Family travel – your essential guide to holidays with a baby or child

Travel advice and tips, family travel and holiday products, plus travel health info to help you and your baby, toddler or child enjoy your holidays.

Posted: 14 April 2013
by Cassandra Kempster-Roberts

With bit of prep beforehand - and a bigger suitcase - you'll be off on a family holiday in no time!

Travel is part and parcel of going on a family holiday. And travelling (as well as holidaying) with a baby, toddler or child does mean you need to be prepared. We're not saying we can guarantee you'll make it to and from your destination without tears, tantrums or mess, just that there's vital family travel info it pays to know, and products that can make holidays with small children easier.

Whether you're going to take a UK summer holiday or travel abroad, here’s what you need to know when there's a baby, toddler or child involved.

Baby and toddler travel advice and tips

What you need to know when preparing to travel with your baby - answers to your key baby travel questions - does your baby need a passport? What age can your baby can fly from? Does your baby needs jabs? Does your baby need his own seat on the plane? Can you take milk for your baby in your hand luggage? What about air travel and your buggy? Do hire cars provide baby car seats?
Travelling with your toddler - planning ahead, how to keep parts of your toddler's routine intact, air travel with your toddler, jetlag, preventing travel sickness and how to stop boredom setting in on long journeys.
How you can make travelling with your toddler less stressful - a child psychologist reveals how to make travel easier when you have a toddler.
Why your toddler is naughty on holiday - a child psychologist explains why your toddler's behaviour changes on holidays and how to manage it.
Family-friendly camping - first-hand mum advice on camping with children, tips for first-time family campers plus 10 of the best UK family-friendly campsites.

Family travel health

Travel health - about the European Health Insurance Card, getting treatment when abroad, preventing illnesses and other health problems when overseas, health risks when travelling, plus where to get help when outside of the UK.
Travel vaccinations - why and when travel vaccinations are necessary, A to Z of vaccinations, getting travel vaccinations and possible side effects of travel vaccinations.
Travel sickness - treating travel sickness (also known as motion sickness) and when to seek medical help.
Toddler and child summer health and safety - child health advice on sun safety, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and water safety, as well as treating your child's bites, stings, cuts and bruises.

Buyer's guides and shopping advice for family travel items

Buggies for holiday goers - what key features you need to look for in a pushchiar you want to travel with or take on holiday.
Step-by-step guide to buying a lightweight buggy - how to find the perfect lightweight stroller for your needs.
Step-by-step guide to buying a travel cot - we guide your through finding the right travel cot for you and your baby or child.
Step-by-step guide to buying a travel highchair or booster - how to find the right travel feeding solution for your baby or toddler.
How to buy a secondhand buggy - don't want to overspend on your holiday buggy? Secondhand could be the way to go. We explain the vital safety advice and things to watch out for when buying a used pushchair.
How to buy a secondhand travel cot - how to make sure the preloved travel cot you're buying is safe.
How to buy a secondhand highchair or travel booster - what to look out for when buying a preloved highchair or booster seat.

Baby and toddler travel products

10 of the best family travel products - from a travel steriliser to pop-up travel cot and amazing baby monitor, here are 10 products - all tried and tested by MFM reviewers - that are ideal when travelling with a baby or toddler.
14 family holiday must-haves for your baby and child - from a travel blackout blind to UV sunsuits, we have 14 top product suggestions for your family summer holiday.
15 summer family travel essentials - from a toddler-friendly suitcase to travel activity ideas for kids and a chemical-free insect repellent, here are 15 suggestions worth packing.

Whether it's a lightweight stroller, tiny-when-folded pushchair or super-simple to fold buggy, we've put all the major buggy brands to the test. Here are our top performers...