Baby passport to travel: photoshoot & planning

I hate having my passport photo taken. Loathe it. Inevitably, I always look dreadful, especially since they stopped you smiling – either pale and wan, boggle-eyed, seriously grumpy or just mildly alarming. And then I’m stuck with it for 10 years.

But having my photo done pales by comparison to getting Minnie’s first photoshoot sorted for her first baby passport. The Passport service has its usual string of regulations for baby photos, and while you could attempt it at home, I didn’t even bother in the knowledge I almost certainly wouldn’t tick all the official boxes.

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Instead, Minnie and I headed to Snappy Snaps while she was in a relatively good mood after a nap during a wander around the park in the sunshine.

In fact, she was so tolerant of the whole palaver that she even kept her eyes open, despite the regulations saying that babies under one are allowed to have them closed – and children under five don’t have to keep the prescribed neutral expression.

Trickier is the note saying that ‘if the baby’s head needs to be supported, the supporting hand must not be seen’ – luckily the photographer did a very good job of photoshopping out my bit of arm involved in keeping her head up straight.

A squeaky green toy waved enticingly in front of her secured a slightly puzzled gaze into the camera, and 20 minutes later we left with four perfect passport size photos, ready for her baby passport application before our trip to Lanzarote.

Needless to say, the usual rules apply and even my gorgeous daughter looks like she could do with a holiday in her photos.

Which is nothing to how I’ll look as I try to get the forms filled in, signed and jump the hurdle of the Post Office queue and checks.

No going back – Lanzarote here we come

It’s now more than four months since I last got on a plane, which seems a ridiculously long time ago. So I’ve been hanging onto the thought of a trip to Lanzarote with my parents to keep me going. To be on the safe side, I didn’t want to book flights (my parents already had the accommodation arranged) until after Minnie arrived and I had one functioning brain cell to think about it.

I can’t swear to the brain cell but regardless, we’ve bitten the bullet, hit confirm and booked the flights for November. This time instead of only looking at the price and checking it doesn’t leave at 5am, there was a bit more to consider.

At slightly less than four months when we fly, Minnie will have had her first two sets of vaccinations, and hopefully we’ll either have cracked breastfeeding or have moved on, so I’ll know how things stand there.

And while she doesn’t get her own seat on the plane, which would be a bit pointless, she does get her own luggage allowance.

I’m planning to travel up to my parents’ house the day before so we can all fly out together (giving me a chance to discover how baby friendly Birmingham airport is) and so we have more helping hands to manage the bags.

The airline choice came down to Monarch or Thomas Cook, which both cost similar amounts and have similar infant policies, with the former winning out thanks to its flight times.

So Minnie may have to share her seat with me but she gets 10kg baggage, as well as a buggy and car seat, if I decide to take them both. And although it looks like I’ll be able to get a travel cot as part of the villa accommodation, along with a baby bath and playmat, this could also go into the hold as part of the luggage allowance.

There’s also hot water for baby bottles on board, although no heating facilities (with any luck, I’ll be able to feed her myself so that won’t be an issue) and nappy changing, which should be all she needs. If only I could pre-book a nap…

The final holiday preparations

It’s only a few days until take-off, so I’ve finally got around to sorting some of the last preparations for the holiday. I’m not saying I’ve a tendency to leave everything until the last minute – I have been plotting and making lists for some time, and the big stuff like passports is done – but normally there’s nothing I can’t arrange for travel in a day or two, barring visas and vaccinations.

Except, this time, we’re doing a lot of things for the first time, so I can’t dig odds and ends out of cupboards or rely on doing it the same way as we did before.

So far, I’ve learned that if you want to order infant milk/baby formula etc from Boots in an airport, you’re really supposed to get your act together 10 days in advance.

And despite the information on Birmingham airport’s website, the helpful lady on the phone told me that it’s best to order it into store online rather than calling up, so you can get exactly what you want. As it turns out, they’ve got what I need (albeit the 200ml cartons of formula rather than the 1litre bottle I’d planned), and they’ve put it aside.

Secondly, the fact that I have Amazon Prime again is coming in very handy. I’d had various recommendations to get a protective bag for the buggy and car seat, as baggage handlers aren’t any more careful with these than suitcases (many of which have been destroyed over the years).

Sadly, the reviews for the protective bags seem to suggest they’ll only last a few flights before they’re ripped to shreds as well – but better the bag than my buggy, I suppose. At any rate, I’ve got two on order, and we’ll see how they fare.

Thirdly, buying suntan lotion and summer clothes in November isn’t ideal. Of course, you can get everything from the internet, but it’s best when you don’t leave it until almost the last minute.

So I’ve resorted to getting some summery trousers in my current size from eBay (depressing but at least they fit), snapping up some T-shirts in Minnie’s size from the fantastic charity shop nearby (along with a copy of That’s Not My Penguin, so that’s her entertainment sorted too) and thankfully my local Boots keeps a surprisingly diverse stock of sunscreen through the winter.

So what’s left? The first aid kit is now stocked and we’ve entered our advance passenger information online (and Monarch has confirmed that (a) Minnie will be taking up most of my hand baggage allowance as she doesn’t get one of her own, and (b) we can’t check in online as we have to do it at the airport to ensure we get baby-friendly seats).

For my essential baby packing checklist, click here

Otherwise, I have to pick up some Euros and take all the items from my intricate packing lists and see if they’ll fit in the suitcase and within the weight limit. Then, it’ll be time to hit the motorway on our longest car journey yet to drive up to my parents’ house to get the flight.

As long as she doesn’t grow out of the Moses basket in the next week or so, I think I may even have things under control…

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Main image copyright MummyTravels, all other images courtesy Depositphotos

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