When we go to Disneyland Paris at Christmastime our little girl will be almost 1 year old. The last time we were away in Spain she was 9 months and the time in Walt Disney World before that she was 5 months old. This visit will be different for a few reasons so I’m planning a little more than I usually would. And just to let you know, I am NOT a planner. I’ve always been a ‘turn up and have a look’ kinda gal. I’d say being a mum now has definitely had to change that mindset as food, drinks, temperature, weather, transport and more all have to be considered for a little one travelling in a different country.

I’d describe myself and my husband fairly laid back when we’re away and we tend to just wake up and see what we’re going to do that day. We’re usually early risers and aren’t too fussy about where and what we eat or if we miss something one day we’ll do it the next. When you add a baby to that more planning is generally needed as they’ll need changing, more frequent feeds and naps amongst other things.

One weaning baby

All my husband wants from a holiday is to make sure that he’s well fed. I can do that and he could eat pizza everyday for a week and be happy (it’s been proven on our stay in Italy). Now that there is a weaning baby under 12 months to consider I feel like it’s a different planning level. It’s not just finding a restaurant where we can eat, it’s finding a restaurant that serves baby friendly food with different textures, flavours and something she’ll enjoy and actually eat rather than throw on the floor (if you know you know). We could – and probably will – take a little food with us to get us through travel days but I’m sure she’d like some warm, fresh food as much as any of the adults and I think it’s important that she’s tries different foods too. So far I have looked at menus in Disneyland Paris and created a shortlist of where we can eat and what they serve suitable for the little ones. I’ve done so much research I’ll probably do another blog post about just this!

Hotels and Park Facilities

Our little girl will still be on formula when we go and part of my planning was to figure out how this will work. After a little research our rooms don’t include a kettle for bottle prep but I’ve been informed by the online chat that one can be requested on arrival so fingers crossed we’ll be fine to make up milk and for boiled and cooled drinking water throughout the day. Within the parks there is also a Baby Care Centre. We found these to be great at all of the Disney Parks in Florida so hopefully Paris will be the same and we’ll have somewhere nice to change and to clean and sterilise for bottle prep.

We’re going with friends.

With friends and babies on different schedules it can become even trickier to keep the days on track. You want to make sure everyone is getting to do something they’ll enjoy and having a good time especially when there’s little ones there too. Even if we all wanted to do the same thing it could be a little difficult turning up and finding that your bigger group can’t be accommodated for. So planning for the Disney rides, restaurants and experiences of what we definitely want to make time for I think will be needed as we’ll be a bigger party wanting to see and do things together. As for schedules we’re all being pretty relaxed that yes they may change for a few days but not massively and the little ones (and maybe big ones) will still nap at eat as usual, just maybe at a different time. We’re not planning on changing anything about our little ones pattern, we just know from experience she will want to be awake longer than she usually would at home.

We’ve booked our stay through Attraction Tickets who have been great so far organising our character dining and hotel and tickets package. We also used them for our Florida parks tickets so knew I was happy to use them again!

I’d love to know if you have any questions about travelling with a baby or come and say hi over on Instagram @lorenjessica_