Midwife, author, Mother of Daughters, and wife to Simon, aka Father of Daughters, Clemmie Hooper is one busy woman. If anyone is an expert at packing stylishly and effectively for a family of six while RETAINING SANITY, it's her. HERE, SHE offers her super-helpful tips exclusively to Chic Little List
I have four daughters, twins, Ottillie and Delilah, two-and-a-half, Marnie, seven, and Anya, 12. We've travelled a fair bit with them so I feel like I've mastered the essential travel list. I start packing a week before we go on holiday and lay everything out on the bed, usually taking out at least two things at the end because you never need as much as you think. I would like to add that I pack for the entire family apart from Simon who packs the smallest bag possible but he does insist on loading the car.
Clemmie's top 10 packing must-haves
1. We have three Amazon Fire tablets for the girls, the older two have their own and the twins share. They're robust, easy to use and have enough storage to downloads the essentials like Peppa Pig and Hey Duggee!
2. The twins have these headphones which are brilliant and have a dual adaptor so they can share the tablet.
3. Less is more when it comes to toys, in fact we don't take any toys with us for the twins. We often use the Keep Em Quiet bags for the plane but once we get to the resort, the twins are more interested in the pool or beach.
4. We often buy the cheapest bucket and spade in the local supermarket once we're on holiday which seems to keep the twins happy for the duration of the holiday.
5. I always buy nappies, swim nappies and wipes once I'm on holiday as they take up so much space in the suitcase. But I always take a bottle of Calpol with me. One holiday I forget it and one of the twins had a high temperature in the middle of the night and nothing was open.
6. If we're going somewhere hot, I try and pack as little as possible in terms of clothing as the kids will live in their swimsuits all day and maybe a kaftan/beach dress. We also only take two pairs of shoes for each child, usually trainers like Converse to travel in a pair of Salt Water sandals, they're the best summer shoes my children have ever worn as they're leather and waterproof. They seem to also be well made and are great for passing down to the next child.
7. We always take our Gro Anywhere black out blind with us just in case the curtains are thin and let a lot of light through.
8. We recently we went to Disney World and took these Jetkids BedBox for the flight and they were a LIFE SAVER – the twins had a sleep on the day flight out and slept all of the night flight back I wish we'd know about them before.
9. My older girls also have Kindles and love reading on long car journeys so we make sure they've downloaded some good books before hand.
10. As we have twins our double buggy is very big and heavy so we've been using Babyzens since they were six months for traveling. They're super light and fold really well and fit in the over head on a plane so you can take them up to the gate with you. The covers come off so they're also really easy to wash.
Overall, you can get away with taking very little, especially if you are going somewhere where you'll be outside a lot. Children tend to make their own games up on the beach or in the pool and hopefully forget about the tablets. Happy travels!
The top ten family travel products Clemmie recommends
Clemmie's latest book
How to Grow a Baby Journal, £14.99 is available at Foyles.