Holiday abroad - to take pram or not?

movilogo

We are going to visit Malta (4 days) next month with our 3.5 month old daughter.

Initially I thought of hiring a car but as I learnt that driving standard in Malta is bit on dangeours side and public transport is very good, I decided to the bus only.

Now my question is, should we carry the baby in pram (which is a big Graco Quattro) or just leave the pram behind and carry her in baby carrier?

sooz

How much do you plan to go out. And if you do go anywhere, what will you so about her sleeping? You'll be exhausted if you carry her, even in a sling, all the time.

I'd personally take a buggy. I prefer not to take a big one on planes, but have a lie flat umbrella fold for this. Then I can take it right up to the gate before boarding the plane. And I'm not worried that my larger more expensive pram/buggy would be damaged.

If the sling is small, take this too. You'll appreciate having one in the airport atleast, particularly when they take ages to give you your buggy back after the flights.

NickyBat

Defo take a buggy, couldn't have .lived without mine

Isksta

Id take a sling and leave the buggy at home. If you find when your out there that you can carry her then you could buy a really cheap buggy and sell it when you get back. I wouldnt take your pram incase it gets broken.

If you get the right sling you can carry LO's for hours , i do and mines 2 and a half

Google Sling Guide (cant link myself) and it will tell you loads of tips :T

ema_o

My friend took her pushchair, she said she checked with her travel insurance and it was covered if they damaged it.

She did say it was really handy.

FakeIrish

Is a buggy suitable for a 3.5 months old baby?

However, Malta is fine to drive in.

NickyBat

Not sure but if you look around im sure there will be smaller cheaper easier prams to take

building_with_lego

sooz wrote: »

How much do you plan to go out. And if you do go anywhere, what will you so about her sleeping? You'll be exhausted if you carry her, even in a sling, all the time.

I'd personally take a buggy. I prefer not to take a big one on planes, but have a lie flat umbrella fold for this. Then I can take it right up to the gate before boarding the plane. And I'm not worried that my larger more expensive pram/buggy would be damaged.

If the sling is small, take this too. You'll appreciate having one in the airport atleast, particularly when they take ages to give you your buggy back after the flights.

Not if you carry her all the time! You actually get used to their weight within a week of not using a pushchair, so if you go down the sling route do lots of carrying before you get over there.
Even if you don't definitely take A sling- being so close to you stabilises her body temperature in hot (and cold) weather.
Happy holiday!

charlearose

take a buggy definatly - not a huge pram the pavements arent brilliant high steps deep guttering ect bug is much better and easier to get around with

driving in malta not that bad to be honest i have driven there and so have my parents

they drive on the left same as us and the signs are in english
main thing is to check any damage on the car that you hire so you dont get charge for it when taking it back

malta such a small island its easy to get around and although they have a good bus service you wont get to see everthing if relying on public transport in fact i would say public transport would be more stressfull with a small baby and a pushchair than to driving at your own space
if you hire a car probably worth taking your own baby car seat as well or one of those pushchair that you can put a carseat on im sure ive seen those somewhere

sooz

building_with_lego wrote: »

Not if you carry her all the time! You actually get used to their weight within a week of not using a pushchair, so if you go down the sling route do lots of carrying before you get over there.
Even if you don't definitely take A sling- being so close to you stabilises her body temperature in hot (and cold) weather.
Happy holiday!

But where would I hang my my handbag?
I have used a sling with all of mine when they were little. But I did find it tiring to carry an extra person .
And I find holidays are much more fun when you can have a cocktail, alcoholic or virgin, in your hand, & look down lovingly at the snoring small person in the buggy.

Counting_Pennies_2

I have just come back from Malta. The pavements are rather uneven, so it is tricky in places to push a pushchair.

Don't take an expensive pushchair/pram if you take one, planes have a horrible habit of wrecking them. We bought a Mclaren XT when my son was a few months old and we travelled round the world for a month. It was good to fold down. The hood got broken in transit, but we replaced that through the parts department of Mclaren. It folded all the way back and we bought a muff thing so he felt more protected in it.

Having said that if you use the buses, they are very fast, they barely stop for you, I would say travelling with the baby on the buses would be more dangerous than hiring a car and negotiating the roads.

The roads are crazy around the main towns, Sleima especially, Valetta seemed a little calmer.

To be honest we weren't impressed with Malta at all, and if we had to go again I would just book up a good quality hotel and stay there and use all their facilities.

hth

PS - do take a sling with you for getting on and off the plane, you don't get the pushchair back until you get your luggage