Top child destinations
Health and Safety
Stay safe during your family holiday
Accommodation
What you personally need obviously depends on the age of your children. It may be that the hotel is on top of a cliff, with little fencing or the family suites are on two levels with open stairs, or there could be an unfenced pond or pool in the garden of your self catering accommodation.
All the accommodation we show on the Little Travellers website is family friendly, but it is always worth checking that the accommodation you choose is suitable for your children.
Insurance
Remember to order your travel insurance, to cover the family for cost of accommodation and ticket re-issue should you be unable to travel. If you travel more than twice a year, you could save money by purchasing annual insurance.
Our recommended insurance companies:
Columbus travel insurance
Flexicover - Offer the cheapest holiday insurance online, with instant quotes for single-trip, gap year, winter sports and annual policies
Please note:
If you are travelling within
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus (not including Northern Cyprus), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,
Vaccinations:
Visit your family GP to discuss any medical needs and get any prescriptions, if required. It's especially important to ask your GP for advise about immunisations for you and your children, at least eight weeks prior to your travel date. If you do need any vaccinations for your destination, they may need to be given well in advance in order that they can work properly. Make sure your existing vaccinations are up-to-date, such as polio and tetanus - if not, you can arrange booster jabs.
General safety suggestions:
• Remember to apply sunscreen regularly, even on a cloudy day, and children should always wear their hats.
• Be particularly vigilant about the potential dangers when in unfamiliar places. Swimming pools can be unfenced and although toddlers who swim regularly can panic if they accidentally fall into the water, so keep an eye on them at all times, or kit them out with water wings and float jackets!
• Children should always be accompanied when playing by or in the sea.
• If you child is bottle fed, remember to have available sterlising equipment / milton tablets when you need it.
• Pack a travel medical kit with items such as baby paracetamol (pain), ibruprofen (fever) and a thermometer, along with the usual plasters, sun block, insect repellent and savlon (or similar).
• Talk to your children about basic safety rules, like staying close to parents and discuss a place to meet if you should get separated. Some people have been known to carry a recent photo of their children just in case they need help in locating their child!
Child proofing your accommodation
• Call or email the hotel ahead of your arrival to ask about baby-proofing, some hotels offer this service or can allocate baby proof rooms and request a cot, if required.
• On arrival, remove anything dangerous that is within baby's reach. Look for floor lamps, lamps with dangling electrical cords, anything that can be pulled off a table or desk. Once you’ve collected everything that you feel is unsafe, call housekeeping to remove these items from your room or you could place them high up in a wardrobe.
• Secure any loose cords or wires.
• Cover any plug sockets that are easily reached by your baby/toddler.
• Water in hotels can be very hot. If this is the case, ensure that your child cannot reach the bathroom tap or keep the door to the bathroom closed. If there's a bidet in the room, it likely has a faucet handle that is very low to the ground, turn the hot water off to prevent them scoulding themselves.. younger kids love bidets!
• Hotels tend to make your cots very comfortable for your little ones, with cosy pillows, sheets and blankets. Remove any loose bedding and make sure that the mattress fits snugly... just as if you were at home. Better still, take one of your own baby sleeping bags.
• If you are concerned about little fingers in the doors, throw a hand towel over the top of the door to prevent pinched fingers in the door. You can even tape over the lock to prevent a toddler from locking themselves in the bathroom!
• Close and lock windows that can be easily reached by your child and move furniture away from windows and balconies.
Safety suggestions when travelling
• Car – Use the appropriate car seats/ booster seats when travelling and check with the country that your visiting of the rules in regards to travelling with children in cars. i.e. some European countries do not allow children in the front seats.
• Bear in mind when loading the car that you do not pile items too high in the boot of estates, or on the back shelf as these items could come flying off should you suddenly break.
• Use window shades/covers to keep the sun from shining in your child's face.
• Stop regularly for toilet stops and to stretch legs, which also helps reduce motion sickness.
Motion sickness
Place car seats so that children can see out the windows. Keep the car cool and well ventilated and avoid strong odours. It is best that children prone to sickness do not read, or draw whilst car in motion and that you encourage older children to focus on distant scenery. Providing light snacks before and during the journey, with frequent small drinks of cold water, and juice can help reduce sickness. If possible. try to drive during the hours when children are usually asleep.
• Bus or train – Try to keep very young children seated on your lap and don’t let them crawl or walk around while the vehicle is moving because they may fall.
• Airports / Flights – If travelling alone, it is advisable to keep toddlers on a rein if possible. If two or more adults are traveling, allocate an adult to keep an eye on the young children, whilst the other attends to baggage and check in.
• Purchase bottled water from the departure lounge (you cannot take liquids over 200ml through security) to take on flight for children to drink particularly on take off, and landing to ease the pain in ears, and throughout flight to prevent dehydration.
