AD | baby's first holiday

 Well hello there! Firstly I want to say a big thank you for coming along with me through my pregnancy and the birth of my baby boy. (Birth story coming very soon on my YouTube channel). I'm so grateful to those of you who have been such a huge insta support through pram choices, colic, the Chelsea Flower Show debacle and everything else along the way. It’s a beautiful community we have built here and I thought it was about time I give you a little update on how Constantin is doing. We very recently went away for our first holiday with Stan and so I’ve lots to share about how travelling with a baby for the first time was. I want to cover sleep as well as what the journey was like, what we packed for him, what we used most and what I wouldn’t bother taking again. I also want to tell you about our new pram of dreams! The Baby Jogger City Tour LUX with Carrycot. It's a whole travel system don't you know and it’s the absolute perfect pram for us. Both for our day-to-day city life but also to keep things super comfy for Stan and really easy for us when off on our adventures. Baby Jogger got in touch to suggest working together at exactly the right moment; just before our holiday when we were trying to figure how on earth we 1. get everything to the airport and on the plane and 2. actually get Stan around on our hols knowing we’d need to be lugging stuff around he might need on a full day out but also that we’d be going over old bridges, cobbled streets and a generally more adventurous terrain with even higher temperatures than we were used to in London. I can tell you now, it was a breeze and we still can't quite believe how well it worked out for us and what a difference this pram made. I don't know if you remember me mentioning that I couldn't quite get my head around being someone with a pram. The baby bit I was totally on board with but being a pram user kinda freaked me out. This pram, as well as being ridiculously well designed in terms of practicality and sturdiness, is also well designed aesthetically which I guess you will have worked out by now, if you're regular round here, is very important to me. We have the Slate colour-way which is gorgeous and the whole shape and form of the Carrycot, the handle, the wheels, even the way the break works, makes me happy. It's the little details always with good design isn't it, that make a big difference. The fact that you can collapse the whole thing with one hand is pretty awesome!      So to fill you in a little on the deats of our holiday - we flew to the south of France from Gatwick. First job was getting to the airport. We got a cab to St pancras and the train to Gatwick and although we had a huge suitcase, a carry on suitcase, a car seat, Constantin's nappy bag (which is a rucksack), Stan in a sling and the pram - it totally worked. A big part of the reason for this not being a complete nightmare and actually ending up totally doable is that the pram folds up into a bag which you can wear on your back. Genius! When we got to the airport we checked in our big suitcase and deposited the car seat and City Tour LUX (with the Carrycot attached) as oversized luggage and we were away! SO doable. We were lucky enough to have my parents collect us at the other end but I reckon we would have been fine on the coach and bus if needs be. We had worried that having a baby would limit us in how we travelled based on the amount of 'stuff' he would need but what could have been a stressful journey was actually completely fine and for us that was all about 1. having the right pram and 2. taking the time to plan in advance what we should pack for Stan and for ourselves. If you'd like to hear more about what we packed (our capsule holiday wardrobes and Stan's, as well as the baby necessities) then do let me know as I'm up for recording a video on that if it would be helpful/interesting.    One of the things that Stan loves about the City Tour LUX is how comfy and safe the Carrycot feels. So much so that the design doesn't even need to include straps. It's like a lightweight but plush bassinet that, as you can see from above, he feels really happy in. Because Stan was a month premature he's always preferred to be carried than to be in a pram so we were really pleased to find that he felt super safe and happy when in his Carrycot. We found the suspension of the pram itself really good on old cobbled streets and Stan even slept in it which we weren't expecting and isn't the norm for him. The storage underneath is a really good size for such a compact pram and there's even a zip-up compartment which was really nifty when out for a long day.  Because the Carrycot detaches (although you don't need to take it off to fold the whole thing down which is pretty great) it worked really well for us as an option to have him up by the pool in. The fabric is UV 50+ protection which is a winner too. You may already know that I've been back working here and there since quite early on after having Stan and that Dan, my mum and I have been juggling taking care of him. We thought this holiday would be a good time to teach Stan to nap on his own in a basket or carrycot and that we could transfer that skill to his co-sleeping pod when we got home. As mentioned above, because of being premature Constantin has wanted to be held a lot, particularly for naps. Before the holiday he'd only nap on us (either lying on the sofa at home or in our bed) or in the sling safely against one of our chests but always with us walking - we could never stop walking! This was very sweet but after a while quite impractical and we could see that it was something that would need proper work to help him to learn to sleep on his own. And, very excitingly, on this holiday we cracked it. He'd sleep in our room in his basket or carrycot and even up by the pool with us. If you'd like to hear more about how we got him napping then keep your eyes open for a blog post and video coming soon on that (I have a book recommendation too). There's so much to fill you in on that I can't easily do that here. All that's left to say really is a huge thank you to Baby Jogger for approaching me. The City Tour LUX has been a complete game changer for our family and couldn't have come at a better time for us. We're really looking forward to seeing Stan grow out of the Carrycot accessory and into the main seat of the pram - which can face both towards us and out to the street. It's a wonderful pram that we can see will grow beautifully as Stan does. Thank you.     If you'd like to continue to stay up-to-date with Constantin's development as well as my developing parenting skills! then do follow along on YouTube and Instagram. I've got plans for lots of videos coming soon (including a more detailed video on how the City Tour LUX folds and its features in my July Favourites) as well as videos on all of the things I wanted to know more about when I was pregnant and/or just starting out on the mum journey. Thanks for reading and speak soon. Lizzie x