Many of us love travelling. And before children, we are often savvy when packing and we are used to being able to work – or even relax – when travelling.

However, travelling with a baby or child (from the baby stage until around 5 years or so) takes on a very different level where patience and the ability to be practical are key. Even so, for many parents, travelling suddenly becomes quite anxiety ridden and challenging to say the least.

Below are some tips on how to make travelling that little less stressful. However, my first tip is that you need to survive the journey and, if your child is no longer a baby, don’t worry about being healthy and not giving them snacks. You have all the time in the world to be healthy when not confined in a small space.

• Bring changes of clothes not just for your baby, but also for you and your husband. It is amazing how much ‘explosives’ can come out in all directions and you never know when or how many times. I have sometimes gone through a change of tops twice on a long-haul journey. My daughter had to change outfits three times on our first flight to New York when she was 5 months old.
• Pack extra things in your hand luggage in case of delays. Not just nappies, but extra formula, food – anything in case of delays or luggage getting lost.
• I used to pack the baby monitor in my hand luggage together with the Braun thermometer (which is still going strong 12 years later!), calpol etc and especially after one journey when our luggage got lost and we ended up quite stuck for some things we desperately needed and couldn’t initially get.
• In my hand luggage I also have different little bags for us all with our various extras. These bags by Ow-Travel are great for being organised.