Traveling with kids: bendy buckets, no raspberries and cute clothes only

Genuinely useful tips for the summer hols

I've just booked our family summer holiday - a caravanning week in Cornwall in July. Long time readers will recall we did the same thing last summer… and the summer before that. The thought of repeating a holiday destination - certainly one that doesn't involve a turquoise pool and cocktails - would have once horrified me. But as I've discovered when holidaying with small children, familiarity is a very useful thing. (The other day a nursery mum told me she's taking her kids back to the same room in the same hotel in Mallorca for the third year in a row. If it ain't broke…)

As it's my son’s last summer before starting reception, we dabbled with going somewhere abroad. A friend recommended a place in Spain, another suggested a hotel in Italy they loved. But even outside of school holiday peak season - ooof holidays are pricey these days.

I remember a time (pre kids) when flights and an Air BnB somewhere hot for a few nights could be found for under £500. But now that I'm looking for a family suite and two extra seats on the plane, that number had quadrupled - and then some. According to loan provider Evolution Money, the average cost for a family of four taking a two-week break is £4792. As I'm still living in a house without curtains (we moved in two years ago) I figured it was wiser to preserve funds.

So, off to the caravan we’ll go for a (hopefully) sunny week at the seaside. There won't be any piña coladas and roof-top plunge pools, but there will be 99s on the beach and sausages and chips for tea at the local YHA.

To be honest, I love it. Breakfast, beach, lunch, beach, BBQ, bed - it's so simple and it works. The kids don’t want for anything more than a day of building sandcastles and body boarding in the surf. While they sleep in their little cabin rooms (the novelty smallness of a caravan is actually quite delightful) my husband and I can drink wine at the picnic table outside and have a proper conversion do a crossword.

But while the holiday is one thing, the getting there is another. Travelling with kids can be a total pain in the arse.

I took my first trip with my son when he was three months old and got into such an extraordinary flap about not having all the ‘essentials’, I rented a people carrier to drive down the M4 to Devon so that I could fill the boot with absolutely everything, including his SNOO bassinet cot on which I'd become emotionally welded to. As we motored through the West Country on hardly any sleep and a steady stream of Haribo, my son kept himself perfectly entertained with this Baby Einstein music box. Listening to a tinny rendition of Chopin’s Waltz in G Flat for four hours was taxing but certainly beat newborn wailing.

The most recent journey we did with my daughter was down to the New Forest. We managed to reach Basingstoke before she threw up. I was prepared (both kids get car sick) so had an emergency bag in the footwell packed with kitchen roll, wet wipes, Dettol spray and a full change of clothes.

Getting vomit out of the crevices of a car seat is annoyingly faffy, but I'd fortunately learnt from previous experiences and not given my daughter anything brightly coloured to eat before hand. One time, while in a taxi to Paddington Station, my daughter suddenly expelled a fountain of sick which, thanks to the raspberries she'd had for breakfast, was vivid pink. The cabbie was horrified. As was I seeing as it was only 30 minutes into my solo mission to my parents’ house with both kids and I still had a three-hour train journey to manage with a now cerise and queasy toddler.

On the subject of travelling with kids alone, I realised pretty early on that the better dressed the kids and I are, the more pleasant/tolerant fellow passengers are and the more likely I am to be offered help. I don't know how I feel about this. I think it speaks volumes about how mothers/women and children are regarded in society (neat and polite = good, messy and feral = bad). But as I often need someone to help lift the buggy/a bag, I make sure we’re all togged up in cute outfits with brushed hair and clean faces.

I've never taken the kids on a plane (they still don't have passports), but for destinations you can reach by car, throw a big bendy bucket into the boot. This is a recommendation from a lawyer friend who is both organised and well-travelled (she's done Japan and New Zealand with a baby!) and I wholeheartedly endorse it. Pack loose items/shoes/games into it when en route, then when you arrive it can be used to cart stuff down to the beach/ keep sandy shoes in/ as an outside bath (which my kids absolutely love).

My parting words of wisdom for being in transit with small children is this: whatever you do, don’t let your partner buy the train snacks…

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7 brilliant travel tips from some of the chicest mums I know

Lauren Murdoch-Smith - contributing beauty editor British Vogue & beauty and wellness director Wardrobe Icons

• Do a Boots pre-order to your airport terminal : If you are travelling with hand luggage only but you have a baby on formula and baby pouches, pre-order what you need for the flight or holiday to the Boots store in the airport terminal you're departing from. No hassle at security and you can spread the purchases amongst your bags without being caught out by the airlines. I once ordered a huge Boots baby shop as we were going away for 2+ weeks and it was a big help. Copious amounts of Calpol, boxes of formula and unlimited sun cream.

• Flip-lid felt tips and first-aid patches: I find little things can be heightened when you're in a more stressful situation so if you can find things that limit stress and are practical, I'm willing to purchase. Felt tip pens with lids that are attached are just brilliant. On planes or anywhere that isn't home, pen lids have a mind of their own and there's always the constant echo from parents "where's the lid for this pen". These are so simple and effective. Also, mosquito repellent patches and bite patches are essential first aid items. No nasty sprays or stingy ointments.

Mosquito patches, £19

Stacey Smith - founder Crummbs & senior food and drinks editor Hearst Magazines

• Always take Tupperware: You can pop in whatever they inevitably don’t finish from breakfast, lunch, etc so they always have a snack on hand!

Sophie Bew - editor AnOther Magazine

• Zip locks for everything: The shape and size of packing cubes make them too dictatorial for me but I bloody love a zip-up pouch (I buy coloured A4 and A5 ones on Amazon) and each packing category has its own pouch: toys, medicines, teeth, toiletries, beach, etc. And for hand luggage, too: colouring stuff for the plane, snacks, spare clothes. They make me feel in charge (when in fact I look like a mad lady with too many pouches). The same goes for my own belongings: jewellery, hair, swim, sleep - but they tend to get a slight upgrade in leather or terry.

• Careful with the car seat: We’ve had our car seats broken in the hold in the past so it’s worth tucking in flailing parts and cushioning Isofix bars with bubble wrap. Boring while knelt on the floor of Stansted but worth doing. Another note on travelling with these and buggies, too: some European airports have separate luggage claim belts for outsized belongings. I once stood forlornly next to Belt 2 at Venice Marco Polo for 45 mins before realising this.

Zip pouches, £4.99

Ella Alexander - author, fashion features director Citizen Femme & contributing editor Harper’s Bazaar

Prep for long-haul: We recently took our toddler long-haul for the first time and there were three things that helped: we let him pick a new book at the airport which he loved, and made him doubly excited for us to read it approximately 80 times on the flight. A pack of Post-it notes in different colours – it’s the cheapest and most compact sticker game. We also invested in a busy book, which he wasn’t allowed to play with until the flight. By the time we got on board and gave it to him, he was beside himself with anticipation. Those books are so clever and well considered - he kept coming back to it.

Busy Book, £22.99

Daisy Murray - site fashion editor ELLE

• Avoid the car when possible: To us, hell is children in a car. So, while public transport delays can be annoying, we’ll take a missed train connection over wrestling our girls into car seats any day of the week. Car-free travel allows for moving around, plenty of interaction and you can enjoy a train tinny of your choice. I’ve always found parenting a lot easier one M&S canned cocktail in. Entertainment for my daughters is blueberries, ‘I spy’, busy board and books!

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One more thing…

Merit has just launched The Uniform (£34) - a tinted mineral sunscreen with SPF 50. Golly! What a product. If you're a fan of super lightweight bases but still want something with a touch of coverage that evens your complexion, I highly recommend. It’s creamy to put on, gives a natural finish and of course has the added bonus of SPF. Blend it all over your face with your fingers and off you go.

This is it in the bottle (I’m using shade 28):

And this is it on my face, along with this bronzer in Clay and this Ultra Violet lip balm in Last Bite (also SPF 50).

That's all for now. You're doing great, Frankie x

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