On holiday with a baby: babyproofing the hotel room or holiday home

An unfamiliar space at knee height

On holiday you swap the house you spent weeks preparing for a room you have never seen. A hotel room or holiday home is set up for adults: open sockets, a balcony with wide-spaced bars, a minibar at floor level and cleaning products under the sink. At the same time you are tired from the journey, out of your rhythm and distracted by bags and paperwork. That is exactly why it helps to have a fixed routine for the first ten minutes after arrival. In this article we give a travel checklist, from what you pack at home to what you check on arrival and how you make the sleeping place and the water safe. That way babyproofing on holiday takes little time and you can truly relax.

What you bring from home

A small babyproofing kit in the suitcase saves a lot of improvising on location. Think of socket covers that fit the socket type of your destination, a few cupboard locks with adhesive strips, a door stopper, a few corner protectors and a small night light. Bring your own travel cot if you can, or ask the accommodation beforehand which cot is available and whether a fitting mattress comes with it. A digital thermometer, the medicines your child uses with the dosing syringe and a small first aid kit belong in your hand luggage. Save your GP's phone number and the travel insurance number in your phone beforehand and look up how to reach emergency care at your destination. Also read the accommodation's information about the swimming pool, balcony and cots before you leave.

The first ten minutes after arrival

• •Bags and suitcases closed and high up, medicines and toiletries put away immediately
• •Round at knee height: sockets, cables, minibar and small objects under the bed and wardrobe
• •Balcony door and windows locked, furniture away from the balcony railing
• •Cleaning products under the sink and in the bathroom removed or locked away
• •Check the cot: firm fitting mattress, no pillow or duvet, bars intact
• •Test the hot water temperature, never leave the bath or pool unsupervised

Balconies, windows and height

In many holiday countries the balcony is the biggest risk for small children. Bars are often further apart than is usual at home, the railing is lower and there are chairs and tables a child can climb on. Keep the balcony door locked when you are not standing right there, and move all furniture away from the railing. In a room on a higher floor, check whether the windows can be locked or only open a small way; otherwise ask at reception for a ground floor room or a window restrictor. Never leave a child alone on a balcony, not even briefly to fetch a towel. Stairs in a holiday home also call for a stair gate or a closed door, because without a gate a crawler quickly finds the way up.

Sleeping in an unfamiliar cot

For sleeping on holiday, the same rules apply as at home: on the back, in a cot of their own with a firm, fitting mattress, without a duvet, pillow or bumper. Check the accommodation's cot on arrival: are the bars secure, is the mattress not too thick or too small so that no gap forms, and are there no loose screws or sharp edges? A travel cot is always used with its own supplied mattress and never with an extra thick mattress on top. Place the cot away from windows, curtain cords, sockets and the heating or air conditioning. In a warm country a thin sleeping bag or just a bodysuit is often enough; feel the back of the neck to check your child is not too warm. Sharing a hotel bed with heavy blankets and a soft mattress is not a safe solution, especially on holiday.

Water: pool, bath and tap

Water is everywhere on holiday, and drowning happens silently and quickly. A child can drown in a few centimetres of water, so a paddling pool, a jacuzzi or the shallow end of the swimming pool also requires an adult within arm's reach. Agree at every pool visit who is watching, because when everyone watches a little, nobody really watches. At a holiday home with its own pool, check whether there is a fence or cover and keep the door to the garden closed. Test the hot water temperature on arrival, because boilers in holiday homes are often set hot; let the bath fill with cold water first and check with your elbow. Armbands and inflatables are toys, not safety equipment, and never replace supervision.

Food, drink and the minibar

In a hotel room the minibar sits at the ideal height for a crawler, and its contents are not made for babies: small bottles of alcohol, nuts and sweets with small parts. Ask whether the minibar can be emptied or locked, or put a suitcase in front of it. In a holiday home, watch the kitchen cupboards with cleaning products, dishwasher tablets and matches, and put the kettle at the back of the worktop with the cable tucked away. For food, the rules from home apply: no whole grapes, whole nuts or large pieces of hard food, and always eating seated and supervised. For formula, use only water that is also safe for you to drink; if the tap water is not reliable, boil it or use bottled water low in minerals. Rinse fruit and vegetables well and be extra alert to spoilage in warm countries.

Sun, heat and insects

Babies under one year do not belong in direct sun, not even with sunscreen. Seek the shade, use a parasol or a sun canopy on the pram and plan outings outside the hottest hours of the day. Dress your child in thin, covering clothing and a hat with a brim, and from around six months use a children's sunscreen on the areas that remain exposed. In the heat, offer a bottle or breastfeed more often and watch for signs of dehydration, such as few wet nappies or a drowsy child. A mosquito net over the cot and thin, long clothing in the evening protect against mosquitoes; use insect repellent on young children only according to the instructions on the packaging. The summer guide in this app goes into heat and sun in more depth.

If something happens after all

On arrival, look up how to get help locally: throughout the European Union 112 is the emergency number, and reception or the landlord usually knows which doctor or pharmacy is nearby. Keep the European Health Insurance Card and the travel insurance policy at hand and note the phone number of the insurer's emergency centre. With fever, vomiting or diarrhoea in a warm country, a baby is at higher risk of dehydration, so do not wait too long before seeking help. If you suspect poisoning, take the packaging with you to the doctor. Your own GP or the out-of-hours GP service at home can think along by phone if you are unsure what to do. And the rule that applies everywhere: if in doubt, call your GP, the out-of-hours GP service or 112.

Routine makes the holiday light

Babyproofing on holiday is not a big project, but a ten-minute routine that you repeat every time. Bags up high, a round at knee height, the balcony door locked, the cot checked and the water temperature tested: with that, most of it is covered. Bring the small kit in your suitcase and use the room checklists in this app as a guide, also in a room that is not yours. Feel free to ask the landlord or the hotel for a cot, a stair gate or a different room; most accommodations are used to it. Above all, stay close to your child in the first hours in a new place, because that is when they discover everything at once. After that there is all the room to enjoy.