly discussed. After totting up how much money we would lose if we cancelled it, and me realising how disappointed I'd be, we're trying to get ourselves organised so that we can feel less anxious about the whole thing. You know me, I love a good list, so with pen and paper in-hand I'm tackling the challenge head-on.

We're travelling independently, so there's no package deal or travel rep to cushion us once we're there. We fly courtesy of Easyjet, have booked a hire car to get us to our destination, and are staying in a two-bed apartment mobile home that should come with two travel cots (note to self: must check they will have a second travel cot).

We are in desperate need of your help and advice! What (inexpensive) travel essentials must we pack? What can't-live-without tips can you offer us about travelling with babies? Are we mad? Will we survive, or will this be so stressful I may never go on holiday again?

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Check out that surf

We had our first family holiday this week, even if it was only a couple of nights in Brighton. It was planned to celebrate my birthday on Tuesday and I've been looking forward to it for ages. We weren't that lucky with the weather for the first couple of days (think sleet, snow, and torrential rain) but the sun came out for us on the final day, and we were able to whisk the babies down to the beach for a few minutes, as I was desperate to show them the sea. It was pretty chilly though, with a biting wind so we didn't stay there for too long, just long enough to get a few pics to mark the occasion.

Miss E and I keeping warm

One of the highlights of the trip was Young Daddy and I's first chance to spend some proper time together without babies since their arrival nearly seven months ago. We headed into Brighton one lunchtime, leaving Grandma and Grandpa on baby duty for the afternoon. We did some shopping and had a lovely lunch together, and I have to be honest and say I didn't miss the babies. We didn't even talk about them that much, and just made the most of each other's company. Grandma and Grandpa were the perfect babysitters and apparently survived the whole four hours without any tears from either baby, so it was a big success all round.

Now we're looking forward to tomorrow evening, which will be our first night out together since babies, though I'll be sad to see the end of my birthday celebrations after that. I've managed to stretch them out for five days and I honestly think it's been one of the best birthdays ever. x